To design toys in an educational and emotional frame
By Fabio Guaricci and Hariesh K Sankaran About the Session What is playfulness? How can we identify (and conceive) toys that achieve the goal of being engaging and educational at the same time? What are the emotional levers that have made toys in history become blockbusters and last for decades? This presentation unveils what is behind the curtain in the success of such toys like Barbie, Rubik's cube, and Yoyo and how we can learn from them in understanding that a good toy is first of all an object that can "transform" the child into something else, even if this is not necessarily happening in the reality.Fabio Guaricci and Hariesh K Sankaran
Fabio Guaricci
Fabio Guaricci is a professional inventor/designer passionate about Toys and Educational products and skilled in Design Strategy and Project Management. In 2015, after more than 10 years as a freelancer cooperating for such companies like Hape, Lisciani Giochi, and Milaniwood, as well as institutions like Politecnico di Milano, Healthcare Agency of Milan (ATS), and Trentino Autism Foundation, he founded TOY, a Milan-based invention and design firm specializing in services for the toy industry.
After a Diploma in Humanities, he achieved a Master Degree in Industrial Design with honors at Politecnico di Milano in 2006, and in the meantime, he was an exchange student for one year at the Product Design Department of NTNU in Trondheim, Norway.
His creative and yet analytic attitude expresses in his design methodology that is as close to playfulness as to marketing goals.
Since 2010 he has been part of the teaching staff of the Co.Meta Lab at Politecnico di Milano, currently Contract Professor, experimenting with the potential of Meta-design practices in the field of children with ASD. He is a member of LUDI – Play for Disability (a European Network of researchers and practitioners around the theme of the Right to Play and Inclusion) and IPA – International Play Association. Lately Fabio has launched TOY Design Academy, a one-to-one coaching program open to anyone who is willing to learn how to create and sell toy ideas to companies in a fast, effective, and professional way.
Mr Hariesh K. Sankaran
Hariesh K. Sankaran is an architect and designer with experience in the fields of architecture, product design, furniture, urban landscapes, and strategic design. He has collaborated with various firms and brands like Louis Vuitton, Dietiker, Swarovski, Sunstar, Mizar, Vietri, Paolo Pecora, Multiplicity lab, DARC, ALAD, etc., spanning France, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, USA, UK, Austria, and the Indian subcontinent working on varied projects ranging from furniture, lighting, packaging, retail, lifestyle accessories, interiors, architecture, and urban planning. He has also been involved as a design consultant for the World Expo 2015, Milan, and the master plan of the new capital complex of Abu Dhabi.
After completing his undergraduate degree from India, Hariesh pursued his masters’ degree in Industrial Design from Domus Academy, Italy. Furthering his interest in architecture he pursued a master’s degree in Architecture, specializing in urban landscapes from the Politecnico di Milano. He is an award-winning designer with his works and products exhibited at the Light+Building design expo ’06 (Frankfurt), Korean Design Expo ’06, Salone del Mobile ’07 (Italy), Opus design awards ’07 (Japan), and IBDC ’05 (Taiwan).
