All posts tagged: toy

MAKIminimag_just playing

just playing …

I am “just playing ….” – with this vintage magnetic board from Czeck Republic. Found it on our attic lately – played with it when I was a kid! Still in love with it!     Like this:Like Loading…

MAKI:minimag_Libuse Niklova_gonfle_3

Splash!!! Cool Summer with Libuše Niklová

It is finally summer! That is why I wanna show you this great bath toy – a seahorse –  by my toy designer hero Libuše Niklová. Fatra, the company she worked for, is still in business today, and they re-edited some of Niklová´s toys. Unfortunately not the sea horse… but other ones!!  And they approached contemporary Czech designers amongst which graphic designer Zuzana Lednická from Studio Najbrt, who re-interpreted the toys from the ’70s and created contemporary versions of them. Zuzana Lednická did some great beach balls.  Summer in Style! Have fun:)   Not for swimming but still very beautiful ad designed by Libuše Niklová: these baby toys! Like this:Like Loading…

MAKI:minimag_Libuše Niklová_GIraffe_1971

Plastic Fantastic

Ladies and Gentleman! Let me introduce you to one of our toy heroes: „Giraffe“ is an inflatable, sound-producing toy, designed in 1971 by Czech designer Libuše Niklová. Up to the 1960ies design for children was pretty conventional, mostly offering miniature versions of adult styles for children. Inspired by the principles of pop art from the 1960ies on the approach to kids design became more inventive and playful with vibrant colours and characters. New materials that offered new forms were supporting this development. After World War II wood and metal as materials for toys became too expensive. Plastic seemed to be THE solution. It was soft, light, flexible, hygienic and colourful. And it was relatively cheap. One designer that mastered the design of plastic toys to perfection is Czech designer Libuše Niklová. She designed toys that embraced the qualities of this new material rather then trying to imitate other materials and forms. Libuše Niklová started with squeaking animal toys in molded rubber, later on she created a famous series of blown PVC figures. At that time designers …

MAKI:minimag_Vaclav Spala_devil

Sweet devil!

↓ Scroll down for German/Dutch version! Sweet devil! Czech Republic has a large tradition in artisticially designed (wooden) toys. This little „devil“, designed by artist Václav Špála, is a beautiful and fun example for a Czech avant garde toy, designed in the 1920ies. Václav Špála was a Czech painter, graphic designer and illustrator, influenced by Fauvism and Cubism. He was a member of Artel, an innovative group of applied artists promoting the beauty of artistic work and taste in daily life. Their main inspiration came from folk art, and their toys were full of individualism and handcrafted quality. Not mass production, commercialism and realism, but uniqueness and a way to fantasy is what they wanted. “Devil” is completely from wood, painted in black, white ,red and yellow and has a small opening, some sort of safe-deposit – may be for hiding candy? This is a reproduction by the way, made in Prague, it is handmade and handpainted and you can get it here.     Süsser Teufel! Tschechien hat eine lange Tradition auf dem Gebiet …