About the studio

We're a small independent family studio with big dreams

We mix fresh imagination with insight-driven ideation, all glued* together with commercial strategy. (*Sometimes actual glue!)

The studio wall: a Southsea print, a skateboard, and the sign that says play is the highest form of research

The makers

The team that make it happen

Making

Proudly based in the historic coastal island city of Portsmouth. Only 1.5 hours from London, we swap suits for wetsuits. Fun facts about our city:

  • Packed into just 15.5 square miles, the most densely populated city in England after London.
  • King Henry VIII's Southsea Castle sits on a vista of the shoreline.
  • Home to one of Britain's most iconic design exports, the Anglepoise lamp.
  • Host to the world's only commercial passenger hovercraft service still in operation.
  • And while our port imports the most bananas in the UK, we attempt to export the most ideas.
Southsea seafront at dusk, the big wheel lit up
Photo by Henry Be on Unsplash

Where we play

Categories we play in

From the cot to the kidult shelf. Nine places our ideas tend to land, and one question they all have to answer: would a kid pick it up?

  • Baby & Preschool

    First toys and the busy boards that follow. PlayTab and Sensory Cards started here.

  • Activity

    Making, mixing and decorating: kits where the fun is in the doing, like the Jewelry & Art Station.

  • Collectables

    Small things worth hunting for: series, surprises and the swap-in-the-playground factor.

  • Games

    Quick to learn, hard to put down. Abstractable and Easy Peasy Lemon Squeaky.

  • STEAM

    Science, tech and art with the learning tucked in behind the play.

  • Plush

    Soft toys with a twist: a comforter that tucks away, a character that does something.

  • 360° IP

    Characters and worlds built to live across toys, screens and shelves. Mouse in the House.

  • Dolls

    Fashion, role play and the small worlds that grow up around them.

  • Outdoor

    Sun, sand and garden: things to throw, fly, splash and race.

Our secret sauce

Innoventing

[in-oh-ven-ting] verb

  1. The magic formula of inventing and innovating simultaneously to conceive original break-frame ideas that can disrupt archaic categories.
  2. A totally made up word!
Inventingconceiving aunique ideaInnovatingexecuting it soit can disruptInnoventingthe sweet spot

How we work

Our invention process

  1. A sketch of a Spin & Scoop tile

    24/7!

    Ideate

    We gather thousands of insights to fuel our ideas, mix in serendipitous eureka moments, then dive headfirst into the fun: sketching, tinkering, prototyping and playing, with plenty of glorious fails along the way.

  2. Prototypes on the studio table

    Until it has that gut feel

    Incubate

    We refine, tinker, play-test and iterate until every concept becomes a unique, slam-dunk, no-brainer, “you gotta see this” commercial opportunity, with product, packaging, marketing and content ideas baked in.

  3. The floor at Toy Fair

    Showtime

    Pitch

    Sizzles that shout, prototypes you can actually play with, and concept bibles that map the whole universe of an IP. Presented virtually, face-to-face, and on the floor at trade shows.

Recognition

Awards

The ones that came with a certificate. Recent, named, and won on the shelf rather than in the studio.

  • Astra seal2025AstraBest Sensory Toy
  • Toy Insider seal2024Toy InsiderTop 20 Hot Toy
  • Mojo Nation 100 seal2020 – 2024Mojo Nation 100Top 100 Creatives, five years running

Join our pitch roster

Let's make things together

We're always excited to connect with partners on the lookout for fresh ideas. If you license new concepts, we'd love to add you to our pitch roster and share our latest things.

Contact the studio