Bathy-Spherebathtubwater toy

Design IntentTo design a water themed toy for Little Tikes that provokes the child’s imagination while challenging their hand-eye coordination and motor skills.

Little Tikes is a producer of children’s products that range from ride-on toys to backyard sandboxes and play forts, creative arts and juvenile furniture.

Little Tikes products cover a wide range of ages and levels of child development, from infants to 4+ years.

To design concepts for Little Tikes provided the opportunity to study brand language and create a product that fits in with someone else’s aesthetic.

What is Little Tikes?

SANDCASTLES!!

rugged construction

empowering playpatterns

classic design

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Initial ThoughtsInitial ideas focused on the beach and backyard as play settings. Concepts ranged from sand castle building equipment to ride-ons.

bubble-blowing manta kite

pirate spin-a-whirl with water cannon

ship-to-ship cannon battles

crab claw sand shovel

tentacle sand-packing glove

screw-driven pedal boat

robot submarinewagon

beach trike wagonbody doubles as beverage cooler

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RefinementAlthough initial concepts were based outdoors, my final direction took things towards a submarine diving experience in the bathtub.

water effects powered by faucet

each porthole displays different deep sea creature

modular portholes held to tile by suction

early abstract geometric form studies

‘steampunk’ design cues

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Refinement Cont’dI wanted to create a deep sea diving experience, so my designs function as a submarine command post. Inspiration from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as real submarine vessels inform the aesthetic.

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Bathy-SphereThe Little Tikes Bathy-Sphere brings deep sea adventure to the bathtub! The 3-4 year old will experience the exciting hunt for treasure, the discovery of new sea creatures and the basics of submarine operation.

BenefitsThe Bathy-Sphere encourages interaction and promotes motor skills and hand-eye coordination through simple cause and effect water features.

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PumpAll of Bathy-Sphere’s features are human powered via water pump. Water is drawn through a hose from the bath itself.

Pressure Gauges/SonarPressure gauges spin wildly and the sonar pings back and forth to give the pilot the status of their vessel as well as the position of any bogies from the depths.

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Treasure/CreaturesCoins with various sea critters on the surface are placed in the top specimen tube.

The specimen then swirls around the porthole for examination.

Finally the specimen is released back into the wild to be restudied.

Spray Nozzles

nozzles located in the five rivets surrounding the port window ‘leak’ water.

Suction Cups

suction cups mounted on a flexible rubber strip allow for a variety of secure positions

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Bathysphere’s large scale fully immerses the child in the deep sea diving experience, giving the impression that they’re inside a real submarine!