AVA GARFINKEL
As a final project for the class Toy Design at RISD, we were tasked with creating groups of 4 with each group responsible for making a toy that fell into a specific category and addressed a social issue. My group was responsible for making an electronic toy, and we chose to address the issue of classism. Since this was a class at RISD, I was the only one in the group with engineering experience, and was working with two undergraduate students and one graduate student all studying industrial design. Therefore, this project was a great opportunity for me to work as the lead engineer on a team with other experienced designers.
CONCEPT
We began our project by coming together as a group to discuss certain things we'd like to see in our project. While our category for our toy was electronic, we all agreed that we did not want to make a very high-tech toy, and that the toy should still be fun without the electronic components. In addition, we agreed that we would like this toy to appeal to an age group somewhere between 4 and 10, and that we wanted to encourage parent-child interaction. Finally, we decided that if possible, we would like our toy to be educational. With this starting point, we created a shared mood board to share project ideas and inspiration for our toy.
Electronic toy mood board
Created with Miro
After coming together to share ideas, we all found ourselves interested with the idea of paper circuits. Paper circuits would be a low-tech way to deliver interesting interactions and play experiences, and related to our social issue of class by providing a low-cost electronic toy. In exploring different ways this could look, we came up with the idea of some sort of story being told that incorporates paper circuits. This could be a free-play experience like a doll house, a crafting experience that allows users to build their own paper circuits, or a story book that includes electronic interactions. We considered all of these mediums and others, and created a board to see what these might look like.
Paper circuit medium exploration
Created with Miro
We spent time exploring the different mediums that paper circuits could work with and how each medium would contribute to the goals we set for our toy. After discussion, we ended up deciding to create an interactive pop-up book that introduces young children to basic electronic circuits. The circuits will be seamlessly incorporated into the pages so the electronic components simply add to the storybook reading experience.
RESEARCH
Different members of the team dedicated themselves to different parts of the research, such as pop-up mechanisms and deciding on what narrative we would tell. My research was mostly done on paper circuits themselves and the technicalities of them so that I could easily define for my team what the electronics would look like and what type of interactions everyone could reasonably expect to include.
Technical component research
Stingray CAD design
In addition to all our separate research, we all did research together on the type of brand identity we wanted to create. Even though we would only be able to create one pop-up book for this project, we wanted to envision what a brand would look like with multiple pop-up books and other low-tech electronic paper toys.
Branding and concept research
Once our concept and style was determined, we all moved our separate ways to work on different parts of the project. I was responsible for the branding and electronic interactions.
PROCESS
Since I was responsible for the branding, I began working on a logo and style guide. I wanted our logo to be fun and whimsical since it's for a children's toy, as well as incorporate electronic imagery since that is what makes our book unique. The name we settled on was "nori," which is also the name for thin sushi that is easily foldable like paper.
With the branding completed, I began working on prototyping paper circuits to see what types of interactions and materials worked best. While I tried using conductive ink and a conductive pen, copper tape turned out to be the most sturdy and reliable.
Logo and style guide
LED testing
LED testing
Once I did some testing, I coordinated with the member of the group responsible for all the pop-up mechanisms so that I could practice doing circuit on moving pieces.
LED testing on pop-up mechanism
LED testing on pop-up mechanism
Finally it was time to print the final book pages so that I could finish all the paper circuits. The pages were printed out and then laser cut so that the different pop-up components were perfectly aligned and fit together. Finally, the pages were loosely assembled so that it was clear where all the electronic interactions had to go but the papers could be removed if necessary.
Book page assembly
Before any more work could be done on assembling or binding the book, I had to finish all the electronic interactions. There were 5 pages that each involved at least one interaction ranging from LEDs to vibration motors to sound. For each page, there was going to be a page underneath the illustrated page that was just meant to hide all the circuits. I traced the circuits on each page before using copper tape to create the circuits and ensured that the interactions on every page were consistently functional. Once completed, I handed off the pages to be assembled by other members of the group.
Circuit layout with pencil
Building process on top of page
Sound module
PRODUCT
The final product is a high-quality pop-up book with electronic interactions on every page. The story depicted shows a character going through a subway system, something that also relates back to our social issue of class by showing a situation that lower-income children are more likely to find themselves in. Every book comes with three small characters that can be customized with magnetic clothing, and depending on where the character stands on the page, an electronic interaction can occur. Because of the intricacy of the pop-ups and our desire to keep this a low-cost toy, we estimate that a Nori Pop-up book would retail for around $30. In the future, we see more Nori Pop-up books being created with more diverse stories and electronic interactions.
