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- 1. Project: Educational toy for babies - Baby Boo Hood Aj Philp A project that combines education, design, thourough research and past experiences, is what AJ based her project on. With the aim to launch the Tj Trends21 company, as well, this results in the possibility for the project to grow and to meet commercial interests. The interview was conducted via email. Why did you choose this project? My final project is based on an idea that came to me 13 yrs ago when I was working as a maternity nurse. The Ma international design enterprise course has enabled me to develop this idea and for it to become real. I have always believed in early education for babies and research has show that we can develop our babies brains by 90% by the age of five. Research has also proven that bilingual children are able to develop more skills than monolingual children. This research backed my theory that the more stimulation babies received the brighter they appeared to be. I found baby toys to be ineffective and cumbersome. Those extremely beautiful hanging mobiles decorative in every way, but to the baby lying in the pram underneath, all they can see is the feet. My aim is to produce a hood that fits inside a pram or buggy that can be lifted up when baby is awake and put down for when baby needs to sleep (over stimulation will result in babies unable to settle and calm down). It will have three colours, black, red, white, for the first four months as that is all a baby can see. Play lights and songs in different languages. After four months it can be Black, red and white are the first colours a baby can perceive. “I have always believed in early education for babies and research has show that we can develop our babies brains by 90% by the age of five.” 132 133
- 2. turned over and will now show lots of bright colours and have interactive toys for the child to play with. I also hope to have a baby App for mums phones which can also be played in the hood to stimulate them further. The Baby boo buggy hood will hopefully be sold to nationwide stores under my company name Tj Trends21. Where do you find inspiration? In this project inspiration came from my travels to Africa and my home near the sea in Spain. Children adore watching fish and nothing beats a trip to the zoo. Where do you work best? The place I love to work in is anywhere quiet with no one around, so the studio or library most of the time. What tools and techniques do you use in your practice? I tend to work with prototypes first or ripping out images for inspiration, designing a mood board of sorts. Do you work in the MA studio? Yes, I do work in MA studio but I prefer to work in the library. What steps do you usually follow in your design process? I start with researching, gathering photo’s and images, then creating prototypes and sketching initial ideas. Is your design process more analogue or digital? Again it depends on the project but on this project it appears to be more digital. Right page is a page from AJ’s sketchbook, showing a collage with sources of inspirations. Images on this page show a close up of AJ’s inspiration wall in the studio. Here she documents and labels research and inspiration. 134 135
- 3. How do you use sketchbooks / drawing / making notes? I tend to gather more images from magazines, shops, parks etc to gain inspiration, then move onto sketching. Are you more of a list maker of do you draw more? Lists, lists and more lists and then I put the work together then I have slips of paper coming out of my sketch book as to what needs to be added. When you started the project, did you first start out researching, drawing or brainstorming? In short how did you start? Research most of the way. I went to loads of baby stores here in Lincoln, London and Spain. I asked groups of mums on their thoughts of how and when they shop for baby toys, if at all. I took photos and from there came up with a plan. It is also based on my own knowledge through my work and experience. Do you refer back to your research? If yes how often? / if not is your design process more based on your intuition? Yes I refer to my research all the time it helps to to define where not to go. Looking back on this stage, what went well in the project? My background knowledge was the most useful tool. I use to be a maternity nurse for over twenty years, so I know how and what products are available and if they work. What elements went different than expected? Designing the baby app is not the direction I was thinking of going, and I may not actually head that way. However I am excited at the thought. The market is actually very quiet in this area. How will you develop the project in the next stage? I would like to see it go to market so if a company took it off my hands and would manufacture it, I would be thrilled. And hopefully the Baby Boo buggy hood will could be sold to nationwide. What is the purpose of the project? To educate parents that time is precious and babies grow with the blink of an eye and I want them to embrace the value of early education. We seem more interested if our child is potty trained by two than we are in opening the world of stimuli and developing a childs brain to is maximin potential. What other activities / interest do you have outside the MA that are part of your practice? Reading on how to stimulate a child, nature over nurture, and design. I am also interested in how playgrounds, zoos etc are set up for children. The window of opportunity of educating and stimulating a child is often missed. Are you collaborating with other people on or is the project more individual? I am working with Les Porter from ideasin2action who is helping put language and light into the toy. I am talking to Susan Cadd, innovation manager at the Lincoln University, on how to design a baby app. First idea generation sketches that show the first elements that will develop into becoming the Baby Boo Hood. 136 137
- 5. This is a total overview of AJ’s wall of inpiration, an ever expanding documentation of research that grows with the development of the project. What new skills did you acquire while doing this project? New skills I have developed are digital printing and app designing. What are 5 books / journals that you recently read? 1. Baby Eisenstein does not need flash cards 2. How babies talk 3. Designed for kids 4. Baby talk strengthen your babies ability to talk and understand and communicate 5. Toy design What is your favourite designer / quote or style? To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often by winston Churchill. My favourite artist is Picasso but favourite designer would be Coco Chanel. One extreme to another and that’s how I design. I like clean orderly lines but I work in chaos and I’m forever changing and I aim for perfection. Do you have anything to add that might be interesting about your project? I designed this project on experience which is based on scientific fact. Parents are drawn into buying toys for there babies that look pretty or fit into their colour scheme of their house,which is often beige, or drawn into buying for gender. I want to educate the parents into buying to stimulate their baby to put their development first. This are the first prototypes of the Baby Boo Hood. Tests with fabric, colour and form. 140 141