How Market Research Enhances Toy Design: Tips from Cheyenne Raker

EP022_05-15-24_Cheyenne Raker

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to Toy Business Unboxed, your gateway to the secrets of the toy industry. Here, Jason Hsieh, a toy entrepreneur and expert in the field. “Every product we develop is really inspired by some of the real life experience that we have with our son.” “60 percent of all toys last year were sold on Amazon.”

“Be passionate about it. Because it’s a road. It’s a journey.” “Like when you have an idea that you think is gonna somewhat change the world, make things better, I’d say go for it.“

Jason Hsieh: Hello, Welcome back to another Toy Business Unboxed episode. Today we have a special guest, a talented and also toy game designer with passions for creativity and innovations. Her journey in the entrepreneur space is really a blend of art and engineering and she’s going to be on the show to share with her experience in [00:01:00] 3D printings, 3D modeling and also freelancing in the toy industry.

We’ll explore what it takes to bring a playful idea to life and discuss her unique perspective on working with both inventor and companies. Thank you so much for joining us today and you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? 

Cheyenne Raker: Sure. First of all, thank you so much for having me in the podcast, I’m super excited to be here. Like he said, my name is Cheyenne Raker. I have a background in both mechanical engineering and a master’s in industrial design. Throughout my journey after I graduated, I was a lighting designer and on the side I was networking, finding people in the toy and game industry, just learning more about it and trying to tap in. Eventually I wanted to start my own business and do freelancing, to do toy and game design.

Jason Hsieh: How long have you been doing freelancing in the toys and game design? 

Cheyenne Raker: So freelancing, it hasn’t been very long. I started right after I got laid off from my job. It was around October, November for a few months, but I officially [00:02:00] launched my freelancing business in January. So been about five months, four or five months.

Jason Hsieh: How do you like being a entrepreneur now? 

Cheyenne Raker: I love it, but there’s definitely pros and cons because I think initially. I had a really hard time setting hours for myself. I’m like, okay, I’m so used to getting up in the morning and getting my workout in and then working all day from 8:00 am till 5:00 pm, but now the timeline’s on me, it’s up to me to sit down and be focused and get my work done. But I think what’s helped me is finding mentors in my field and just people to collaborate with because they are my accountability partners, so to say.

Jason Hsieh: Yeah, that’s important. 

Cheyenne Raker: So it’s been really helpful. 

Jason Hsieh: Got it. How do your background in both design and engineering, they change your approach to toy design? 

Cheyenne Raker: I think I’ve definitely been more diligent in understanding the manufacturing process behind toy design. What capabilities do they use? Is [00:03:00] this a plush toy? Is this going to be injection molded. What’s the draft angle got to be like in a 3D model. So just understanding those types of things to get an idea from concept to production. And also trying to figure out different mechanical mechanisms in toy design, because I worked with an inventor on an item and I think having my engineering background helped because I was looking up so many different mechanisms to get a feature 3D printed. It was a really cool experience to learn different techniques in 3D printing and just understand those different capabilities and mechanisms that can make a toy be fun.

Jason Hsieh: Do you have any particular toy design that you are most proud of that you’d like to share? And maybe you have a real live item as well that you can show the audience? 

Cheyenne Raker: I sadly can’t show it. I was working with an inventor. So I’m under NDA because she’s pitching it to toy companies for licensing deals and I helped her idea come to life, but I can explain how it works because I’m actually really proud of it. She’s [00:04:00] really happy with the outcome, but basically it was like a watch. So you can see on here where it shadows on the wall and so she wanted it to be able to be like a fidget toy, but also be able to collapse. The difficulty was how do we get so many little mechanisms and LED components inside of this tiny little structure? And so we researched and researched went back and forth and we found like this miniature LED component, DIY thing we found from some small company and I 3D printed so many different mechanisms to try and figure out, okay, how can I get this thing to expand and collapse over and over again, consistently and easy for a kid to do and I got everything all compact, all inside of it was maybe like this thick. I’m like, oh my gosh, I figured this out and it works, it’s durable, it actually creates shadows on the wall. It’s really cool just to be able to combine 3D printing and [00:05:00] two different materials. I use TPU material, which is like a flexible. So, you know how my 

Jason Hsieh: rubber like a flexible rubber? 

