Challenge

The British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA), an organisation who campaign for toy safety and legislation change, organise an annual toy fair at the Olympia in London, the largest of it’s kind in the UK. I was thrilled when they approached me to develop the key visual creative for the 2026 fair.

Key considerations for the Toy Fair team were that the design should feel playful and joyful, reflecting the atmosphere at the fair, but also reflect that it’s a professional trade event. They were open to working in a new style and adding to their core Toy Fair colour palette.

Solution

As with all projects of this type, we started with a kick-off call to drill down into the brief a little further and talk through the project.

I then put together an initial presentation of three different creative routes based on their brief. The route the client enthusistically selected was ‘Here come the toys’. It features illustrations of toys interacting with photography of the newly renovated Olympia exhibition hall in London, where the Toy Fair is held.

We then worked on a key visual advert, developing the toys and the way they interact with the photography until they reflected the range of toys on show, and gave the right dynamic feel.

When the key visual was signed off, I worked from the advertising schedule to create all the resized adverts, and assets such as a bellyband wrap for a magazine and invitations for key attendees like the media and influencers.

Result

The client fed back that the brief had been met ‘exactly’, and that they love the new designs for the marketing materials. They commented that they found me ‘collaborative, detail orientated and flexible’ and are excited to see the materials rolled out during their advertising schedule. I am looking forward to working with the team again in the future.

Deliverables

Concept design
Illustration
Graphic design
Print advertising
Digital advertising