Oribel is a startup company based in Singapore that blends playthings with artistic design and home decoration. The models in their brand new ‘VertiPlay’ series are essentially stick-on wall art pieces that have interactive qualities, thereby doubling them as toys. Aside from merely amusing kids, these playthings also have fundamental educational components which enable them to aid in the advancement of a child’s cognitive development. Moreover, physical, and occupational therapists have recommended VertiPlay toys for Children who have development challenges such as difficulty walking.
Functions
Introduced in January of 2017, the "VertiPlay" line was created after the Oribel team mentored design students. “One of the students mentioned how he wanted to design toys that evoked nostalgia for the toys in the playground that everyone played with as children,” explained Cindy Goh, the Founder and President of Oribel. Inspired by the student’s words, Cindy formed a professional team of designers and artists who put together a series of seemingly simple—yet cleverly crafted and engaging—toys that could be hung on a wall; akin to décor or even fine art.
“The key contributors on our global team are product designers Keith and Vernon, and graphic designers Meijun and Soizic,” Cindy said and noted that the Oribel staff wanted the pieces in the VertiPlay line to be more than merely pretty; they also wanted them to be educational and useful in fulfilling essential development objectives.
For instance, the door knockers that are featured on some of the pieces help children master the concept of cause-and-effect and the Xylophone model helps to teach musical awareness. VertiPlay Toys also provide many opportunities to strengthen motor-skills via their puzzle features and stacking play.
“Mr. Squirrel’s house is a three-layer six-piece jigsaw puzzle that has a lot of fun motor-skill components,” Cindy stated.
“The puzzle pieces have been kept chunky so little hands can grasp them and every layer tells a story about the house.” Such story elements can be turned into educational lessons via adults asking children simple questions or playing games with the visuals. “You can count the number of acorns in the pantry, consider what fruits and vegetables Mrs.
Squirrel like to eat, and more,” said Cindy.
“So, it’s good for cognitive development, too. The ‘Goofy Moose Balancer’ is another popular item. It’s a mathematics and science toy that aims to teach kids in a fun way. The fact that the VertiPlay collection look great in a playroom and dress up the walls is an added bonus, the game play element that was definitely the most important to us.” Since their launch, the “Busy Woodpecker” and “Tree Top Adventure” models have proven to be especially popular with the public.
Design
Designing the series was not easy. Although it has certain similarities with brands like Skip Hop, Peg Perego, and Melissa & Doug, its vertical designs are unique and, thereby, innovative.
Essentially while the toys are simple and instinctive, the technical aspect of getting the designs to defy gravity and conform to all major toy standards was extremely challenging for the Oribel team. Yet Cindy is adamant that the challenge was worth it, and they plan to release several new models in 2017.
“One impending model that we are very excited about is a Verti-Terrarium,” she stated. “We provide magnetic pieces to create scenes of spring and autumn on a glass terrarium like background and it comes with a pocket to store all the pieces. We are also planning to branch out into home furnishings, especially for children’s rooms and nurseries. We hope that 2017 will be an exciting year.”
