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Recent tales from Goldman Sachs of a 30 % decline in toy sales since 1998 have been proven to be overstated but we are well aware of a trend towards technology , this is a great thing to happen as we do need to arm our young people with the skills needed for the coming decades and so embrace technology toys we must , and are doing , better than any other industry .

This new category to take on the might of the app developers can broadly be defined as the Appcessory market .

Amongst the first appcessories to arrive on the market appeared in September 2011 , establishing a new category as a small company is , well , impossible , so only a selected few were able to enjoy the Augmented Reality experience offered by UK start-up AppToyz .

Move on to early 2012 and noises from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas from a few major toy players such as Hasbro and Mattel that we should watch their space for developments in global properties in this now recognised category and more retailers , well more mainstream retailers started taking an interest .

The trouble with the creation of any new category is that it is always going to take an amount of time to convey a message to the consumer of exactly what is on offer . Let ’ s face it , the app market is in its infancy , despite on-target to rack up 45 billion downloads this year , and now we ’ re asking smartphone users to “ appcessorise ”. They really were not listening in the first two quarters of this year , but now we have the “ big boys ” and their brands hitting shelf space sales are starting to scale up .

Across this new category of toy it is difficult to imagine any area across the toy spectrum that can ’ t become involved . We have seen iPad train system management apps , the cuddly toy app market has a double digit of offerings , remote controlling helicopters is almost an old idea already , jigsaw makers see it an amazing opportunity and for those heavy on board game sales for revenue it is a relatively low cost of entry to a brand new space .

It is universally recognised that margin in this new area are much lower , as much , in some cases ( board games ) as 80 % lower than that of selling a traditional game but the key , as many a successful app developer has discovered , is to keep you in the game and sell add-ons .

The clever people at Rovio gave the world Angry Bird for free and whilst are making millions from licenced products still made a dollar here and there to fund early growth by selling you an

in-game advantage . These people are rethinking the way games are played , it isn ’ t just getting you to buy a board game play it , keep it in a cupboard and take it out now and then , this new way , is to keep adding to the game experience you are already enjoying .

Traditional manufacturers can enjoy the same success by not only

teaming up with these new thinkers , which they have in numbers this past few months , but create new games that think App first and board game as an add-on and then I think the challenge is on . The

creative brains in the toy industry can easily take on the might of the app developers – collaboration is what is called for and is occurring on a huge scale but we ’ re looking for reverse collaboration and to celebrate new toy industry driven innovation in this category not just teaming up and producing some characters with contact points on the underside .

To use the best example once again , Angry Birds is far from a kids play game , small people only played when they found it on their parent ’ s phone and this , amongst a handful of others , can be seen as the driver behind the evolution of this appcessory market .

Dr . Amanda Gummer of goodtoyguide . com : “ With the rise of apps children can still enjoy the tactile feel of toys . Products that combine apps with physical toys bridge the gap between the physical and virtual world . This is good for multi-sensory development and can provide additional play value .”

Imagine , a supermarket loyalty card appcessory that you tap on your smartphone in-store and it ’ ll tell you how much you are going to save if you spend £ xx ? This tangible experience is something we all enjoy , and , could make shopping more bearable ?

Today ’ s kids are growing up with technology that no other generation has ever experienced ; they are the guinea pigs for new generation of play . A recent NPD survey showed us that tablet use amongst kids is up 10 % year on year and as we adults discard our old tablets , or donate them to small people this is set to continue growing .

Source : RedPaper on Toys 3.0 published by Spielwarenmesse eG

Toys have an age old tradition in a country like India with its rich culture of play and with one of the youngest and largest populations in the world . Design with its ability to synthesise parameters related to user , technology and market dynamics can give new approaches and directions to the designing of toys keeping in mind the benefit of all stakeholders .

There is a need for good toys and playmaterial for entertainment as well as education and development . Designing of toys has gone beyond the ‘ making the toy beautiful ’ paradigm to cover many layers including the experiential , operative and strategic in order to make a concrete difference in the way toys are perceived and experienced .

One of the most important facets about toys is innovation . The constant need for new toys in the market as well as broadening requirement of toys in wider sectors , requires a creative response and design has an important as well as responsible role to play in the same . It was with this consideration that a PG program in Toy and Game design was started at the National Institute of Design , NID , Gandhinagar , India .

About the PG Program in Toy and Game Design

The PG Diploma in Toy and Game Design at the National Institute of Design aims to develop a professional and creative approach to the growing needs and aspirations in the field of education and entertainment .

The programme draws its strength from its trans-disciplinary nature , integrating knowledge from various disciplines both in terms of

creative conceptualization as well as in terms of working with a variety of material and media .

The learning modules give equal importance to conceptual thinking as well as practical exhibition / understanding . The curriculum is progressive in nature with courses involving basic design fundamentals , material and media studies , cultural studies , creative thinking , user psychology etc . and progressing into methodologies for understanding complex system level problems and scenario visualizations . Modules such as elements of play , game theory , character design , user search methods provide spe- recialized inputs . The project based pedagogy helps students to choose projects of their choice and integrate creative ideas with practical know how in order to come up with innovative designs . dents work on design projects of

Stu-

their choice ranging from heritage

toys , digital games , educational play material to sports equipment and designs for futuristic scenarios .

An active student exchange programme with Dept . of Play and Learning , Burg Giebichenstein , School of art and design , Halle , Germany as well as collaborative classroom projects with industries provide a rich exposure to students . The emphasis on innovation-led designs helps students to begin their career in a spectrum of industries or start their own enterprises .

Author : Ms . Gayatri Menon , Faculty at National Institute of Design