IP firm Wynne-Jones IP has signed as a sponsor of this year’s Play Creators Festival.

The company will be providing delegates with jargon-free IP know-how across the three days of the Festival, which takes place from Monday September 7th to Wednesday September 9th.

“It’s great to be able to be a major part of the Play Creators Conference, Play Creators Awards and Mojo Pitch once again this year,” said Victor Caddy, trade mark attorney and partner at Wynne-Jones IP.

“We’re now in the third year of our sponsorship and have watched how the team at Mojo Nation have developed it year-on-year to become a major “must attend” event in the annual toys and games calendar, with attendees from across the world.

“We’re expecting this year’s three day, further enhanced event to be the best so far and are thrilled to sponsor the conference, awards and participate in the pitch day this September, when we will hopefully all be interacting with industry colleagues once again.”

Billy Langsworthy, co-founder of Mojo Nation, added: “We’re delighted to get Wynne-Jones IP involved in this year’s Play Creators Festival. Whether it’s through providing useful advice, or via on-going initiatives like the Code of Conduct, Wynne-Jones has proved itself to be a true advocate for the inventor community.”

For more information about this year’s Play Creators Festival, head to www.playcreatorsfestival.com.
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Nominations are now open for the Play Creators Awards, an event celebrating the best in toy and game design.

Taking place at London’s Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, September 8th – during this year’s Play Creators Festival – the Play Creators Awards will celebrate figures in the toy and game design community that have excelled over the last 12 months, including in-house design teams, outside invention studios and freelance design partners.

The categories available to nominate are:

Toy Designer of the Year
Whether bringing innovation to an iconic toy brand, or responsible for the industry’s latest big hit, this award celebrates a figure that has done outstanding work in toy design over the last 12 months.

Game Designer of the Year (Kids’ Game)
This award is for designers behind the best and brightest in the world of kids’ games. Fun, silly, educational, or all of the above, we’re looking to celebrate the brains behind the games.

Game Designer of the Year (Party Game)
Aimed at a more mature audience than our Kids’ Game category, this award celebrates designers or invention studios behind the year’s top party games.

R&D Team of the Year
In-house at a toy titan, or leading design at a thriving SME, this award celebrates teams working in Research & Development that have achieved extraordinary things over the last year.

Invention Studio/Design Agency of the Year
The secret weapon for many toy firms, design agencies and invention studios are the unsung heroes of our industry. This category celebrates a firm that deserves recognition for exceptional work over the last 12 months.

Toy Designer of the Year (Licensed Product)
The first of two awards recognising excellence in licensed product, Toy Designer of the Year (Licensed Product) celebrates creators that have brought much loved characters and IP to life through great toys.

Game Designer of the Year (Licensed Product)
This award is for a designer that has given an IP the tabletop treatment in impressive style via a great licensed game this year.

Play Innovator of the Year
Whether it’s via AI, robotics, VR, AR or voice tech, the Play Innovation of the Year award celebrates designers driving innovation in the toy and game space through the integration of the latest and greatest tech.

Rising Star Award
Who are the design legends of the future? Perhaps someone leading one of the industry’s many exciting start-ups, or a young star within your team? If so, nominate them in the Rising Star category.

Design Icon Award
This award celebrate an iconic figure that have helped shape the industry, truly leaving their footprint and a lasting legacy in the world of toy and game design.

The deadline to get nominations in is Monday, May 4th 2020.

Finalists for each category will be announced in June, before a panel of experts select winners over a series of roundtable judging sessions.

To nominate, or for information on tickets, head to the Play Creators Awards site here.

For sponsorship opportunities or information on the wider Play Creators Festival, click here.

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Toy and game designers will be able to pitch concepts to Ravensburger at this year’s Mojo Pitch event.

Forming part of the Play Creators Festival, the Mojo Pitch will take place on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 at London’s Stamford Bridge stadium.

The event welcomes toy and game designers (both seasoned professionals and talented amateurs), invention houses and design agencies as they pitch exciting new toy and game concepts to a range of companies, each on the lookout for new products.

“Innovation is at the very heart of the inventor community and, by its nature, it is ever-changing and ever-growing,” said Benn Bramwell, International Product Manager Children’s Games at Ravensburger.

“With extensive knowledge of the inventor world, the Mojo team have proved themselves to be effective facilitators in making introductions that are both relevant and productive. They have been instrumental in helping us forge a number of promising new relationships already and we’re certainly looking forward to seeing what the next event will bring.”

If you’re a designer, inventor or design agency that would like book in a meeting with Ravensburger at this year’s Mojo Pitch, head to mojo-pitch.com for more information or email Mojo’s Billy Langsworthy on billy@mojo-nation.com

If you’re a company that would like to join Ravensburger in meeting with designers and inventors at the event, email Adam Butler at adam@mojo-nation.com

For more details on the wider Play Creators Festival, head to: www.playcreatorsfestival.com

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Toy and game designers will be able to pitch concepts to TOMY at this year’s Mojo Pitch event.

