De Paard - Visions of Playtopia

Sammanfattning: Playsam in Kalmar AB are world famous for their design of the toys they sell. Together with their CEO Carl Zedig the goal was to find a new product for the company.  The process has far from been linear, I started off in one direction, got rejected, turned another way and we finally decided to create a rocking horse in a De Stijl style. At the same time taking consideration of the demands from Playsam and myself.Playsam’s products are archetypes of ordinary objects around us such as the car or the aeroplane. The company mainly produces its toys in wood and the stylized shape together with the blank painted surface has become a hallmark for them.De Stijl, the Dutch art movement containing artists, designers and architects such as Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Gerrit Rietveld. Given inspiration for the rocking horse was Rietveld’s chair Red-Blue.I, Niklas Bonnevier, have a technical background and I am shaped by that. I rather draw with a ruler than by free hand, I often think mathematically instead of in free shapes. In my projects I often work with humour and playfulness, but with great seriousity as a base.The challenge in the project was to take in consideration the factors that would affect the shape and make decisions of what was the most essential to reach the goal. Compromises had to be done since all factors could not get the space they demanded. To renounce the thoughts of Rietveld in the making of the chair Red-Blue hurt in the designer soul but the main thing is that the product works for what it is meant to. Playsam also have to be allowed to say theirs if the result is supposed to be a commercial product in their range of products.