Discover Zoe’s journey exhibiting Yooblob—a gender-inclusive toy promoting free play—at Milan Design Week. Learn about the project, exhibition design, challenges, and advice for aspiring creatives.
What is the project about?
The Yooblob is a sustainable product designed with gender inclusivity and free play at its core. Social restrictions have been placed on certain play patterns using gender stereotyping. My research shows that children are limited to what types of play they can engage with as a direct result of design and marketing of toys.
Through customisation, children can make Yooblob whatever they want it to be, giving it life as they envision it. The toy is packaged with a fixed set of accessories that are inclusive of all genders. Consumers would not be able to pick targeted accessories based on the gender identity of the child. Children will be provided with options for full customisability, empowering the child to have full autonomy over how they play.
Tell us about your trip to Milan?
The opportunity to take my project to Milan design week was so rewarding as a young designer. We were invited by Domus Academy to take part in a student exhibition named “unfold”. I was able to showcase my work alongside an expansive range of projects from designers all over the world. As well as exhibition, I was able to take part in a conference where I delivered a speech about my project. In just a few days, I was able to see the past, present and future of the design world. From design week exhibits to hearing all the innovative ideas from other students, the experience was truly so valuable. Not only for expanding my understanding of the design industry, but also in personal growth. The experience allowed me to gain experience presenting to large audiences, networking and overall pushing myself to meet higher standards than ever before.
What inspired the theme and design of the exhibition?
Upon receiving the information that we would be allocated a 600mmx600mm square space for our prototypes, I eagerly began considering how to utilise this space to best capture the nature of my project.
I immediately thought of posing the blobs in a playground setting. The playground holds great significance within the concept of free play. As the Yooblob is heavily inspired by free play, I thought there would be no better setting to communicate the goals of the toy. I hoped to elevate the display of my prototypes by adding elements of movement, emphasising the playfulness and expression that inspired the toy.
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What challenges did you face preparing for the exhibition and how did you overcome these?
The biggest challenge for me was time management. The Yooblobs were not only a project for this event but also my final year project. This meant I had to have my prototypes in a somewhat finished place around 2 months before all my classmates. With several deadlines from Domus Academy along the way, it was quite a challenge for me to utilise my time in the most efficient ways to ensure I was well prepared for exhibition. For example, it was important to me that I conducted play testing with real clients before presenting this idea to the public. This meant I had to massively accelerate the development of functional prototypes to complete this task on time. Overall though it meant I was in a great position to discuss my project and understand how to take it further.
How did visitors (public and professionals) respond to the exhibition?
The feedback that I have received so far from this project has been overwhelmingly positive. From the client testing where I gained feedback from children to general compliments on my presenting, I am extremely grateful to have been met with such positivity on my journey so far.
What did you learn most from this experience?
I would say that overall, I have learned the true value in future focused design. Doing everything with the future in mind really has put me in a position where I feel comfortable entering the working world post-grad.
What advice would you give students looking to study Art and Design with Creative Technologies, and inspiring to exhibit internationally?
Don’t be scared to just do things. If you’d have told first year Zoe that she was going to fly to another country to exhibit her work alongside some of the best creative institutions, she’d have had none of it! Understand what methods work for you early on and do not hesitate to take any opportunities that come your way. If you do something you are passionate about, no outcome can be truly wrong.