While preparing for the Dragons Den presentation, I am also starting work on making the first art toy with the theme “Reimagine Childhood”, which I describe this project as…
The idea is to take elements from childhood wonder and playfulness that are brought into adulthood.
“Inspired by adult life, which still has a childish inside, No matter what we do or how much we grow up, we still have an inner child feeling. In this collection, I have designed Hebby to represent inner child feelings in different situations.”
The first art toy
I started with the first art toy, Wonderland, which represents Hebby, who goes to a theme park and dresses like their favourite character when they were a child. It feels like we are returning to being children again. We are growing up but still love to go to the theme park! Whether playing rides or just taking a walk to absorb those atmospheres, we can feel the inner child and joy inside.
I drew the illustration and posted a video of the process on Instagram on October 17, 2024.
I edited the video in the style of the song I chose because people who watch videos on Instagram called ‘Reels’ want to watch a nice video that sometimes has the same rhythm as the song. And the video can’t be long because people like to watch a short video.
After I posted the illustration, I started making the art toy and recording every step. Then, I posted the art toy on October 19, 2024.
I show the followers every step of the making process because I want people to know how it is made, and it will not be perfect like the factory made.
Then, I checked the insights of both posts, which show that people still engage more in art toys posts than illustration posts. (The insights were updated on November 7, 2024.)
- Illustration posts
- Art toy posts
Analysis
The art toy received a lot more engagement than the illustrations alone. While this suggests that people are drawn to art toys, the format itself may be simply more popular than the people truly appreciating the crafts behind them.
I would like people to engage with the post by commenting or giving feedback on what I have posted, but no one gives anything, so I think my followers are uncomfortable doing anything like this. I think the idea of an online survey will be good for this intervention.
To test this further, my next steps will focus more on storytelling about the process and effort involved in creating these pieces. By continuing to highlight the crafts, I aim to see if a deeper understanding of the work can shift people’s appreciation beyond the appeal of art toys.