When we speak about sustainability in toys, the focus is often on materials: recycled plastics, bioplastics, FSC-certified wood. These are crucial steps forward—but as a designer, I’ve always felt there’s another dimension that deserves equal attention: how long a toy truly matters to a child. I’m Fabio Guaricci, founder of TOY Design in Milan. Over the past 20 years I’ve moved from designing FSC-certified wooden toys to plastic and electronic ones, often wrestling with the contradiction: how can toys be both innovative and sustainable? The history of the industry offers clues. In the early 20th century, plastic toys were lighter, more expressive, and built to last. But from the 70s onward, mass marketing and global competition drove prices down—and durability with them. By the 2000s, toys were cheaper, faster, and unfortunately more disposable. That’s when sustainability became urgent. Design frameworks like “Design for Disassembly” offer valuable principles—modularity, standardized parts, safer materials, easier recycling. But as any independent designer knows, these ideas only work if brands embrace them. Otherwise, sustainability risks being treated as an extra cost. This is why I believe design can play another role: boosting the Play Value of toys. A toy that engages deeply—becoming an emotional companion rather than a passing distraction—has a longer life. Longer play means less waste. What is Play Pattern Design? To address this, I developed Play Pattern Design, a methodology that maps how a play activity connects to children’s emotions—things like mastery, creativity, care, empowerment. By designing for these “emotional targets,” we can make toys that children keep, cherish, and even pass on. Take a project we did for Hasbro’s Play-Doh brand. The challenge was to merge dough creativity with construction play. By identifying the overlap between mastery and creativity, we introduced textured bricks that could be decorated with dough. This not only supported self-expression but also created a play experience consistent with Play-Doh’s identity—one that kids return to again and again. Another example is Piedony, a game I designed for a children’s TV show. Kids wore giant feet to chase wobbling mushrooms—a mix of empowerment, mastery, and pure fun. The toy’s strong emotional pull made it memorable and helped it win the contest. Toward More Sustainable Play Both projects show how market goals and sustainability can align in unexpected ways. By designing for emotional engagement and durability, toys can stay relevant longer, reducing their environmental impact even before new materials like bioplastics become standard. Because in the end, sustainability in toys isn’t only about what they’re made of—it’s Your Title Goes Here