I really enjoy building legos and creating things with legos

Hi John,

Have you ever thing about being a toy designer?

Toy Designer Job Description
Toy designers envision new toys and produce designs, which ultimately become completed products. Most toy designers work directly for toy manufacturers or toy design firms, wherein they are responsible for developing original toy designs, and working with a team to produce prototypes and develop the toys they design.

Some toy designers are self employed however, earning their living by selling their concepts to large manufacturers, or producing and selling their own toys. Since self-employed toy designers are usually responsible for building the toys they design, they must acquire the proper tools and materials.

Regardless of employment structure, the first responsibility of a toy designer is to come up with an idea for a new toy, including what it will look like, how it will function, and what segment of the market it will be sold to.

After the designer has a good idea of what the toy will be like, they can then put their idea on paper and being creating the design. This often involves drawing the design of the toy with either a pencil and paper, or using computer-aided design (CAD) software. These sketches will ultimately be used to create final specifications and a prototype.

Before a prototype of the toy can be built by the designer or the designer’s team, many things must be carefully considered and thought through, including:

• Whether or not the idea is good and unique
• How products and product systems work
• What materials are to be used for the toy
• The lifecycle of the toy
• Environmental issues, including sustainable design
• Health and safety issues
• Consumer preferences and marketing issues
• How best to present the idea to management and other stakeholders
• Cost effectiveness and profitability
• Legal issues, such as patent protection or copyright infringement

What Kinds of Toys Can I Specialize in Designing?
Toys come in many forms and styles, ranging from simple handmade wooden blocks or plastic action figures to complex and intricate robotic and mechanical toys. Many toy designers specialize in the design of certain types of toys, or toys for certain age groups. For example, one toy designer may create nothing but board games, while another may create plastic action figures.

Some types of toys you may specialize in as a designer include:

• Arts and crafts
• Action figures
• Construction toys
• Dolls
• Dramatic play
• Electronic toys
• Mechanical toys
• Outdoor play toys
• Plush toys
• Puppetry
• Puzzles and games
• Scale models
• Scientific exploration toys
• Toy instruments
• Toy vehicles
• Toys for animals
• Water toys

Education Needed to Become a Toy Designer
To become a toy designer, you typically need a college diploma or university degree in a relevant field.

Toy Design: The most relevant field is of course, Toy Design. Subjects in Toy Design programs typically range from product safety to child psychology to robotics to business. College and university programs in Toy Design are however relatively few in number in North America.

More information in:
http://www.academicinvest.com/science-careers/human-ecology-careers/how-to-become-a-toy-designer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTgWnY_ZM3c
(video about lego designer)

Good luck!

Hi John,

Your question brought back memories of my sons, who are now 43 and 39, when they were young and into Legos.
The older is a civil engineer. Engineers are traditionally envisioned as creative builders. Along with the analytical and problem-solving necessities, which yes, includes a solid mathematical foundation, the career platform has endless possibilities. You could be designing bridges, roads, medical equipment and support devices, cars, etc. To learn more about engineering, Google www.tryengineering.org. The career field is fluid, so you will notice that several overlap and collaborate; such as, biomedical engineering and computer engineering.

Another field to consider with your Lego interest is architecture. I hope you like math because many students are surprised about the required math courses they must take. Before Legos became popular, many of grew up designing log cabins with kits of log sticks from the toy store. I have a brother-in-law who is a commercial architect but also designs houses, which is residential architecture. Google architecture/architects and read about the academic preparation and career possibilities.

A career in construction is another opportunity to display your creative ability; and sometimes, it can overlap with certain aspects of architecture. An architect seeks collaboration with a good construction company to support the completion of projects.

I have a nine-year-old grandson who enjoys creating robots, etc. with Legos. I purchase kits for my grandsons because it helps to stimulate the mind and enhance the analytic and problem solving features of math.

Hope this helps! It appears you have some untapped talent waiting to explode. :-)