Goliath’s Rory Edwards talks Clickeez, Fiercelings – and the value of younger designers

Rory, it’s great to catch up. Let’s start at the beginning! How did you find your way into toys?
I went to university in 2007 when the job market was tanking and it took me a year out of university to get a design job. The only thing I could find was a design engineer role at a firm in Somerset who manufactured IT server racks – and I had no experience. I think the only reason I got in the door was that I knew how to do SolidWorks! So I did that for two and a half years and learned so much. The design office was right on the factory floor – you do your drawings, you go out there and you make it. I learnt a huge amount.

Oh! Not great?
Great people, but very slow paced! But while I was there I met Steve Moulds who used to work for Hasbro and the engineering team at Stockley Park. He pointed me to the job here at what was then Vivid, and I joined as a costing engineer.

So you went server racks – taps – alarms – toys! Why did toys suit you?
Well, with things like server racks and taps, we’d launch when the product was ready. There were no set times in the year…

People don’t buy their taps at Christmas!
No, thankfully not – so there wasn’t a lot of pressure. And with the fire alarms, it was a big corporation so you’d do your little bit and then it would move up the chain. With toys, every day is different. Sometimes the problems are the same, or the solutions are the same, but the products certainly aren’t.

Let’s dive into some of your latest launches at Vivid Goliath. Clickeez looks like its going from strength to strength.
Yes, that’s probably my team’s biggest focus. Season one had a great reaction and the Keyboard has gone down really well – the US sales are also looking very promising. We have two brilliant designers, Faye Ng and Nynka van Dijk, working on season four and five, and there’s lots of exciting things to come – including licensing with Hello Kitty & Friends and Care Bares both arriving later in the year.

What is the origin story of the brand?
Well, one of our designers loves a mechanical keyboard. And we started musing on the idea of: Could this be a collectible? There’s so many videos of people making ASMR videos of customised keyboards and she just pulled together loads of stuff off the internet showing an appetite for it – and it snowballed from there.

And it’s interesting because my generation may see mechanical keyboards as something we had at school that was a bit sun-bleached in the ICT room… But we have Faye and Nynke, who are both in their early twenties, using mechanical keyboards because they are cool and can be customised. You can change how they feel, how it sounds, the key designs, it’s a bit of a novelty. We’re very excited to see how season three does.

Is that typical for how ideas bloom at Vivid Goliath?
In my team of six, we do lean heavily on our younger designers because they are a fountain of new insights. For example, we have Bo Paowana – who was previously an inventor at Fuse – and she can find a trend like no-one else. Clickeez came from an observation from Nynka… So they are a tremendous resource for us. Exciting new item wouldn’t exist without them.

What areas does your team cover?
It’s the Girls category, so we’ve got Clickeez, Animagic, Arts & Crafts, Fab Lab, Suite Spaces and new brands like Fiercelings.

On FabLab, what tends to spark ideas there?
Actually, our FabLab Lip Jelly Station came from Bo. It speaks to what we were just talking about. She focused in on the lip jelly trend and I had no idea about it until she brought it in. Now, I see it everywhere. But that item was sparked by her research, and then looking at how to make that accessible for a younger age group. That’s the focus of a lot of our work on Fab Lab.

You also mentioned arts and crafts – what have been some recent highlights there?
We have a Peppa Pig Colorific item that was really well received at the toy fairs. As the car drives across the paper, it draws patterns. Dan Becconsall, who is now a senior designer at tms, drew the idea down on a piece of paper in a brainstorm and we kept it. Alex Reynolds, who is now at Casdon, also had a similar idea, and we tried to make it work a few times over the last couple of years… Then it clicked when we got the Colorific business – and the Peppa license fit it perfectly. We’re excited to see how it does when it launches.

I also saw Fiercelings at Toy Fair and they looked great. How did that come about?
That actually started as a plush concept – we asked: How could we do pierced plush? And it turns out, that’s very difficult! So it evolved into this edgy, rebellious doll line where you can customise using ‘piercings’ on to the characters’ wings. Nynke is a doll designer at heart, and she had these characters stories and personalities mapped out very early on, it’s a great process to watch! I am really looking forward to seeing how these are ‘Rebels’ are received when they hit the shelves!

There is! Now, what fuels your creativity?
Being around other people. One of the things I learnt at university very early on is design isn’t a solo project. We were always encouraged to collaborate and that’s true of how we like to work today. That’s when I feel most productive and creative. And then in terms of thinking, I have a 10-minute bike ride to get home and that’s a really good moment where there’s no distractions. It’s a good way to clear the mind and think.

And how would you sum up the creative culture at Vivid Goliath?
It doesn’t matter whether you started yesterday or you’ve been here 30 years, you’re encouraged to give your opinion. Everyone’s opinion is valid. And one of our rules here is that you have to present your own work. If you can’t show that you love your concept and get people excited, then maybe it’s not quite there yet. So everyone’s encouraged to have an opinion and get involved.

Last question – what is the most underrated item you’ve worked on in your time with the company so far?
It’s a tough question! I’d probably say the Power Saber. It was a terrific inventor concept, and as a piece of engineering by our very own Assheton Le Page and the team in China, it’s outstanding. It’s really quite something.

Great pick. Rory, a huge thanks for taking time out to chat.

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