Maggio contributes to a book on Toy Research

Todd Maggio, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, contributed a chapter to the recent book entitled TOYS and COMMUNICATION. His chapter, “LMNOBeasts: Using Typographically Inspired Toys to Aid Development of Language and Communication Skills in Early Childhood,” was cowritten with Kerri Phillips and Christina Maddix in the School of Communication at Louisiana Tech University. The work was also presented at the International Toy Research Association’s 2014 World Congress in Greece. For more information about LMNOBeasts, please point your browser to: https://toddmaggio.com/design/#/lmnobeasts/

There are few scholarly books about toys, and even fewer that consider toys within the context of culture and communication. Toys and Communication is an innovative collection that effectively showcases work by specialists who have sought to examine toys throughout history and in many cultures, including 1930’s Europe, Morocco, India, Spanish art of the 16th-19th centuries. Psychologists stress the importance of the role of toys and play in children’s language development and intellectual skills, and this book demonstrates the recurrent theme of the transmission of cultural norms through the portrayal, presentation and use of toys. The text establishes the role of toy and play park design in eliciting particular forms of play, as well as stressing the child’s use of toys to ‘become’ more adult. It will be beneficial for courses in education, developmental psychology, communications, media studies, and toy design.