Four Industrial Design students at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have developed a new toy. It’s called Fitit and is not just sustainable. Above all, it’s child’s play to use.
It started as a university project. But has now grown into a fully-fledged start-up. Mauk van Beek, Julia Arntz, Tessa van Abkoude, and Chris Bernsen were assigned to develop a product.
After a bit of brainstorming, they came up with the Fitit. “It’s straightforward,” says Tessa. “These are called Fitters and are circular, connecting pieces with slots in them. You can use them to make all sorts of things from pieces of cardboard.”
‘Can start right away’
Julia adds, “Cardboard isn’t only sustainable, it’s also freely available. So you can get started right away with just a few Fitters.” In the project’s workshop, An Eiffel Tower, train and aeroplane adorn the project’s workbench. These are all made from connecting pieces of cardboard with these wooden pieces.
The students have already sold 2,500 Fitters. Most of them to afterschool centres. “It’s great that people want our product,” Tessa says. “And the kids are very enthusiastic about them,” Julia adds.
“When we started, we saw that the younger kids found it difficult to figure out what they could do with these pieces. That’s why we now have inspiration on our website.” It seems these young students’ company will undoubtedly continue to grow for some time.
“And soon we’ll have everything made in Strijp-S. So it will be a very local product too,” concludes Julia.
Source: Studio040
Translator: Bob
Editor: Melinda Walraven