Cheyenne Raker: Yeah. And so I use that on top of a hard material on top of electronics. It was a bigger project than I intended, but ended up being really fun just because I learned so much.

Jason Hsieh: Can you explain the role of the 3D printing in your design process? Do you just print multiple different prototype and just test it that way? How does your process look like? 

Cheyenne Raker: So I definitely jump into market research first before even going to 3D printing because I’m going to make sure the white space has been figured out, is there a room for this idea? Is this one saturated? That’s the first thing I always do is make sure there’s not even an idea out there like this. And then I’ll go sketching out my ideas and then before 3D printing, I’ll just do low fidelity prototypes. Sometimes I’ll just take pieces of paper [00:06:00] and tape and pencil and make something rough looking, but it’s helped me figure out the scale of how big I want this to be, and even help me figure out a different mechanism. And then I’ll jump into 3D modeling and 3D printing. And sometimes 3D printing a prototype doesn’t make sense. It depends on the desire, it depends on the idea. But I usually start from research and then 3D printing is later on once the idea has been like fleshed out and we figure out what it is we want to do. 

Jason Hsieh: What would be a piece of advice you give it to the inventor or the entrepreneurs that is in our audience on the thing to think of before they start working with you and maybe some common mistake 

Cheyenne Raker: I would definitely say I’ve seen a lot of inventors spend too much money on prototypes. The more inventors I’ve met at toy fairs and everything like that, I just get so sad [00:07:00] hearing how much money they spent on an idea and it’s not picked up by a company, which is even why I started my own business because I wanted to help those inventors, 3D print or just make a prototype to showcase to companies because trying to get a prototype developed like a really big company, it’s going to cost thousands of dollars. But a lot of the time I’ve seen inventors have great ideas, but sometimes they haven’t really tested it out with kids first. So I’m like, even if you make your prototype yourself, and it’s ugly and parts of it doesn’t really work, but throw it in front of a kid and if they love it or they hate it, like they’ll let you know they’re honest. Even me, like I had an early stage prototype I gave it to some kids at my church and it actually helped my idea become better because they started playing with it in ways I never thought of. It was like a plush toy and it was meant to just be a plush toy, but they ended up reusing it and manipulating it into a hat and a [00:08:00] puppet and a bag. And I was like, oh this is a multi dimensional plush toy. This is cool. So definitely I wish they would test with kids first, cause I was even a judge at a steam toy competition. 

Jason Hsieh: Oh, you were well, amazing. 

Cheyenne Raker: It was really cool. Like a bunch of engineering teams developed steam toy kits for kids. I think it was in third graders through fifth graders. They didn’t test with kids beforehand while making their prototypes and they didn’t meet me until after and they’re new so they’re learning. They do a really great job. I think they’re growing and this is their second year doing it. I was telling them, even if they have a simple prototype, throw it in front of a kid as soon as they can, the issues or problems before they spend a bunch of hours on the final prototype. 

Jason Hsieh: What are some of the advantage of using 3D modeling in toy design?

Cheyenne Raker: So 3D modeling, it can either lend itself into a 3D print, or [00:09:00] it can be sent as a file for manufacturing, or it can be used as an aesthetic thing where you can render the 3D model. I use key shot and it’s a 3D rendering material or a 3D rendering software. You take a 3D model into the software to make it look realistic. I’ve got lights, shadows, materials, colors, logos, emblems, emboss, everything you could think of. And so I think it allows so much variety of marketing materials or manufacturing, prototyping. It’s a really great skillset to have. That’s why I’m really grateful for my engineering background as well, because I got introduced to 3D modeling sophomore or junior year.

When I moved to my master’s, not many people had a background in 3D modeling and so it gave me a leg up. Having that background and like coding, there’s a lot of coding and like we, we developed some like physical video games.

Jason Hsieh: Oh, nice. My next question, you touch it on it a little bit earlier.

