A. Headphonies By Alex Murphy
“People love toys, people love music, and people like art customized products,” explains Eran Weinberg, the creator behind Headphonies. “So a toy that plays music and connects you emotionally through art, combines the best of everything.”
Headphonies are essentially 3″ tall cartoon figures that serve as speakers. The idea came to Weinberg with the dilemma of having an iPod but little to no companies providing any form of small enough speakers to use on the go. After some engineering, and trial and error, Headphonies were born.
“A speaker toy is not an original concept,” says Weinberg. “It has been done by other designers and larger companies. I think where Headphonies differs is that it uses the speaker body as a canvas for different artwork.”
So although each shape is the same, each design printed on it creates a new personality and this personality attracts all different consumers, he adds.
These little characters of artwork have inspired other designers in the industry to create their own Headphonies character. The blue gorilla known as “Mad Ape” was actually designed by MAD Toy Design’s Jeremy Madl.
However, this does not mean Weinberg does not have his own share of character designs.
Unlike other toy industry enthusiasts, Weinberg is actually a product designer and this is the first time he has tried his hand at toy design, which has been a fun experience for him.
“I thought designer toys were really cool, and should be more popular,” he says. “But [I] left in order to reach a much larger market they needed to do something. So the merge between the designer toys and the speaker just seemed to work out.”
Wonka Vision Magazine, November 15, 2009, Page 48
