This is a cute idea. I'm wondering if they make any money since on their website it says: "Child's Own Studio has custom made over 200 personal softies".
I'm thinking whether a redesign of their website and a more aggressive Facebook campaign (they only have 1000+ fans) would help them sell more. It probably would. No. It definitely would. They could also have a checkbox on the order form to allow other people to order their drawn creatures. And then have a top 10 on the front page with the most popular toys. They could even have a competition: which kid designs the cutest animal. Oh, I could make this a phenomenon.
Boy, I can't believe I'm thinking about strategies of how I would improve a toys' business. Eh, just 2AM rant.
You might be able to make something based on this idea a phenomenon, but if all your suggestions were followed, the result would not be this at all.
First of all, who is they? It seems like this is an individual woman. That's part of the appeal, that this isn't a mass market product, but a work of love made by a real person for a real person.
The uniqueness of the toy is part of the appeal as well. If other people order the same toy, first of all, what is the point? You can buy stuffed toys anywhere. What you can't do anywhere is order custom stuffed toys. But more importantly, what does duplication do to the appeal of the original toy?
Adding competition would be equally disastrous I think. It makes the whole process a game, and anything that can be gamed will be gamed. If there is any reward at all in having the most popular toy, even just recognition, then you can bet that adults will start making drawings and saying they were from children. Further, the competition will distract the children who draw from focusing on the specialness of having their drawing come to life and instead turn their focus to how well their drawing is performing.
Your ideas may make a popular and profitable business, but it would be fundamentally different from the business here. You can't scale personal connection, and you can't duplicate uniqueness.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you thought up all these ideas. I just don't think this woman should apply them. What she has is special, profitable (probably even enough so to live on), and makes a positive impact on the lives of her customers.
If you read her blog you'll see that she's at capacity. If they really want to turn this into an enterprise (and I absolutely think they should!), they need to figure out how to handle more volume before getting more volume.
I've just emailed the email from the contact page, have a VPS which is doing nothing. I would be happy to help her get her website up and running again.
Also, noticed this was posted on Reddit and a few other places so its probably being hammered.
It's a fantastic idea - but I would point out what a child sees in their head vs their drawing capabilities are probably very different. Still, I guess they could recognize it as something they created and it might encourage them to keep being creative?
Well, if they draw something and declare "That's my friend Foo!". If you show up with a stuffed version of their drawing, they are likely to recognize that as "Foo". Kids have a way of not letting their lack of drawing skill or details get in the way of a good story.
Plus, I doubt they could turn a 3 year old's drawings into something. My kid's drawings aren't that recognizable yet... (just lines and squiggles)
I think it's probably much more valuable to the parents than the children. While your kid might get a kick out of it, this is a pretty good alternative to keeping the same pictures on the fridge for several years at a time.
Judging by the stories on the blog, the drawings often come with explanations about some of the details. Take a look at some of the drawings and corresponding toys.
I am thinking more of a "turning it into reality" type of concept. Learning kids that they can turn an idea into something (tangible?) might be a valuable lesson.
My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? There's such an individual toy-by-toy creative aspect to it.
Also, the potential for building brands seems pretty spectacular. Stuffed toy is just one step, you could add stories, games, episodes...this could be to disney what 99designs is to graphic designers :)
I hope we're not far off being able to sit your child in front of a webcam, sample their voice, click a button and stream the latest Pixar film with them as a protagonist.
In the meantime, a 99designs for people with time, knitting needles and sewing machines seems like a lovely idea, and easy to achieve.
The only way to "scale" is to form a company of similarly-skilled artists. Even if this happens, it is unlikely that they'd ever be able to keep up with demand.
It's obviously not something you can send off to China and press the button on an assembly line. Some things just can't be mass produced, and we should be grateful for that.
> My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it?
Franchising perhaps? Quality control would be an issue once you start farming the job out like that, but it would be a good way to better cover international markets. They could keep the designing local to the current HQ, hiring designer types there to supply demand and farm out the physical work.
Though I suspect a project like this might be a personal one, they they don't particularly want to scale massively.
Partner with an established greeting card company to sell greeting cards that double as gifts: consumer pays $20 for the greeting card, the recipient child draws on the card then drops it in the mailbox, gets their stuffed toy sent back in the mail.
R. I personally prefer to work with children’s drawings, but occasionally, I have worked with the adult’s (inner child’s) drawings. The best thing to do is contact me with the drawing and I will let you know what I think.
as an interesting tangent, the [hopkin green frog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopkin_Green_Frog) thing that went viral some years ago, and which people assumed was a kid's typically clumsy attempt to draw his pet frog, turned out to be a pretty accurate drawing of his missing toy frog.
My daughter's drawings things are her interpretation of real things but I'm not convinced she'd want a real interpretation of her artistic interpretation of a real thing. After all, her drawings are often down to her limited skills rather than an intentional artistic choice.
I saw a similar site a while back that took a slightly different approach to making real-world items from kids drawings that probably works better in this regard - they turned them into jewelry for moms in the form of necklaces and pendants.
I don't think the site is around anymore, though. I believe it was just one person making them.
I suspect this varies from child to child. My older son would really dig this, as he often sketches something out then attempts to build it (whether it is with legos, blocks, wood, found items in the cellar, etc).
Maybe it's not as hopeless as you think. (Sorry, couldn't resist, what with a name like that!) I could imagine many young children being astonished at seeing their 2d pictures come alive. Perhaps as a reward for good behavior, you could actively solicit drawings from your daughter to be made into a toy.
