Hi Heroine-Essente

Sorry for the late response - I hadn't checked in to DA in a few days.
Glad you like my designs! Thanks.

To answer your question - I kind of fell into toy design by accident. I wanted to do comic book illustration. I went to The Art Institute of Philadelphia and studied graphic design to get more well rounded art education, but I was always drawing comic book art for myself. Shortly after graduation, I went on a job interview with Larami Toys (the company who made the Super Soaker) and the Creative Director, who was a comic book fan, hired me on the spot since I had some of my comic art in my portfolio.

From there I worked for a few studios that specialized in toy packaging & toy design. One studio in particular really liked my drawing skills and asked me to do toy product design full time. I learned most of my product design basics from them.

I've never had any formal product design schooling - all of it was "on the job". However, back then there weren't any school programs that specialized in toy design. Now, many schools offer a toy design program.

Just to verify, I don't do any sculpture. I only create the '2D' stages of toy design: concept sketches, color renderings, control drawings.

I think the biggest skill I developed that put my on my career path would have to be comic book illustration. All of those hours practicing drawing has allowed me to earn a living, support my family, and own my own business (I've worked for myself for over 8 years). I still feel as though I can learn something new everyday, and improve my skills.

The key to toy design is communication. Your artwork needs to communicate the idea in a clear, concise, & fun way. It also helps to study ALL toys (not just action figures). Too many young artists who want to design toys think the industry is all about action figures. Action figures make up only about 6% of the whole industry. Look at girls toys, pre-school toys, everything! What makes it good, how cold it be better etc.

If you want to be a toy sculptor (and designer as well), learn about manufacturing processes. How toys are made, how they are molded & assembled, how companies reduce manufacturing costs.

As far as getting a job, from my experience - a studio that specializes in toy design or toy inventing might be a better place to start. You will get a bigger variety of projects to work on. Try to decide which area you would like to work in : design or sculpting. Some guys do both, but no too many. You can show samples of both in your portfolio, but I would concentrate on one area and get really good at it. Being mediocre in multiple fields will not get you a job.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions or comments. Thanks!

- Chris

Hi royi-20

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you like my designs.

To answer your questions...

1. No, I create designs for many different companies like Fisher Price, Hasbro, Basic Fun & Jakks. Most are toy manufacturers, but I do quite a bit of work for The Bradford Exchange, which specializes in collectibles.

2. I've done a variety of different toy design work including action figures, playsets, and vehicles as well as pre-school toys, some girls toys and novelties. I've also done quite a bit of toy package design and illustration.

Years ago, toy companies would use 2D guys (like me) for action figure turn-arounds all the time. Lately, the trend seems that companies skip that step and hand the action figure right to the sculptor. Many of the action figure groups also have in-house designers, so I get less and less action figures to work on. I still get many calls for the playsets and vehicles!

Thanks again!

No problem.