Forming part of the Play Creators Festival, the Mojo Pitch will take place on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 at London’s Stamford Bridge stadium.

The event welcomes toy and game designers (both seasoned professionals and talented amateurs), invention houses and design agencies as they pitch exciting new toy and game concepts to a range of companies, each on the lookout for new products.

“TOMY are once again delighted to be joining in this year’s amazing Mojo Pitch event to find the best of innovation for our toys and games portfolio,” said Alpesh Patel, VP of Global Toy Design, TOMY.

“Our core foundation is built on making the world smile with the very best of development and play focused toys, games and infant products. The incredible inventor community that Mojo so excellently links us with, play a huge part of this and we look forward to seeing inventor friends of old and new!”

If you’re a designer, inventor or design agency that would like book in a meeting with TOMY at this year’s Mojo Pitch, head to mojo-pitch.com for more information or email Mojo’s Billy Langsworthy on billy@mojo-nation.com.

If you’re a company that would like to join TOMY in meeting with designers and inventors at the event, email Adam Butler at adam@mojo-nation.com.

For more details on the wider Play Creators Festival, head to: www.playcreatorsfestival.com.

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Game designers will be able to pitch concepts to Gibsons at this year’s Mojo Pitch event.

Forming part of the Play Creators Festival, the Mojo Pitch will take place on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 at London’s Stamford Bridge stadium.

The event welcomes toy and game designers (both seasoned professionals and talented amateurs), invention houses and design agencies as they pitch exciting new toy and game concepts to a range of companies, each on the lookout for new products.

“Gibsons are thrilled to be part of the Mojo Pitch 2020,” said Emily Charles, product development manager at Gibsons.

“What the Mojo team have achieved in setting up this event is a fantastic forum for toy and game inventors to show their ideas to publishers. We look forward to seeing what the participants come up with and hopefully it will lead to some exciting new Gibsons products!”

If you’re a designer, inventor or design agency that would like book in a meeting with Gibsons at this year’s Mojo Pitch, head to mojo-pitch.com for more information or email Mojo’s Billy Langsworthy on billy@mojo-nation.com.

If you’re a company that would like to join Gibsons in meeting with designers and inventors at the event, email Adam Butler at adam@mojo-nation.com.

For more details on the wider Play Creators Festival, head to: www.playcreatorsfestival.com.

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Mojo Nation has dated its Play Creators Festival 2020, a three-day event boasting conferences, pitching sessions, awards and networking opportunities for those working in the world of toy and game design.

Taking place at London’s Stamford Bridge, the full line-up of events forming next year’s Play Creators Festival are:

Monday September 7th (Evening) – Play Creators Meet Up (Location TBC)

Tuesday September 8th – Play Creators Conference (London’s Stamford Bridge)

Tuesday September 8th – Play Creators Awards (London’s Under the Bridge)

Wednesday September 9th – Mojo Pitch (London’s Stamford Bridge)

The Festival will kick off with a brand new event – the Play Creators Meet Up. This opening night party sees the toy and game design community meet for a night of informal networking, introductions, drinks, games and the chance to catch up ahead of the events of the wider Festival.

Aimed at providing further networking opportunities for attendees of the Festival, the Play Creators Meet-Up is only open to attendees of the Mojo Pitch and wider Festival partners.

The Play Creators Conference (Formerly called the Toy and Game Design Conference) will return on Tuesday, September 8th. Designed to inspire, enlighten and wow the industry’s creative backbone, the Conference will boast a line-up of exciting speakers from across toys, games, tech, licensing, animation, play and the wider worlds of design.

The night of Tuesday, September 8th will host the second annual Play Creators Awards, at London’s Under the Bridge. Celebrating the achievements of the toy and game design community, returning award categories includes Toy Designer of the Year, R&D Team of the Year and Invention Studio of the Year.

The final day of the Play Creators Festival sees the inventor community come and pitch concepts to 30 different toy and game firms at the Mojo Pitch. Taking place on Wednesday, September 9th and available to both professional inventors and design studios as well as first-timers, the Mojo Pitch has cemented itself as one of Europe’s leading pitching events for the toy and game design community.

“Our third annual Play Creators Festival promises to be the biggest and best yet, with more opportunities for designers to pitch, network and enjoy deserved recognition than ever before,” said Billy Langsworthy, co-founder of Mojo Nation.

“Once again, space is strictly limited at our Mojo Pitch, and we only have a certain number of speaker opportunities available at the Play Creators Conference, so if you want to get involved in 2020’s Festival, don’t hesistate to reach out!”

If you’re a company that would like to meet with inventors at the Mojo Pitch, email Billy Langsworthy at billy@mojo-nation.com

If you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities across 2020’s Play Creators Festival, email Adam Butler at adam@mojo-nation.com

And if you’re an inventor or designer interested in buying tickets to next year’s Play Creators Festival, head to www.playcreatorsfestival.com for more information.

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Trend Bible’s Joanna Feeley is set to shed light on the key trends influencing the future of play at this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference.

