In 2014 Igor Marko, town planner, architect and social visionary, and the visual artist and graphic designer Ján Šicko, both of them enthusiastic developers of new toys, honoured us by joining the project. The hravo collection has thus grown with products by two further authors, and the story we have to tell about new Slovak toys goes on.
[ hravo 2 ]hravo gained 2nd place in a group of 16 projects submitted to the Tatra Bank Foundation’s Business Idea programme for financial support of their enterprise aim. The commission acknowledged the inventiveness of the individual designs and the project authors’ strategy of orientating sales of the toys to the international market. hravo will pursue the commission’s recommendations in the field of prospective financing of the production of toys, including by a crowdfunding campaign.
[ Business Idea ]The Slovak Ministry of Culture has provided support for the realisation of the hravo 2 collection. Hence in 2014 two further designs will appear by selected authors, each representing one of the disciplines of architecture, design and visual art. The aim is to extend hravo’s portfolio of designs, which the organisers intend to present at a future date at Spielwarenmesse Nuremberg, the international toyfair. Names of the authors in the hravo 2 collection will be released as soon as possible...
[ Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic ]Prototypes of the toys were installed in the Bratislava sales outlet Vnímavé hračky (Cubicon, Mlynská dolina). Here young and old alike were able to play with BábkoHra (Puppet Play), Hviezda času (Star of Time) and Vlajky (Flags). Over the course of one month the public recorded their impressions in written questionnaires, which will be presented to potential manufacturers.
[ Vnímavé hračky ]The organizers of Visegrad Markets invited hravo, together with another Slovak brand villo.in, to take charge of the Children’s Corner in Bratislava’s Old Market (Stará Tržnica). The pilot event linked designers from the V4 countries and apart from presentations of individual toys as part of the accompanying programme, there was also discussion on the importance of supporting local producers and the significance of international cooperation.
[ Visegrad Markets ]The collection of hravo prototypes was given its test premiere by children from creative workshops at design factory college. Together with the authors, children were able to assemble the Star of Time, play the PuppetPlay, or invent the Flag of Your Own State.
The toys went through almost 120 pairs of hands. And the result? We urgently need a manufacturer...
[ photo gallery ]