Patrick Rylands’ love of sculptural forms, combined with his interest in plastics technology, led him to design smooth rounded plastic toys that were very easy for small children to handle. He was trained as a ceramicist at the Royal College of Art and his design aesthetic was simple, introducing children to a world of shapes and bold colors. The charming Bird and Fish won the Duke of Edinburgh’s Design Award in 1970 and are being produced today in injection-molded A.B.S., with internal ballast weights to keep them balanced while in the water. Bird and Fish are included in many permanent museum collections including the V&A Museum in London.

designer: patrick rylands
producer: trendon toys
material: plastic
period: 1969
design award: duke of edinburgh design award, 1970
retailer: amazon; esty