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Ca Travis
Left to right: Sawzall, Drillzall, Gangreen, and Woody 3" Dunnys
Toy designers often have experience in a related field before jumping into the world of vinyl, resin, and plush, but it’s usually difficult to trace through an artist’s career based purely on his or her toys. This isn’t the case with Travis Cain. Simply by observing his work, a collector acquainted with various artistic disciplines can quickly conclude that Cain is first and foremost a graphic designer; bright colors, bold lines, and simple but striking imagery are the hallmarks of his vinyl work. By breaking down forms to their most essential curves, he creates toys that are cute and pleasing to the eye. At the same time, he creates a consistent visual identity and theme across his toy designs. When the uninitiated ask me what a designer toy is, my simplest response is, “three-dimensional graphic design.” This is most clearly the case with Cain’s characters. He says a lot with a little. While this simplicity makes for visually digestible designs, Cain’s aesthetic diverts the mind from the incongruous depictions of violence and toxic relationships that contrast his characters’ cute charm. This mastery of minimalist design and juxtaposition put Travis Cain’s work up there with designer toys that will be looked back at as classics.
Introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you do? I’m Travis Cain and I am an art director, artist, and father. What’s your background as an artist? You seem to cover a lot of bases. My background is mainly in graphic design, which lead me to illustration, screen printing, and then toy design. How did you get involved with designer toys? Do you remember your first encounter with a vinyl toy? The first vinyl toy I saw that had an impact on me was Doze Green’s Travela. I love Doze’s fine artwork and I thought it was cool that this artist had made this awesome toy, dimensionalizing his artwork. After that, I had wanted to make my own vinyl toys. What are some other favorites and
what do you look for in a design? I guess as a graphic designer, I like toys that are bold and simple. Some of my favorite artists are KAWS, Buff Monster, Jeremyville, McBess, Scott Tolleson, BoyKong, kaNO, ilovedust… all people who are excellent graphic designers and illustrators as well as toy makers. Your first releases were in 2006: the Ribeye and Cheeze Dunnys. That was really early in the Dunny line’s history. What’s the story behind hooking up with Kidrobot so early on? In 2006, Kidrobot and the design firm I worked at, Planet Propaganda, were both in the Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial exhibition. Kidrobot invited all of the design firms involved to submit ideas for Dunnys that would be sold as souvenirs in the museum shop. I came up with a bunch of ideas and we submitted them. Kidrobot choose to make Ribeye and Cheeze. I was so Clutter 23 | 43