{"id":8809,"date":"2018-11-30T10:18:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T17:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/?p=8809"},"modified":"2020-06-12T09:35:34","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T15:35:34","slug":"you-have-a-cool-job-episode-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/you-have-a-cool-job-episode-8\/","title":{"rendered":"You Have a Cool Job: Toy Designer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"You Have A Cool Job: Toy Designer\" width=\"770\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lVCNDCI6jps?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>On this week\u2019s episode<\/b><\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>On this episode of <em>You Have a Cool Job<\/em>, meet Rod Hoffmann, a toy designer and owner of Big Eye Studio.<\/li>\n<li>Rod gives us a glimpse into the toy design industry, and what designing toys for big companies like Disney and Marvel is like. He shares how the business is changing and moving towards selling directly to consumers, rather than to distributors.<\/li>\n<li>Rod tells us where he sees the industry in coming years and where he is taking his business.<\/li>\n<li>He also talks about what keeps him inspired to keep creating, and how young designers can get into the industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1><b>About the show<\/b><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You Have a Cool Job<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a podcast hosted by Taylor Sienkiewicz from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peterson\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The show highlights professionals who have <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a unique, interesting, uncommon, or otherwise cool job<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our goal is to motivate you and show how interesting, fulfilling, and anything-but-average your career can be, and we\u2019ll do this by talking with people who took a path less traveled. We ask these fascinating individuals how they got to where they are in their career based on their education, experience, and influences; \u00a0why they love their job; and lots more.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>Want more?<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you like what you&#8217;re hearing, check out these resources to get plugged in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">For more episodes of <i>You Have a Cool Job, <\/i>visit our YouTube <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL9TC13WNTbvfmPMpPB50I7Fnm91DIfPQf\">channel.<\/a> View other podcast blogs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersons.com\/blog\/category\/podcasts\/\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subscribe to receive an email containing each podcast episode of <i>You Have a Cool Job<\/i> as they&#8217;re released.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/sgwidget.leaderapps.co\/js\/sg-widget.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<style>.sendgrid-subscription-widget input{padding:1em 1em 1.05em !important;font-size:.8em;font-family:sans-serif}.sendgrid-subscription-widget #sg_signup_first_name,.sendgrid-subscription-widget #sg_signup_last_name{margin-right:.5em}.sendgrid-subscription-widget #sg-submit-btn{display:inline-block;color:white !important;border:none !important;background:#ea7c62 !important;box-shadow:none !important;cursor:pointer;vertical-align:middle;max-width:250px !important;padding:15px 25px 15px 25px !important;margin:0 .4em;text-align:center;font-size:16px !important;font-family:sans-serif;font-weight:700 !important;}.sendgrid-subscription-widget #sg-submit-btn:active{color:#8e8b8b;box-shadow:0 0 5px -1px rgba(0,0,0,.6)}.sendgrid-subscription-widget .response{display:none;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:.8em}.sendgrid-subscription-widget .success{color:green}.sendgrid-subscription-widget .error,.sendgrid-subscription-widget .sg-consent-text a{color:#3097d1}.sendgrid-subscription-widget .sg-consent-text{font-size:.9em}.sendgrid-subscription-widget .sg-consent-text label{font-weight:400}<\/style>\n<div id=\"sendgrid-subscription-widget\" class=\"sendgrid-subscription-widget\">\n<form id=\"sg-widget\" data-token=\"02b75070a54eca958dbbe3e4b152b4f9\">\n<div id=\"sg-response\" class=\"sg-response\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"sg_email\" name=\"sg_email\" required=\"\" type=\"email\" placeholder=\"you@example.com\" \/><input id=\"sg-submit-btn\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe\" \/><\/p>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about Rod&#8217;s work\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thebigeye.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have a nomination for the show? Drop a line <\/span><a href=\"mailto:taylor.sienkiewicz@petersons.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8815\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8815\" style=\"width: 701px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8815 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.petersons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/10123614\/crw_800h_500a_cc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"500\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8815\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toys from Rod Hoffman&#8217;s portfolio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h1><strong>Episode 8 Transcript<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST SHOW INTRO: Welcome to the show! From Peterson\u2019s, I\u2019m Taylor Sienkiewicz, and you\u2019re listening to <em>You Have a Cool Job<\/em>, a podcast highlighting those who took their profession in a unique direction, and what they did to get there. