One of the UK art toy scene’s longest standing contributors, Tesselate’s beautifully minimal approach to design has cemented him as one of the most unique artists in the industry. Originally entering the ring as a customiser almost a decade ago, Tesselate has since gone on to produce several lines of hand made toys including the Keyeyes Yo, Metlex, and his most long running series, the Heartheads.
2012 has seen somewhat of a comeback for the artist, with the last 2 weeks seeing new batches of both the Keyeyes Yo and Valentine Heartheads, along with new additions, the Pressbots, arriving exclusively on his store. We managed to grab some time with the man himself to talk about his latest work, his inspirations, and the thinking behind his trademark ‘key’ design…
You’re one of the longest serving artists in the UK art toy scene, but what got you into the industry?
I’ve always been into art and making things ever since I was a kid, so after finishing school I went into college on a basic Art & Design BTEC and was always interested in the 3d projects. This continued through to University where I completed an Industrial Design degree, where I had access to workshops and materials to my hearts desire.
My final major project was a kids music device called ED-IT, which along with some other earlier projects really began to define the style and feel of my designs since then. I love bold colours and characters.
(ED-IT by Tesselate)
Then in 2003 I was up in London and paid a visit to Playlounge and my girlfriend bought me a couple of QEE Series 3 figures. Once I was home I looked them up online and came across other people interested in the same stuff. I then got into the customising scene at first, working on the 3inch Qee’s which then inspired me to create my own characters.
(Custom/standard Question what? Trexi design, 2004- Tru:Tek personal collection)
What artists have inspired your work? Are there any particular people/collectives that you’re following at the moment?
I wouldn’t really say I’m directly inspired by any individual designers but more from my history of graphic /product design, but you could say designers such as Dieter Rams with his use of crisp shapes and minimalism, and Otl Aicher with a similar calculated feel and an amazing colour choice, have left their mark on me.
On the designer toy front, Map-Map always has me amazed with what he does, the level of detail is so insane they must take him so long. Eric over at Argonaut Resins really has an eye for sculpting and colourways, and I love the warped illustrations of Okimi (Kimiaki Yaegashi).
Also handy resources for visual goodness, like the Flickr stream of Insect54 (damn what a collection he must have) : http://www.flickr.com/photos/insect54
I also have to thank the 1980’s for being so amazing and always being a massive source of inspiration.
(Tesselate’s work space)
What challenges do you face as an independent toy designer/creator? How important is it to you to have full control over the processes involved?
I am someone who likes to have as much control over what I do, so it’s always great to find other likeminded people or suppliers who you know you can rely on. Plus it’s always fun taking a design from an initial sketch to the finished resin cast. You can’t beat it…
(George and his amazing blue dispensing machine by Tesselate)
Keyboard keys have featured heavily in your work over the past few years (various Keyeyes Yo, and the recently announced Keyth), is there a meaning behind their use?
I just love keys and buttons, and a physical press of a key will always beat any touchscreen for me. The key theme throughout some of my work began with the Tiny Hearthead Series Zero, which was a wooden character with steel arms and legs and two keyboard keys for eyes.
(Tiny Heartheads series 0 from Tesselate)
I had the idea whilst I was working for BT (spit) in a call centre, and they always had loads and loads of old pc’s / keyboards etc waiting to be chucked out. So one lunchtime I got hold of ten or so keyboards and plucked off all the keys into a bag and took them home. Then whilst messing around at home with concepts for my first figure, the keys just crept into the design.
(Keyeyes Yo- new series by Tesselate)
What can we expect from you in the future? Can you tell us a bit about your recently revealed Keyth project?
The upcoming design Keyth is basically a large oversize key. I haven’t got a lot further than that in finalising what the character will look like, but it’s on the way. I’ll drop some more works in progress on my Twitter and Flickr streams.
(Keyth WIP by Tesselate)
Any final words?
“Your jacket is now dry.”
(Chip custom Dunny by Tesselate)
Head over to Tesselate’s store for a wide selection of custom and hand made toys, including the latest batch of Keyeyes Yo, customisable Valentine Heartheads, and the newly released Pressbot 3 pack.
Website : http://madebytesselate.com/
Tesselate shop: http://tesselate.bigcartel.com/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/tesselate
shingangu.com 