Thailand

Ruttikorn Vuttikorn
Age: 33

My Job Title
Design Director / R&D Manager, Club Creative

www.club-creatives.com

Design Field
Design field: Toys and Children Product design

My Education
Industrial Design, King Mongkut Institute of Technology Lardkrabang Faculty of Architecture (1995)

My Work
"Before setting up my company, I worked as a toy designer for six years in Plan Toys. I was responsible for designing educational toys. During that time, I had the opportunity to observe children playing and conduct toy design and users' research on both local and international levels. User-focused design helped me understand the real problems surrounding existing toys, as well as unspoken user needs. The approach made me realise how far toy design can work to solve problems and enhance the users experience.

In 2004, after working for a big corporation, I thought being my own boss would be a better way to explore my preferences and beliefs in design. With entrepreneurial spirit, I have set up a small design firm, Club Creative. Aspiring to create a design "toyplay" experience for children, Club Creative has driven commercial design for various renowned companies (Motorola (Thailand) Co., Canon Marketing (Thailand) Co., and Sahaphat Co., etc.) as well as creating a wide range of children products such as toys, playground equipment, kids furniture, and textiles. As Design Director, I am in charge of the many aspects related to the design and development process and the management of the design team. In particular, I have to make sure that all Club Creative designs follow the company's philosophy, 'adding educational value and fun into designs while simultaneously making them competitive in the local and international market'. "

Issues in the design sector in my country
"Currently, the toy industry in Thailand is getting stronger, boosting general economic growth and strengthening the profile of the Thai design industry. Having developed over many years, the Thai toy industry is now one of the leading players in the global market. Thai toys have won internationally renowned awards for the past few years, such as the Reddot Design Award from Germany, Toy Innovation Award from Germany, and Good Toy Award from Japan.

In terms of the sector's weaknesses, I think toy companies are too focused on following market trends and in making profit rather than in meeting the users demands. Designers spend most of their time in meeting rooms and studios, rather than playing and observing children. Groups of children - such as specially gifted or disabled children- are often ignored by reckless marketing. We seldom see products being designed for these special groups. If so, these need to be imported and thus have a higher price. This is a situation we must set about to change."

Innovative design trends from Thailand
"The 'Thai fish mobile', whose original Thai name is 'Pla Ta Phaein', is a hand-made craft design that has value beyond its beauty and functionality. 'Pla Ta Phaein' reflects the Thai core values and lifestyle. This toy is rooted in the history of Thai family life and our historical sense of ecological awareness and economic sustainability. We have always made use of natural resources surrounding us; we learn from the way that our knowledge has been passed on from one generation to another. In that sense, we have a unique sense of beauty.

'Pla Ta Phien' can therefore be considered as being at the inception of the Thai wooden toy industry. Thailand is the first country to use rubber wood as a material for toys. Instead of cutting down the rubber tree and burning its wood, we use our design capabilities to turn them into valuable products: wooden toys. In this way, many children all over the world can nowadays play and appreciate the nature of wooden toys made of sustainable resources and with a splendid Thai design."

You can find out more about the national competition in Thailand on the British Council website in Thailand.

The information above is taken from the application form completed by the finalist in early 2007. Things may have changed since this information was provided and we recommend that you should not rely upon this information as a definitive statement of current fact. Click here to contact the finalist.