All posts tagged: Fredun Shapur

MAKIminimag_Fredun Shapur_playsacks

Vintage Toys: Playsacks by Fredun Shapur

Published by patricia

In our collection of vintage toys we want to show you the Playsacks by Fredun Shapur today. Fredun Shapur is a South African born toy designer and illustrator and the creator of these fantastic “Playsacks”, designed for Creative Playthings in 1968!! Yes, thats right, 1968! Their look is so strikingly contemporary because of their modern use of colours and their graphic refinement. And yes, you can put the sacks on your head because they are made of paper! In total there have been 12 different designs, children could disguise themselves as tigers, pandas and zebras, amongst others. The idea is so simple but great it seems strange there have not been new, contemporary designs lately. Like Bruno Munari or Charles Eames, Fredun Shapur (born 1929) made a particular daring and inventive contribution to the world of children. Between the 1960s and 1980s he designed toys for manufacturers such as Naef in Switzerland, Galt Toys in Great Britain, and above all Creative Playthings in the United States. From wooden puzzles and racing cars  to animal disguises, Shapur’s toys still have …

The Play: Modernist toy exhibition in London

Published by patricia

London calling!!! The exhibition THE PLAY: Toys, Sets, Rules, organised by systems shows Modernist toys from the 1960ies with objects drawn from the personal archives of Roger Limbrick, Patrick Rylands, Fredun Shapur and Ken Garland. The four designers formed a loosely associated group that emerged in London in the 1960s. The doll house with open sides by Roger Limbrick won an Observer Design Award in 1969 and is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum collection.  Also on who’s is our beloved bath toy Duck by Patrick Rylands, produced in 1993 by AmbiToys, that works for any age – from 0 to 99. Furthermore there are toys by Fredun Shaper (like the Serpentino)  and Ken Garland (the Connect game and the Plytech Chair). Until July 4, 2015! Plytek Chair, Ken Garland + Associates c.1965, unrealised prototype Four-Way Blocks, Fredun Shapur 1972, Creative Playthings Connect, Ken Garland + Associates 1968, produced by James Galt Balancing Troupers, Fredun Shapur 1963, prototype (later realized by Kurt Naef) Serpentino, Fredun Shapur 1980, produced by Kurt Naef Joupii, Patrick Rylands 1970, produced by Il Leccio Open Side …