We create Joyful Public Spaces.

At our studio, we understand the transformative potential of play and aesthetics. Aesthetics have the remarkable ability to inspire, connect, and communicate beyond words and language. Play and joyful interactions are not just key to fostering meaningful participation, but they are also integral to shaping unforgettable experiences. By crafting objects and installations that evoke a sense of wonder and surprise, we transform the perception of a place, seamlessly inviting people into a journey of exploration. Our work is an invitation to embrace the magic that unfolds when beauty, joy, and engagement intertwine.

We Make Participation Meaningful and Accessible

True inclusivity in any participatory or learning process comes from creating opportunities that speak to everyone. Our approach includes crafting actionable, tangible activities with multiple entry points, making it easy for individuals to engage at their own comfort level. By strategically designing these activities with the broader context in mind, we ensure that our projects can be easily adapted and expanded upon by the community. Informed by rigorous user research, we align the project’s objectives with the audience’s needs, ensuring that every interaction is not just participatory, but also meaningful.

We Explore Blended Approaches to Design Interventions

While digital-only strategies have their merits, they can also contribute to issues like limited public sphere visibility and the widening of the digital divide. That’s why at toyfoo, we advocate for a blended approach to design interventions. This approach marries physical interactive objects with digital components, and when required, incorporates human facilitation as both a trigger and companion. Importantly, we encourage community ownership as a strategy: by making our interventions both usable and adaptable, we empower participants to extend and build upon projects, tailoring them to meet their own needs and those of the wider community.

We Employ a Research-Based Design Methodology

Leveraging our extensive research background, we adopt a reflective stance in all our projects, investigating the use context for each design challenge. Our methodology employs a spectrum of techniques—starting from contextual analysis and stakeholder consultations to identify promising new directions, to user research, and co-creation workshops that guide our design process. We develop customer personas and map out user journeys to bring a nuanced understanding of our audience into the design. Together, these strategies help us gain fresh perspectives on each project, offering new avenues for action through techniques like reframing, speculative design, and proof of concept evaluations.