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">THEME MUSIC<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST INTRO: On today\u2019s episode of You Have a Cool Job, we talk with Rod Hoffmann. If you\u2019ve ever wondered who designs toys like Mickey Mouse, Barbie dolls, and Legos, it\u2019s somebody like Rod. Rod is a toy designer and owner of Big Eye Studio. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST (LIVE): Well Rod, first do you want to just explain for people that are unfamiliar with the toy design industry because it is so small like you said, I get the sense that a lot of people think of toy design as like Santa\u2019s workshop, so how would you describe what it\u2019s like to work in that world?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: Well it is a little like Santa\u2019s workshop, it\u2019s fun! Except really what we do as toy designers as opposed to say a toy inventor, there\u2019s a slight difference and I think it needs to be discussed. An inventor really just kind of comes up with an idea and their premise is to generally go off and sell that idea to a toy company that will then pay them royalty and they sort of walk away from it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Rod is essentially the next step after this initial invention, and turns these ideas into something real. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: What we do as toy designers mostly is that comes to us from could be a toy startup company, could be a toy company itself, and they will give us the parameters of the project and then we actually literally design the product and we are industrial designers so we typically will do the outlook design is what we call it, which is basically how it looks and how much it\u2019s going to perform. So if we were designing a toy car for example, this is on paper this is what it\u2019s going to look like, it\u2019s going to have this that turns doors open and so on and so on. Then the next problem that we focus in on is how to make it happen and that becomes a little bit of a mix of design and engineering and we typically shy away from the actual physical engineering but as a toy designer we get heavily involved in it and direct it so we\u2019re hands-on. Next step that I will do and that most of what the other independents do as well is we also follow the product all the way to production. So we will typically work with the mold makers, typically work with the toy manufacturers, most of them being in China, and we work with them to make sure that our idea and the things that our customer has approved actually hit the shelf.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: But Rod\u2019s job doesn\u2019t end at just the production of the toy. He is also involved in the marketing of the toy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: We will typically also design the package, design the artwork, design the logos for the brand sometimes, it really comes down to what the customers want and how much they want to do and what they have available to them as resources. So that\u2019s really it in a nutshell, I like to say we take ideas and make them happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: And then you own the Big Eye Studio, correct?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: Yes I do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: So you\u2019re both a toy designer and a business owner, how do these two things coexist for you, and then just how do you run your business?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: Yeah it\u2019s a right brain, left brain sort of thing isn\u2019t it. It\u2019s always been a challenge. I have been an independent designer for many, many years and it is difficult. There\u2019s no two ways about it. Luckily I\u2019ve been in the business long enough that my name sort of, my reputation precedes me and therefore I don\u2019t have to be on the phone hunting clients everyday, and I like to keep my business small. I have one large studio, I had a big studio in Atlanta, we eventually sold out and went to work for one of our clients, and that company hit about $180 million and I left there and went back out on my own. So, I\u2019ve learned a lot but business is part of what we do. Even as a toy designer you have to remember that you can make it in your head and you can draw it on a piece of paper, but if it costs more to make than the consumer is willing to pay for it then you\u2019ve really shot yourself in the foot. And that\u2019s really when the rubber meets the road for us toy designers is designing products based on our long term mileage of what works, what doesn\u2019t, what costs what. Because if a person comes to me and says I\u2019m going to make a 12 inch articulated action figure. Well I know what it take to make that as I\u2019ve made plenty of them. Whereas a younger designer may not have the slightest idea what it\u2019s going to cost and so they may go about it and design an action figure that\u2019s got all the buzzers and bells that they wanted in an action figure and then it actually ends up costing three times what it should and therefore the retail price is way higher. So it does involved a little business we do need to understand the trends we need to understand what consumers are willing to pay and what they\u2019re not willing to pay. