Tall Poppy Interview: The Monster Factory

C'mon admit it. You secretly still love plush toys. They're cute, fuzzy, lovable and if they're creations from the Monster Factory then you know they've got a design sense and quirkiness that makes them stand out.

Since 2003, these Torontonians have been hard at work designing and making their whimsical plush toys. Torontoist finally managed to cobble together an e-mail interview with the trio earlier this week. They're launching a new series of monsters and having a show at Magic Pony which opens Thursday, 7pm. ~~Read our interview and find out how you can win a monster from MF's new Berry Bunch line.~~ Contest closed. Winners will be e-mailed shortly.

How did the Monster Factory start?

The Monster Factory did not start out as the plush and character design company that it is today. In its previous incarnation the MF was a small film production company that Adam began while attending film school. Though it didn’t withstand the test of time it was the MF logo that gave inspiration to Rhya, who was at the time making textile art. She made the very first monster. Adam couldn’t resist, so he too began making monsters. With much warm response and encouragement it became apparent that there needed to be an actual factory for making monsters: enter Bliss. Just days after completing her degree in fashion design she became the MF’s newest partner. Bliss brought an uncanny ability to design and refine patterns for the monsters so that they could multiply on a more serious basis. Five months later in November 2003, the new Monster Factory launched its first series called the “Heartbreakers.” The launch was a great success. Since then we’ve launched several more series of monsters and will continue to do so for as long as we can.

What are some of the inspirations for your characters?

Being children of the 80's we can't help but be inspired by old school video games and sneakers. Those have been some common themes in our work lately, though the main source of inspiration at the monster factory is each other's work. The way we design is very collaborative, so everyone's work really comes together ...

One of the best things about your monsters are the little haiku like descriptions, how do you guys come up with those?

After each monster's prototype is completed we have a brainstorm session where we begin to plot out the monster's character. It gives us a chance to figure out who the monster is going to be. From there it's just about putting the right sentences together, trying to say as much as we can in as few words as possible.

Ok, any favourites?

That's a very hard question. We'd like to think that we don't have favourites, but sometimes we can't help it. Amongst those are Mr. Jefferson, Dirk, Mitch, P.A.X, and the "Sugars" series. We give extra love to the monsters who aren't as popular as well.

Plush isn't just for kids anymore, heck even grown men buy your monsters, why do you think that is?

The most likely reason for the monsters' adult appeal is that we don't specifically make them for children. We really design the monsters as if we were our own customers. And, believe it or not, we're adults. So between their refined shapes, subtle colour palette, and imperfect characteristics monsters are really made with an older audience in mind. Not to say that this alienates our younger fans. Quite the contrary, the fact that our monsters aren't dumbed-down like so many mainstream childrens' toys is probably quite refreshing, and is what we attribute much of our success to.

Where would you like to take MF?

We would like to make more monsters. We'd love to expand into animation, spend more time illustrating, and further develop our monster as characters.

Where are these monsters available?

The monsters are readily available online at www.monsterfactory.net.We're having a Monster Factory Launch Party where we'll be introducing new monsters to the world. It will be held at Magic Pony on Thursday November 16th from 7pm - 11pm. In addition, monsters will be available at the Christmas One of a Kind Show from November 23rd to December 3rd and at the Dude Show from December 8th - 10th.

Contest Closed. Thanks everyone for entering.
Thanks to Monster Factory we're giving our readers a chance to win a monster from the new Berry Bunch series. Please e-mail ron@torontoist.com with the subject line "Monster Factory Giveaway" with your name and which monster you'd like. First three respondents win. Prizes have to be picked up at the Magic Pony show tomorrow night.