Candylab is the story of a toy designer really passionate about vintage cars and with the desire to relaunch the glamour atmosphere of american modernism through contemporary wooden toys with vintage look. It’s a story that demonstrate how good communication and trend watching can make the success of a toy.
Vlad Dragusin’s journey begins in 2013 with the launch of the first Kickstarter campaign. Vlad still worked as architect in a studio and from his PC followed each step of the first crowdfunding. The amazement was great when he realized that the goal of the campaign was reached in a very short time, even quintuplicating the established sum.
Since 2013 the adventure has go on and become Candylab, a real company of contemporary wooden toys with vintage look that has always doubled, or even tripled the goals of the next five Kickstarter campaigns. The latest is part of ‘Kickstarter Gold’ initiative that collects virtuous cases in the platform and includes a limited serie of 3 special models.
The Brooklyn-based company has its strength in respecting the retelling of iconic car models from the ‘70s and ‘80s, with an obsessive attention to details. Beechwood and totally natural finishing make these machines totally ecological, increasing the intrinsic value of the object.
The company has developed around 20 models and 3 scenarios all over the years, featuring simple lines and elegance in the choice of colors and finishes. These guidelines shaped a statement that dictated Candylab’s language from the beginning. Candylab accepted the challenge and pointed out that good communication and trend watching can make the success of a wooden toy.
All these elements suggest that the primary target of these contemporary wooden toys with vintage look is parents rather than children. And this is not the wrong choice, especially for crowdfunding where communication and attention to stylistic choices is fundamental.
Candylab pushes on two levels of value. The first is on the object in itself: an eco-friendly toy of great stylish quality. The second is the storytelling behind the product: all the selected models base their popularity in America’s collective imagination of classic movies and the fascinating scenarios that are linked to them. Moreover they have well-studied names and a clear ‘personality’. Finally the essentiality of the toy allows to create stories about the object, with the only limit of fantasy.
Another strength of this project is to have exploited the trend, in a particularly favorable historic moment, of craftsmanship and a return to the simplicity and materiality of the object. The photo and video communication of this toy company, especially on social media, is based on these elements, increasing the affection on the brand and product by an ever-expanding audience.