What do you [00:10:00] wish your client understood the most about a toy design process?

Cheyenne Raker: At least as a freelancer, I wish they would understand a little bit more of how much time it can take. Because I feel like if you don’t know the software or you don’t know how to do 3D modeling or 3D printing, You just don’t know the ins and outs because sometimes 3D print can fail and then you have to redo it and it can print for 14 hours and then it fails and to start all over again. So kind of stuff like that. And just being open to feedback as well. 

Sometimes people get so focused on their baby of this is the idea that they have and this is what they want. No questions asked. But when I see something and I can make it better or it can make it more effective, more manufacturable, I want to say something and sometimes they’re not really receptive to it. That was another aspect of my business where I want to be a design consultant [00:11:00] as well. I’ve had some inventors reach out and can you make this? I’m like, yeah, but have you thought of X, Y, Z? And then we just did a whole brainstorming discussion and it was so fun. We came up with a better solution just by bouncing. 

Jason Hsieh: And you can also extend that to the next level if you don’t know already with Amazon, there’s a lot of open source software you can use to scrape Amazon’s data. For example, for different keyword, what was the search demand? How much is each of the competitors are currently selling on a monthly basis? What is their review count? How well is the listing optimized? And is the product like this already similar and already existing on Amazon?

Because Amazon, let’s face it, is the biggest online marketplaces. And you can see people’s review. Everything is like open source. So that would be a great place to do product like validation for the client you are working with as well. 

Cheyenne Raker: Yeah, that’s actually a really good point because I’ve pitched some ideas to some companies and they wanted me to give them [00:12:00] a selling case for, is this going to be popular or a good seller on Amazon because when they do their own research, they’re like this market looks saturated or we don’t really see a fit for Amazon because there’s not like keywords or it’s not really easily searchable. 

Jason Hsieh: Exactly. That’s what we do for all the clients we work with. Before we even start working with them, the number one thing we do is a competition analysis in the entire marketplace, trying to find the closest lookalike product and see how those products are currently doing. Because just like you mentioned, if the product doesn’t already have existing search demand, you need to create them. Which is really hard. I can actually also give you a live example of one of the toy we launched. Five years ago is our Fidget Marble Maze. When we first launched it, we are the first one on Amazon. No one have ever launched, we didn’t really invent it, so to speak. It was already available, but just not on Amazon yet. So we are the first to [00:13:00] market. When we first started, the search volume is zero. No one even know what a Fidget Marble Maze is. So we did a lot of digital marketing, Facebook ads, Instagram ads.

Over the year, we create our own search volume for that particular product. And we are still one of the number one seller of today on Amazon right now. After all this year, because that when we do the initial research and do the product launch. That’s so important. And I think what was part of why you do, if you can also add that to part of your consultation, if you don’t know how to do it, I’ll teach you how to do it. It’s not too hard to do those marketing research as well. And that will really help with the inventor because sometimes a lot of inventor, they are the creative type. They are not a marketing and they don’t know and that’s so important for the long term success of any kind of toys they design.

Cheyenne Raker: I agree. 

Jason Hsieh: And the next question I have for you is because you have like various experience of working with individual and inventor [00:14:00] and also with bigger companies, how is the working with inventor, like individual inventor different from working with the larger corporations? 

Cheyenne Raker: I think it depends. Larger companies. I found it’s easier, at least with the payment processing systems. Usually they already have something set up or they have their own payment processing. So it’s just streamlined and done. The negative side of larger companies, I feel like they have tighter timelines. They’re either like meeting a deadline or something. But with an inventors, I found that the more flexible and just really fun to work with cause I resonate with them a lot, but the downside is definitely you can’t be paid as much cause I don’t want to overcharge inventors.

Jason Hsieh: That’s a good point. I think you also share with the audience earlier, but do you have any other memorable project where 3D printing make a significant impact in the whole design process? 

Cheyenne Raker: I talked about that watch idea, which was one of my favorites. I think it just helps make a proof of concept [00:15:00] prototype. This was a 3D printed like crayon holder device. It’s even able to make these little ridges. And so you can pop it on like that because the concept is you can draw, I don’t have all the crayons in. You can draw and scribble, like a palm grip and just. 

