MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイ by Yoshiaki Ito

MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイ by Yoshiaki Ito is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 金賞 in 玩具・ゲーム・ホビー製品デザイン Competition Category.

金玩具· 2020

MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイ

by Yoshiaki Ito

Client: MoFU

A' Design Award 金賞 Winner in 玩具 Category

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Colors

The Design

About MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイ

モーフィッツ(旧称モフ)は、脳トレパズルとしても機能する変形トイです。これらの直方体形状のトイは引き出し式の箱から滑り出し、豚、猿、虎、カバ、キリンなどの様々な動物へと展開します。それぞれの動物には愛らしく個性的な特徴があり、魅力的なキャラクターとなっています。しかし、真の挑戦は、モーフィッツを正しい直方体の形に折り返すことにあります。箱にぴったりと収めるというパズルのような課題を解くには、知恵が必要です。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 金賞

MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイは、まさに素晴らしく傑出した第一級のデザインに授与される、計り知れないほど権威ある評価である A' Design Award 金賞の受賞作品です。金賞の受賞作品は、きわめて革新的で、先見性に富み、きらびやかに輝く創造物であり、デザイナーの天才性、叡智、卓越した技量を映し出しています。MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイは、最も称賛される、流行を牽引する記念碑的な発明であり、前例のない価値をもたらすことが期待されます。この A' Design Award 金賞を受賞したデザインは、壮観で尊敬されるプロジェクトであり、芸術・科学・デザイン・技術の境界に大きく寄与し、それを前進させます。MoFU Mighty Omega Folding Universe パズルトイは、強い欲求を生み出し、情熱を呼び覚まし、創造性を促し、私たちを引きつけます。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: MoFU are transforming toys that are also brainteaser puzzles. Starting as identically shaped cuboids that slide out of boxes on drawers, each MoFU unfolds into a different kind of animal - pig, monkey, tiger, hippo, and giraffe. Each animal is its own character with cute and iconic features, but each is also a distinct puzzle. Folding a MoFU back into the correct cuboid shape so it can perfectly fit back into its box is a brainteasing challenge.
Dimensions & Packaging: 85mm x 70mm x 60mm when folded in their 3D-printed boxes and at their most compact. Dimensions change with various poses. The maximum possible height is the fully unfolded giraffe at 370mm, and the minimum possible height is a fully recumbent monkey at 35mm.
Tags: Toys, Animals, Ecology, Recycled, Plastic, Geometric, Abstract, Transforming, Brainteaser, Puzzle
Production Technology: MoFU are 3D-printed using 100% recycled PET plastic from water bottles using selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing. The 3D-printed pieces of the toy are united by elastic bands which run through the center of each piece. The pieces are finished with polyshot surfacing and deep-dye coloring for safe use by children and maximum lifespan.
Design Challenge: I had to think about the shape of each piece very carefully and how it could fit with its neighboring piece like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Additionally all of the pieces had to be folded together into the rectangular shape of their box.
Research: Each piece of each toy had to be precisely shaped to fit with its neighboring piece like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. Pieces that approximate parts of an animal body must also be folded and nestled in a specific way, fitting perfectly together to revert to a cuboid shape.

Finding the perfect tension of the elastic bands was difficult as the pieces must freely rotate and fold, but not be at all loose. The holes bored for the bands had to be precise to the half-millimeter for the toy to function properly.
Inspiration: Japanese origami, Kumiki puzzles, Transformers.
Project Duration: MoFU project development started in Brooklyn, NY in April 2018. The first animal, a pig, was created in May 2018; the monkey was finished in September 2018; the tiger in December 2018, the hippo in March 2019, and the giraffe in Jun 2019.
Operation Flow: MoFU emerge from identically shaped boxes, but each transforms into a different animal figure with articulated joints. Elastic bands form the animals' tendons and ligaments, allowing maximum transformability and infinite possible poses.

The toys are figurines, but they are also puzzles with varying degrees of difficulty. Folding them back into the correct cuboid shape so that they can fit back into their boxes ranges from simple for a child hippo to difficult for an adult monkey.
Patents: Yoshiaki Ito
Image Credits: Photgrapes by Yoshiaki Ito, Video by Aria Wetzler and Yana Birykova