Toymaker

Toymaker

by Tom Karen
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date: 12/11/2020

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Step inside his home and you'll see papier-mâché birds, a life-sized cardboard tiger, model cars; his work bench a vibrant collage of creativity, from hand-drawn maps and postcards to newly devised toys for his beloved grandchildren. Tom Karen is a toymaker, creative genius, award-winning designer and one of the world's most remarkable inventors. From inventing the Marble Run to designing the iconic Raleigh Chopper bike and creating the Bond Bug, Tom's designs are cherished the world over, but behind these fantastical creations lies an equally remarkable life.


Born in the 1920s into a wealthy family and raised in Czechoslovakia by nannies, Tom had a lonely upbringing and longed for pencils, paper, paints and brushes. His childhood was short-lived when Tom and his family had to flee for their lives following the rise of Nazi Germany. It was this formative experience that would transform Tom's life. Arriving in the UK, Tom would establish himself as a creator slowly building the career that would see him dubbed 'the man who designed the seventies'.


Told through the prism of Tom's incredible designs, Toymaker is a story about life, about imagination, about being in the present and existing in the past; about painting, drawing, chopping and changing; about thinking, discussing, arguing and listening. Tom's life is a tale of a century of creativity and how 'things' come to define who we are - and help us look ahead to where we're going.

ISBN:
9781788700870
9781788700870
Category:
Biography: arts & entertainment
Format:
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date:
12-11-2020
Language:
English
Publisher:
Bonnier Books UK
Tom Karen

Tom Karen was born in Czechoslovakia in 1926, into a relatively well-off Jewish family based in the city of Brno. Following the rise of Nazi Germany, his family had to flee their home country, settling in the UK via Belgium, France and Spain.

A creative at heart, Tom trained in product design at Central St Martins and went on to work at Ford and Hotpoint before taking over Ogle Design, when its founder, David Ogle was killed in a car accident. It was at Ogle where Tom reached the top of the design game, inventing the Chopper bike, the Marble Run, the Scimitar GTE and the Bond Bug, amongst many other cult transport vehicles, and toys and games loved by kids the world over.

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