High Design

It ain't much, if it ain't Dutch.

Of course it sounds a bit arrogant, because this is written by a Dutchman. I don't mean it to be arrogant, but on the other hand, there is a lot of truth in that statement at the moment. The Netherlands is known for very old-fashioned products, such as wooden shoes, windmills and tulips (which we honour, because tourists like them), but this is actually starting to change. We are developing in our industrial product design—and it's having a significant impact on the world of children's products.

At this year's Milan Design Week in Italy, a very important design fair, 80 of the exhibiting companies came from Holland, the largest contingent at the show. Nowadays, if you are young, trendy and earn enough to live in cities like New York, it seems almost mandatory to have a Bugaboo baby-carriage or push chair. In fact, it was in New York's Meatpacking District where the Dutch producer Bugaboo recently introduced its new buggy.

“It was very expensive,” Katherine Booth, 35, said of her red Bugaboo in a New York Times story on the company's new products. But she felt it was “worth the money” and she is very proud to own a piece of Dutch design.

Back here in the Netherlands, it's almost daunting to note how many young talents are flourishing today. Two of them designed the new Institute for Image and Sound in Hilversum, a leafy suburban hamlet southeast of Amsterdam, and the centre of the Dutch television industry. It's an architectural wonder that's hard to miss, wrapped in a luxurious skin of colorful cast-glass panels with a five-story basement inside. Here, the complete history of Dutch television is stored.

The Dutch are also starting to build a reputation for cutting edge toy design. 1UpToys is one such firm. It's a small company of three well-educated young people, led by Ronald Mannak. When you enter its offices, you think you are in some kind of electronic laboratory—and in fact you are. The company's principals invented Air Drums, drum sticks loaded with electronics and sensors. With these you can make the sound of a complete set of drums, all you have to do is pretend you are beating them. The sound is magnificent and all melodies are pre-programmed.

The Air Guitar is a new iteration of the same idea. First you clip the small body of a guitar to your belt and with your right hand you act as if you are strumming the guitar. Your left hand only holds the top of the neck of the guitar. You can move it closer to or further away from your body, which produces different sound effects. On the neck are buttons for making various sounds. The harmonies are perfect—everybody is able to play the guitar now. It sure is an awful lot of fun! To get an even better sound, the developers also invented a boombox for the Air Guitar. Silverlit Toys, the Hong Kong-based producer of electronic playthings, will distribute the toys worldwide under the V.Beat label. The line will be available in autumn.

Another Dutch designer on the rise is Raymond Hoogendorp. He is the creator of the character Flub, which has expanded into a toy line of 96 other characters, all translated into vinyl figures. He is now bringing the line to the market and already has had a lot of success in Korea. Products featuring the Flub character have already launched, including lunch boxes, bedding, books, bags, stationery and screen prints. It shows how, in some way, a tiny country can have a really big impact globally.