What happened to Mattel's first construction toy for girls?
Fact: The ello-opolis girls from 2004 now run the design world.
I got back to Miami earlier this week from a two-week northeast tour. I was in Philadelphia for a client campaign shoot, followed by three days in NYC running around to a million meetings, a week with my parents at my childhood home in Connecticut, then back to Philadelphia for the retail launch, and finally a very lovely retreat at Hotel Ulysses in Baltimore, where I decided I need a canopy bed. It was my first official work trip as a full-time consultant and the freelance dream I dreamed of, and I met so many of my internet friends IRL for the first time (hi
).When I got home, I was met by several packages (6 to be exact). I’m in a shopping funk, I haven’t bought anything just for fun in months (more on this another time). As I sorted through my deliveries, I realized they were all PR packages, some I had given my address for and others I didn’t know who to thank for.
When I joined Thingtesting and received my first PR package, I was thrilled. I remember it like it was yesterday, in awe of the fully branded box from Goodles in anticipation of their launch. I still love to receive new (and free hehe) products from brands and testing ‘em out and I’m deeply grateful to be included in gifting. But as I sat on my living room floor breaking down the boxes, I started wondering what it costs to produce these branded moments, which are often just a lot of cardboard and maybe some stickers or a knick-knack, and how these moments are then measured by brands. This isn’t a pitch for brands to stop sending me products, but rather a challenge to do something different, send me a talking greeting card that explains the product to me or pack your new beauty launch in a makeup bag. I want to see something that makes me go WOW and/or has a function, but I do love a simple handwritten note also.
With that said…
From Brand Land
I went on a rabbit hole to find out what happened to ello-opolis, what I think of as my intro to architecture and design as a child. It started in 2001 when there was a push at Mattel around the potential of non-traditional play (traditional being Barbies and baby dolls) targeted toward girls. That’s when Ivy Ross, the Senior VP of Worldwide Girls Design at Mattel, created Project Platypus, an in-house think tank with volunteer employees from product development and other departments. The mission was to create a toy that would promote construction play for girls. I realize now that meant Legos, but for girlbosses in training.
It was during this time that Richard Manville, Barbie’s Packaging Creative Director, came up with a concept he called ‘ello’ which he described as a “creation system.” He was involved in the project from ideation all the way to development in 2001 and eventually left his role at Barbie to focus on ello full-time. The brand launched in 2002, winning several awards. The system had shapes and panels in unique color palettes with flexible building pieces designed to be imaginative and intuitive. My sister and I spent a lot of time building structures, but there was also the opportunity to use the pieces to make jewelry or accessories.
The product was discontinued in 2004 and the internet has its theories as to why– could it be related to the launch of Bratz and Ivy Ross’ departure from Mattel? Regardless, I might buy some on Ebay to reconnect with my childlike sense of wonder or something.
Today, Richard Manville has his own studio. On his site, he writes about the full scope of the ello project, which he concludes with a very wholesome note:
“Having worked for a number of large corporations in a creative capacity, the fact that this concept moved from idea to store shelves with so little diversion from the original design was with out question, nothing short of a miracle. Of anything I’ve had the pleasure to create, ello is by far the most personal and rewarding project of my design career …so far.”
On another note, I found these water slides I’m obsessed with. I thought they were AI-generated at first because that’s the critical eye we need to look at everything through today, but alas, they’re not!
Their about page talks about their work being, “experimental and theatrical, but the function of the piece is always paramount,” which is my favorite type of design. It’s why Alessi is my all-time favorite brand (deep dive next week?).
Spaces to lose sleep over
I watched a lot of The Local Project videos while I was at my parents’ house. My mom and I bond over the publication and their videos.
They cover so many amazing projects, but ‘Ground House 107R’ by David Fewson caught my eye most recently. The concrete home blends into its lush surroundings, feeling cozy rather than brutalist. Located on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, the guest house sits on David’s family property, made him not just the designer, but also the client creating the brief. He says, “Every aspect of the build is a response to its physical context.”
Reading this late, but ello was my favorite toy as a kid! Makes sense that it subconsciously crept into all of our design preferences. Definitely going to try to dig them out of storage for an afternoon :’)
Omg memory unlocked!! I used to play ello at my grandparent's house. I was thinking of Lego's Click-Its and think I combined the two.