Taking place at London’s Stamford Bridge Stadium on Monday, September 2nd, the Toy and Game Design Conference unities the industry’s creator community for a day of inspiring talks around creativity, design and play.

As founder and CEO of futures agency Trend Bible, Feeley advises some of the world’s most recognised retailers, brands and organisations, helping them to understand what life at home will be like in the future.

In her session at the Conference, Feeley will be sharing the firm’s key insights into the fundamental shifts on family life at home, and how that impacts coming trends for the toy and games industry.

“We work with a whole host of toy and games companies helping them understand how the broader social and cultural trends translate into the world of play and learning, so I’m really pleased to be able to share some insights with the audience at the Toy and Game Design Conference,” said Feeley.

“I’ll be sharing two big picture trends –The Cult of Busy and Conveniently Conscious – and the impact of these on consumer behaviours in the Toys and Games market.

To book your ticket to this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference, or learn more about the event, head to: www.toyandgamedesignconference.com

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Pete Cartlidge, director at toy invention firm Fuse London, is speaking at this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference with his session titled: ‘Don’t Forget the Past!’

Taking place at Stamford Bridge on Monday, September 2nd, the Toy and Game Design Conference – sponsored by Hasbro and Wynne-Jones IP – will boast engaging and inspirational sessions from figures across toy invention, game creation and the wider worlds of design.

Since 2001, Fuse London has been inventing and licensing ideas to leading companies and their brands, such as Barbie, Fisher-Price, Star Wars and Hot Wheels. A leading light in the toy invention community, the firm’s Cool Maker KumiKreator from Spin Master was named Creative Toy of the Year at this year’s Toy of the Year Awards.

In spite of changes in society and culture, kids and parents are still wowed by toys and games with timeless characteristics. In ‘Don’t Forget the Past!’, Cartlidge will be looking at how past trends and items are often a source of inspiration to him and his team, as well as revealing how some of Fuse’s past hits had actually resided for years in their archives before being licensed.

“Fuse are excited to be attending the Toy and Game Design Conference this year,” said Cartlidge.

“Mojo have put together a great schedule of events with attendees from across the industry, so I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces and making new acquaintances.”

To book your ticket to this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference, head to: https://toyandgamedesignconference.com

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Dominic Wilcox – artist, designer and founder of Little Inventors – will be speaking at this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference in a session titled ‘Little Inventors and the Search for Ideas’.

Taking place at Stamford Bridge on Monday, September 2nd, the Toy and Game Design Conference – sponsored by Hasbro and Wynne-Jones IP – will boast engaging and inspirational sessions from figures across toy invention, game creation and the wider worlds of design.

Wilcox works between the spaces of art, design, craft and technology to create innovative, thought provoking and surprising objects.

The British artist and designer studied at The Royal College of Art, graduating in 2002. He exhibits his work internationally and has been commissioned by brands such as BMW MINI, Kelloggs and Paul Smith.

He is now on a mission to inspire children to become the inventors of the future with Little Inventors, a platform that takes children’s invention drawings and makes them a reality.

“As an artist and inventor of unusual objects, I’ve spent my working life trying to come up with great ideas,” said Wilcox.

“I’ll talk about my GPS shoes, stained glass driverless car and I’ll speak about my organisation, Little Inventors, that turns children’s invention drawings into real things. From an idea that started in my home city of Sunderland to seeing the project on the International Space Station in 2019, it’s been an exciting and inspiring journey.”

To book your ticket to this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference, head to: https://toyandgamedesignconference.com

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Game designers will be able to pitch concepts to USAopoly at this year’s Mojo Pitch event.

Forming part of the Play Creators Festival, the Mojo Pitch will take place on Tuesday, September 3rd at London’s Stamford Bridge stadium.

The event welcomes toy and game designers (both seasoned professionals and talented amateurs), invention houses and design agencies as they pitch exciting new toy and game concepts to a range of companies, each on the lookout for new products.

“We are looking forward to participating in Mojo Pitch, as we heard great things about the inaugural year,” said Tony Serebriany, Director of Inventor Relations and International Sales at USAopoly.

“Having the opportunity to meet with key UK based design firms, teams, agencies and independent designers will be very beneficial for us.”

USAopoly joins a Mojo Pitch line-up that includes Hasbro, TOMY, Spin Master, Vivid/Goliath, Alpha Group, Drumond International, Character Options, Bananagrams, Entertoyment, Rubik’s, Lansay, Moose Toys, Mookie Toys, Golden Bear, HTI, John Adams, Amigo Spiele, Seven Towns and Fat Brain Toys.

More participating firms will be announced shortly.

If you’re a designer, inventor or design agency that would like book in a meeting with USAopoly at this year’s Mojo Pitch, head to mojo-pitch.com for more information.

Or, if you’re a company that would like to join USAopoly in meeting with designers and inventors at the event, email Billy Langsworthy at billy@mojo-nation.com

For more details on the wider Play Creators Festival, head to: www.playcreatorsfestival.com

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