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Right. One other thing that stuck out to me when I was looking into your company was that you have those huge companies that are willing to pay a lot potentially, like Disney and Marvel, so how did you first tap into those distribution markets and then how is it to work with such large companies as a small company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: Well I\u2019ve worked with them in many ways in different points over the years. A lot of the items to which we do are literally licensed, which means that, here\u2019s an example, a few of the Disney items that we show online, those are actually created for Fusion Toys which is an American company and what they do as a company is they obtain license from Disney to manufacture toys under their name. Now because I\u2019m a Disney approved designer, that allows me to cut to the chase design the toy and packaging based on Disney\u2019s pre-requisites and their style guide and produce a toy that meets the Disney standards. Therefore, I just give the design but we are in contact with Disney and their approval process and things like that all the time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: In addition to these well-known toy distributors, Rod also works with brands big and small, all across the board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: I deal with many, many licensing companies from Ford and Chevy, GM, to little companies you\u2019ve never even heard of all the way to national rodeo people! It\u2019s crazy and that\u2019s one thing that I think people are misconstrued is that Disney does not make toys. Toy companies make toys and Disney allows them to, and that\u2019s probably the best way to explain it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Rod mentioned a couple of misconceptions people have about the industry, so I wanted to know how this plays into his personal life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST (LIVE): Rod, what are then, because you say people have a lot of different assumptions about it, when you tell friends or family or just people outside of your industry what you do, what are some common reactions that you get?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: (laughs) Well the funniest reaction I usually get from people, I\u2019ve got to be just a little comical, I tell people I\u2019m a toy designer, and they look at me and go, well \u2018what kind of toys\u2019? I mean there\u2019s only two kinds of toys that I know of, there\u2019s adult toys and children\u2019s toys and that\u2019s it. And then the second question that they ask is \u2018what have you done that I\u2019ve seen\u2019? And, you know, of course you can see my design in Disney and Action and Marvel figures, and over the years I\u2019ve done things with Taco Bell and the little things that you get in your Happy Meals and things like that and people will recognize those and they think that\u2019s really cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Children\u2019s toys are a pretty common part of life, but the toy design industry is fairly small. Rod explained why it\u2019s now shrinking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: It is political, the tariffs involve some of it, but primarily the shift in retail purchasing and the buyers, a lot of items are being purchased online. A lot of the mass retail, which would be the Walmarts and Targets, they\u2019re shrinking too. And there\u2019s only a handful of large retailers and a handful of large toy companies. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: However, Rod is picking up on these changes in the industry and predicts the future of toy designing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: The trend right now, and it\u2019s primarily the bulk of customers and who I focus on, are smaller companies. Some of these companies are run out of people\u2019s basements for example, but they\u2019re making more money than the larger clients that I have because what the trend has been is what\u2019s called, manufacturer to consumer, M to C is what they\u2019ve coined it as, and that means that instead of manufacturing a toy, and then going through a distributor or sales rep or even a retailer to get to the customer, they\u2019re now selling directly to the customer. You can witness this on Ali Babba, Etsy, and Amazon, and Ebay, and places like that but one of the other big trends happens to be Kickstarter and things like that so what happens is that\u2019s where the toy industry is headed. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: These changing trends are what is putting large retailers like Toys R Us out of business. Rod shares what the new direction for himself and other toy designers may be going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: It\u2019s very vibrant to me. That\u2019s been my mantra forever. Instead of the toy costing, this is typical it\u2019s called keystoning, and let\u2019s say something costs $2 to manufacture and then we sell it to a retailer let\u2019s say Walmart, and they pay me $4 and then Walmart sells it for $8. Well, now the factories are saying why should I sell it to Walmart who\u2019s going to give me all these restraints and then probably not sell my product very well, or I can sell directly online and charge the customer $4, or even $3 and still make as much money as I did before. So that\u2019s really changing the industry dramatically. And that\u2019s what\u2019s driving Amazon, it\u2019s this ability to bypass the brick and mortar stores and that is what\u2019s making the pool smaller but at the same time it\u2019s making people like me busier. I have a lot more clients that go a lot faster, we\u2019re going to the market a lot faster than two year development and it\u2019s wonderful. I think it\u2019s one of the greatest things to hit this business. So, it\u2019s shrinking but I think as this grows it\u2019s going to explode.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Right, and with that being said, where do you see your company going?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: I\u2019m focusing on that. I am focusing completely, I\u2019ve moved away from thinking Marvel and Disney, primarily because that\u2019s not really where my bread and butter is anymore. My bread and butter is with the smaller guy. I\u2019m dealing directly with the owner. I\u2019m dealing directly with the staff that starts it. It\u2019s vibrant. These are millennials doing this. It\u2019s exhilarating for someone at my age with as much knowledge as I have to have the same feeling I did when I was 20. So that\u2019s where we\u2019re headed, we\u2019re headed directly to dealing with people who are wanting to develop a product and I can show you how to manufacture it on the cheap and sell it. You know as well as I do the shifting consumer market is immense. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Rod explains that this transition, is actually a return to the industry\u2019s roots in some ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: Now think there used to be a time that a person sat in his little workshop and he made a bunch of toys by hand and he sold them locally and he was called the toymaker or something. Well, we\u2019re getting back to that. So now we have a person who sits in his house or his little shop and he comes up with ideas and they sell them globally, and they can sell them in small quantities. It used to be you had to make 20, 30, 40,000 on the first run. With 3D printing and some of the other technologies out there, we can create 10 or 100 and if you like them you buy them and then we go to mass production.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: Rod said that his company is utilizing 3D printing more and more as well. Now, for the question of, how do you become a toy designer. While Rod has many years of experience in the field, I wanted to know how he got into the industry in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: Here\u2019s how I tell people. When I was a little kid, I was the one who took his toys apart, I wanted to know what was inside them how do they work, and I also grew up up north in an industrial world. So I was very familiar with manufacturing and how things happen. So I went on to art school and I worked in various industries along the way, and I wanted to be in advertising. So I started out in the advertising industry in the early 80s when I graduated in some of the biggest advertising industries on the planet. That was in Atlanta and that\u2019s where I learned advertising but I didn\u2019t really care for it too much so I branched out and was starting to focus on brand identity and things like that and I had a little studio, we had customers like Coca-Cola and Ciba Gygi and Georgia Pacific, pretty typical corporate graphic design studio stuff. Well, that was fun, but then, I\u2019m a motorsports person, so I got involved in designing motorsports cars and packages and graphics and so on for those same customers, well that got noticed and I ran into a client that also became my boss eventually, but they were in the toy industry and they primarily made trading cards. I went on, it was about six people in the company, I tripled their staff, I brought my people with them, we were $180 million trading card company. And things happened at the top, the CEO died and the company kind of fell apart, and I left. I went back out on my own and focused solely on toys. So I don\u2019t have the typical toy designer background. I come from a designer\u2019s background and am a person who is self-taught in industrial design.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: If you decide you want to go to school to be a toy designer, the most common degree to earn for this career is in industrial design. However, \u00a0Rod\u2019s degree was in graphic design and he made his way to toy designing later on. Rod shares his advice for aspiring designers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: That\u2019s really ultimately what I would focus on for new designers or anybody wanting to get into the business is be creative, that is the first thing that you have to be, and have fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: As for final thoughts, Rod explained what being a toy designer means to him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROD HOFFMANN: It\u2019s art to me, you know. I mean artists never stop creating and I see it as art. It\u2019s an expression of love, it\u2019s an expression of empathy, it\u2019s pouring out something that somebody else can touch, see, and play with. That\u2019s how I see it. It is valuable. Kids love toys, adults love toys, and it gives people a chance to smile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HOST: You may have always wondered who the craftsman behind your favorite toys is, and now you\u2019ve met him and are maybe even inspired to dive into the field yourself. Thanks for tuning in, we\u2019ll see you next week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">THEME MUSIC<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this week\u2019s episode On this episode of You Have a Cool Job, meet Rod Hoffmann, a toy designer and owner of Big Eye Studio. Rod gives us a glimpse into the toy design industry, and what designing toys for big companies like Disney and Marvel is like. He shares how the business is changing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":8817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1717],"tags":[628,1718,1828,1720],"class_list":{"0":"post-8809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-podcasts","8":"tag-career-planning","9":"tag-podcast","10":"tag-toy-designer","11":"tag-you-have-a-cool-job","12":"ad_tags-top100"},"better_featured_image":{"id":8817,"alt_text":"","caption":"Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":2048,"height":1366,"file":"s3:\/\/pcom-wp-media\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/10123613\/rawpixel-633848-unsplash.jpg","sizes":{},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":8809,"source_url":"https:\/\/wp-media.petersons.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/10123613\/rawpixel-633848-unsplash.jpg"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Toy Designer | Career Planning | You Have a Cool Job Podcast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On this episode of You Have a Cool Job, meet Rod Hoffmann, a toy designer. 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