Jason Hsieh: Got it. Got it. Got it. Interesting. 

Cheyenne Raker: But in the top, it’s not real, but it’s supposed to be a crayon sharpener. So 

Jason Hsieh: Oh, okay. There’s a sharpener on top too. Okay. 

Cheyenne Raker: If you take one out. You’re like, okay, I’m sharpening it and then you’ll dump out all the shavings and then you put it back on. It was really cool. It just sits like this and it printed and this is what the inside. 

Jason Hsieh: This whole thing is 3D printed. 

Cheyenne Raker: Yeah. So it’s just like two pieces. It’s really cool. But I got a lot of feedback on it. One, this is not manufacturable. [00:16:00] Because you cannot injection mold this because of these cutouts and slits. 

Jason Hsieh: Oh, I didn’t know that. Okay. Okay. 

Cheyenne Raker: I didn’t know it either. Cause I didn’t know. This is what they were thinking of injection mold. I was thinking some other type of manufacturing method. So I think I did pitch us the Crayola because of the crayons and that’s what they said, it wasn’t manufacturable and the market was a little bit saturated for like crayon devices. It was something about the age range. But I got some good feedback, some people mentioned, instead of the crayons sliding inside because you know if the crayon gets really short say for example like this 

Jason Hsieh: it won’t work. You will push in right inside 

Cheyenne Raker: Yes, it’ll need some type of like spring or something.

Jason Hsieh: Yeah to hold it out. Yeah 

Cheyenne Raker: Or are the crayons? have a snap fit on the outside. So there’s like a clip or something. So different ideas. But I had another event to reach out to me when I presented this idea. I’m actually 3D [00:17:00] printing this right now. He thought of this tripod method with his kids. This is the wrong size. I’m still 3D printing the correct size. When his kids would use crayons in the car or something, they’d just go flying everywhere. He thought of a way to try to keep all the crayons together but still be able to use it. And It’s like this tripod thing. So it’s, it’ll just, it’s literally just this. And this is a flexible resin. It’s called TPU. So you can squish it. But you’ll put the crayons inside. 

Jason Hsieh: I see. 

Cheyenne Raker: You’re supposed to grab it and you can draw with it, but it’s like a simpler version basically of this without a sharpener. 

Jason Hsieh: Are those two products coming from the same inventor or are they two different inventors? 

Cheyenne Raker: So this was my idea. 

Jason Hsieh: Oh, that’s your idea. Okay. 

Cheyenne Raker: This was an inventor. He reached out to me on LinkedIn and he was like, you can run with it, have fun with it. Like he’s I’m not attached to the idea. So I feel comfortable talking about it in front of you. He opened [00:18:00] it up to me. I was working on this today.

Jason Hsieh: Also going back to the thing you mentioned earlier. Is there actually a market for this kind of item? Because I think I watched a YouTube channel where the guy, all he does is invent unnecessary product. 

Cheyenne Raker: Yeah, 

Jason Hsieh: like all kinds of weird product, like this, like spinner, you can eat. Peace out with some weird stuff that is not really necessary, but it looked pretty cool, but no, I’m probably going to buy it. 

Cheyenne Raker: Sometimes I feel like even though he intends for them to be unnecessary, they are necessary. I’m like, actually, I want to buy that. 

Jason Hsieh: What type of challenge do you usually face as a designer in the toy industry? 

Cheyenne Raker: I think one is having a consistent income. When you don’t work for corporate, you don’t have like your bi weekly salary, stuff like that. So I think getting clients and just being consistent and even like reporting your income because some people are like, what’s your yearly salary? And I’m like, I don’t know. 

Jason Hsieh: Yeah. I faced a similar challenge as entrepreneur we’re all [00:19:00] self employees. So it’s hard to say, okay, in 2024, I’m going to make this much. I don’t really know if I make, if I may double that, or if I make less than that.

