Overview
During my first semester at Politecnico di Milano, I had the unbelievable opportunity to collaborate with a diverse set of teammates and work with Ferrero, the second biggest chocolate producer in the world, to Design the iconic toys that come inside Kinder Surprise Eggs.
Goals
The goal of this collaboration was to develop new concepts for the company, focusing on new playabilities for the targeted age group (3-5 years old). A key emphasis in this project was in the ability of working in a highly constrained environment, with strict requirements around the toy's themes, methods of production, technologies, business goals, cost, and safety regulations.
With weekly meetings with Ferrero's representatives, of diverse areas such as strategy, design and engineering, we were able to funnel 10 concept ideas into 3 promising and developed toys.
Overview
During my first semester at Politecnico di Milano, I had the unbelievable opportunity to collaborate with a diverse set of teammates and work with Ferrero, the second biggest chocolate producer in the world, to Design the iconic toys that come inside Kinder Surprise Eggs.
Goals
The goal of this collaboration was to develop new concepts for the company, focusing on new playabilities for the targeted age group (3-5 years old). A key emphasis in this project was in the ability of working in a highly constrained environment, with strict requirements around the toy's themes, methods of production, technologies, business goals, cost, and safety regulations.
With weekly meetings with Ferrero's representatives, of diverse areas such as strategy, design and engineering, we were able to funnel 10 concept ideas into 3 promising and developed toys.
Robomood
My team's first toy was called Robomood, a play on the usual disconnection between robots and emotions. The playability here was created with the goal of helping kids understand and communicate their emotions and facial expressions, something we found in research can be a struggle for the targeted group, especially for neurodivergent children.
Important attention to detail was put in making the turning of the faces be intuitive, easy, and in a way that does not interrupt the frontal view, as well as creating expressions that could be easily identified and could create multiple interesting mood combinations.
It was a requirement of the company to have some assembly for every toy, so the goal was to make it as intuitive and rewarding as possible.
A defining moment for each of the toys was to test it with users. After numerous iterations we recreated the unboxing experience with a couple of kids, using our best prototypes. This way could learn and improve the assembly and playability, according to their reactions.
The above Colors, Material, and Finish were chosen having in mind the company's knowhow, material properties and cost.
Precise technical drawings were made, ensuring maximum readability and efficiency with tolerances and sizing.
Since Ferrero's main Production process is injection molding, extra care and attention were given to understand it's benefits, but also requirements and drawbacks. We conceptualized Injection molds to ensure our shapes were ready for production.
Another key requirement was to fit perfectly in the tight containers of bot Kinder Surprise and Kinder Joy.
Lastly, we were also in charge of the Graphic communication and ensuring to keep it easily understandable and matching the current visual Identity.
3D Printed Prototype
Robomood
My team's first toy was called Robomood, a play on the usual disconnection between robots and emotions. The playability here was created with the goal of helping kids understand and communicate their emotions and facial expressions, something we found in research can be a struggle for the targeted group, especially for neurodivergent children.
Important attention to detail was put in making the turning of the faces be intuitive, easy, and in a way that does not interrupt the frontal view, as well as creating expressions that could be easily identified and could create multiple interesting mood combinations.
It was a requirement of the company to have some assembly for every toy, so the goal was to make it as intuitive and rewarding as possible.
A defining moment for each of the toys was to test it with users. After numerous iterations we recreated the unboxing experience with a couple of kids, using our best prototypes. This way could learn and improve the assembly and playability, according to their reactions.
The above Colors, Material, and Finish were chosen having in mind the company's knowhow, material properties and cost.
Precise technical drawings were made, ensuring maximum readability and efficiency with tolerances and sizing.
Since Ferrero's main Production process is injection molding, extra care and attention were given to understand it's benefits, but also requirements and drawbacks. We conceptualized Injection molds to ensure our shapes were ready for production.
Another key requirement was to fit perfectly in the tight containers of bot Kinder Surprise and Kinder Joy.
Lastly, we were also in charge of the Graphic communication and ensuring to keep it easily understandable and matching the current visual Identity.
3D Printed Prototype
Octopus Charm
3D Printed Prototype
Octopus Charm
3D Printed Prototype
RollingBot
RollingBot