On an unrelated note, how about adding a rapid prototyping lab so that you can create plastic as well as plush toys from kids' drawings?
The before and afters are great. I love the ones that were a scribbly mess in the drawing and end up looking nice but still reminscient of what the kid sketched.
They got school kids to send in drawings of creatures and then these guys actually rendered them in colored glass in front of the kids. They had the pieces and the kids' drawings on display. Very cute and often hilarious.
contact the person who runs the site, I'm sure they'll do their best. From what I've read here, it's just one person doing this because they enjoy doing it. You tend to get excellent customer service from those types of ventures.
[+] [-] plainOldText|14 years ago|reply
Boy, I can't believe I'm thinking about strategies of how I would improve a toys' business. Eh, just 2AM rant.
[+] [-] DanielStraight|14 years ago|reply
First of all, who is they? It seems like this is an individual woman. That's part of the appeal, that this isn't a mass market product, but a work of love made by a real person for a real person.
The uniqueness of the toy is part of the appeal as well. If other people order the same toy, first of all, what is the point? You can buy stuffed toys anywhere. What you can't do anywhere is order custom stuffed toys. But more importantly, what does duplication do to the appeal of the original toy?
Adding competition would be equally disastrous I think. It makes the whole process a game, and anything that can be gamed will be gamed. If there is any reward at all in having the most popular toy, even just recognition, then you can bet that adults will start making drawings and saying they were from children. Further, the competition will distract the children who draw from focusing on the specialness of having their drawing come to life and instead turn their focus to how well their drawing is performing.
Your ideas may make a popular and profitable business, but it would be fundamentally different from the business here. You can't scale personal connection, and you can't duplicate uniqueness.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you thought up all these ideas. I just don't think this woman should apply them. What she has is special, profitable (probably even enough so to live on), and makes a positive impact on the lives of her customers.
[+] [-] 0x12|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] latch|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] theaeolist|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Murkin|14 years ago|reply
Tho if you are willing to take it down a notch (or two) on quality, china can probably produce them at >10$
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] BlazingFrog|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] rhplus|14 years ago|reply
http://childsownstudio.blogspot.com/
[+] [-] VBprogrammer|14 years ago|reply
Also, noticed this was posted on Reddit and a few other places so its probably being hammered.
[+] [-] thret|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ck2|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mbreese|14 years ago|reply
Plus, I doubt they could turn a 3 year old's drawings into something. My kid's drawings aren't that recognizable yet... (just lines and squiggles)
[+] [-] cookiecaper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tlrobinson|14 years ago|reply
But I like the idea.
[+] [-] JoshTriplett|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rprime|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] latch|14 years ago|reply
Also, the potential for building brands seems pretty spectacular. Stuffed toy is just one step, you could add stories, games, episodes...this could be to disney what 99designs is to graphic designers :)
[+] [-] thom|14 years ago|reply
In the meantime, a 99designs for people with time, knitting needles and sewing machines seems like a lovely idea, and easy to achieve.
[+] [-] cookiecaper|14 years ago|reply
It's obviously not something you can send off to China and press the button on an assembly line. Some things just can't be mass produced, and we should be grateful for that.
[+] [-] dspillett|14 years ago|reply
Franchising perhaps? Quality control would be an issue once you start farming the job out like that, but it would be a good way to better cover international markets. They could keep the designing local to the current HQ, hiring designer types there to supply demand and farm out the physical work.
Though I suspect a project like this might be a personal one, they they don't particularly want to scale massively.
[+] [-] snorkel|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tintin|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baby|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] demoo|14 years ago|reply
Reminds me of My Machine, an organization that takes children drawings of machines and make them come to live.
http://mymachine.be/en/node/20
[+] [-] kori|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ndespres|14 years ago|reply
This is great!
[+] [-] topbanana|14 years ago|reply
R. I personally prefer to work with children’s drawings, but occasionally, I have worked with the adult’s (inner child’s) drawings. The best thing to do is contact me with the drawing and I will let you know what I think.
[+] [-] zem|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hopeless|14 years ago|reply
My daughter's drawings things are her interpretation of real things but I'm not convinced she'd want a real interpretation of her artistic interpretation of a real thing. After all, her drawings are often down to her limited skills rather than an intentional artistic choice.
[+] [-] kellishaver|14 years ago|reply
I don't think the site is around anymore, though. I believe it was just one person making them.
[+] [-] bmj|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hexagonc|14 years ago|reply
On an unrelated note, how about adding a rapid prototyping lab so that you can create plastic as well as plush toys from kids' drawings?
[+] [-] dools|14 years ago|reply
Absolutely brilliant.
[+] [-] joshes|14 years ago|reply
tl;dr: give this guy a child's drawing, and he sprinkles "awesome dust" on it.
[+] [-] dmg8|14 years ago|reply
http://www.flickr.com/photos/childsown/3465520257/in/photost...
The before and afters are great. I love the ones that were a scribbly mess in the drawing and end up looking nice but still reminscient of what the kid sketched.
[+] [-] jberryman|14 years ago|reply
http://www.museumofglass.org/
They got school kids to send in drawings of creatures and then these guys actually rendered them in colored glass in front of the kids. They had the pieces and the kids' drawings on display. Very cute and often hilarious.
[+] [-] cookiecaper|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] watmough|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josscrowcroft|14 years ago|reply
I have some great ideas for toys I want to make, gonna give them a try!
[+] [-] rickdale|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] user24|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kgen|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adlep|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gougify|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tonetheman|14 years ago|reply