Cheyenne Raker: Exactly. The other thing is, getting paid. I’ve sadly had a company not pay me. And it’s like $3,000. So it was when I was first starting off. I just signed an NDA. I didn’t really have a contract, but everything was written in email and I did work for them. I did a ton of 3D printing work for them. I sent them invoice after invoice and they just are ignoring me and not pay me and I’ve had to get like legal involved. And so that’s been stressful. I did not expect that to happen because industry is just such a community and such a family. I feel like I could trust everyone. And I feel like I’m definitely going to have to look out for myself in the future and just have a contract in place to protect me. 

Jason Hsieh: I’ll definitely correct the deposit before you even start working at all.

Cheyenne Raker: [00:20:00] Yeah. I didn’t have a deposit or anything up front. I was just, I’ll do the work and I was trusting they would pay me and nothing. So it’s been like six months since I finished the work and they’re just ignoring me. 

Jason Hsieh: That’s part of entrepreneurship 

Cheyenne Raker: it is. So I’m going to be honest, 

Jason Hsieh: How do you stay current and stay inspired to make sure your design is fresh and also innovative? 

Cheyenne Raker: I love just walking down the toy aisle. I go to Target or Walmart to grab a few things, and then I make a detour. I’m like, let me just walk down the aisle real quick, see what’s going on. That’s really fun and I go down to like mom and pop, like little small stores. Cause I feel like they usually have unique things. You don’t really see in Walmart, like the specialty toy stores. It was really fun. Obviously social media, instagram reel or something that looks like a really fun game, I’ll save it or something. And just staying on top of trends I get email chains from the toy industry of what’s [00:21:00] trending and I jump on zoom calls. They go over the trend, toy trends of 2024, 2025. So I hop onto those, And honestly, I just continue to like network with other inventors, ask them questions, brainstorm together and just talk to people in my community and they have kids. I just pay attention to what they’re playing with or what they like nowadays. 

Jason Hsieh: What advice would you give someone that’s starting out in the toy industry right now? 

Cheyenne Raker: I always am a huge advocate for building your network. LinkedIn has been my best friends. But honestly, just finding the right people to be your mentors and people to learn from, I think is going to be your biggest crutch. And even just joining any organization you can be a part of to learn. So I joined woman and toys very early on in my career and I got a mentor. I listed a lot of webinars or like morning chats, coffee chats and just connecting with people [00:22:00] in the industry. I’ve learned so much and also listening to podcasts. So AKA get toy launch podcasts. I’ve listened to a gel weights podcast. 

I think just gaining as much knowledge as you can and meeting as many people as you can. If you have a toy idea, there’s a lot of people I meet who feel not capable of making a toy because they don’t have the engineering background, they don’t have the design background or say they come from like computer science background or, something that’s not really translated, 

Jason Hsieh: I come from finance background, by the way,

Cheyenne Raker: I would just encourage those to don’t let the voices overcome you and tell you, Oh, this is stupid or, Oh, this is ugly. Just make it and just throw it in front of a kid. And if they love it, you’ve got a winner. 

Jason Hsieh: That’s a very good piece of advice. It was my honor to have you as a guest on my podcast and where can the audience find you and find all the different [00:23:00] work you’re doing? 

Cheyenne Raker: Yes. So my website is designbychey.com and chey is C H E Y, or my LinkedIn Cheyenne Raker, LinkedIn design by chey. And then my email is contact@designbychey.com. Any of those platforms, I look at them daily and would be happy to connect with anyone that’s interested in learning or just more interested about the toy industry or freelancing or anything. I’m happy to talk to anybody. 

Jason Hsieh: Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with the audience today. And we’ll make sure we put all those links that you mentioned in the show notes as well. 

Cheyenne Raker: Awesome. Thank you. 

Outro: You’ve been listening to Toy Business Unboxed, hosted by Jason Hsieh. Thank you for joining us and exploring the fascinating world of toys and the ingenuity behind them.

To stay updated with the latest episodes and continue your journey into the toy business, remember to subscribe and follow us. If you found today’s episode insightful, please leave a rating and review and share this podcast with others who share your passion for toys. [00:24:00] Until next time, stay curious and keep innovating.