Richard Wong from Itrangers Lab

Itrangers Lab is an important and interesting Toy Company has more than one title. Unlike Michael Lau or Pete Fowler, Itangers develops products certainly more oriented 'general' but they have created series of toys quite original and delusional such ciboyes or stereotype. Richard Wong started this company in Hong Kong a few years ago, and a way, the Ciboys became icons in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Let's discover a little better one that is at the origin of the Ciboy's surf. Richard Wong ITrangers Interview Can you describe you for the French public (age, studies, background, current activity, past work ...)? I am 32 years old, I'm from the year of the rat. I was studying business, I stopped in the middle to make graphic design. Jordan and I created a company 7 years ago: Trio Interactive. It was a web marketing and design company. We had the budgets of Coca-Cola China, Hong Kong Telecom, Sony, Motorola, Bank of China and Toshiba, who are all very big accounts. We had 30 people with us to serve customers. We had a very creative team, full of ideas. In 2000, we were bored and the Internet business was starting to walk well. So we planned to do something cool online, such as a web radio and yet even if we were very linked to the Internet business, we just gained a commercial recording and in the end we did nothing. In 2002, I drew a character I named "C.I. Boys", a monster with a laser weapon at the ass. Now itranders have more than 8 people to take care of the manufacture, artistic direction, marketing, distribution and management of the shop. There are more than 20 designers who work with us right now! We gaining. This year we planned to set up 8-10 different production lines (C.I. Boys is always our flagship product) to produce more characters and various items, for example t-shirts, lamps and furniture, etc. What age has itngers? How many people work there? It's almost 3 years old. The staff has about 30 people, with designers from France, Singapore and a local university too ... What is your main goal through the Toy Designing? Create fun and joy. How many toys itrangry has so far been designated? CIBOYS 2002 LALACOUPLE 2003 STEREPTYPE 2003 KOM (King of Massage) 2003 COPYCAT 2002 Sheep Dream 2004 What is the first toy you remember? I like Japanese culture, so I was much influenced by Japanese comics when I was a child. The one I love the most is "Devilman" (maybe you do not know!) (NDR: SISI). Are you a toy addict? Not really, I prefer comics and video games. I have more than 6000 copies of comics books in the office. We have a PS2 and an X-Box with two TVs in the office. What is Red Magic? Is it a shop that sells only itrangers? Red Magic is our Toys distribution stores. For now we have 3 shops. We are intended to have 6 by 2005, with in addition a Store concept in Taipei. We do not sell that weigers products, we are interested in all kinds of toys that could enlighten our shop. If there is something you are proud of, you can contact us at any time, you are welcome. How came the concept of C.Is BOYS? In 2000, Trio Interactive, our Web Company worked really well, but we wanted a break, we wanted to do a cool thing. We see many people complain about things and others, they are not happy with their living conditions, and here is our idea of ​​creating a world that allows people to destroy. Find a way for them to express themselves. We do not particularly like those who complain but never do anything ... we want to help them !! Haha !! How are the BOYs in the Asian market? Statistically, CI boys are available in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. In two weeks, we sold more than 1000 ci boys to Singapore, and in 14 months the amount of global total sales rises above 150,000 pieces. On average, itrangers will produce more than 500,000 ci boys a year in the coming years. Are you planning to extend the Ciboy concept to other media? If yes, which ones ? Animation Film ? As we have a background in the interactive, the Ciboys are not resting only on the toys. We have a marketing asset panel to promote, which includes flash animation, the wallpapers, screensavers, comics, mobile graphics, etc. What do you think of the arrival of these new toys for adults in European and American markets? It's really cool ! More people can see what we do and it's an opportunity for some more cultural mix. How do you choose the designers with which you work (for example Superbye)? We only work with crazy people because we are fooled ourselves ... Ahahah Are you often solicited by designers who want to produce their own line of Toys? And how do you make your choice? It's really a balance between my own interests and market needs. We love to create funs stuff, but on the other hand we need money to power our projects in progress ... How long does it take place between the birth of an idea and the arrival of the final product? Well ... Including production, it normally takes about two months ... Let's talk a little bit, if you do not mind. How many Cibys did you sell in total? More than 500,000. How many toys are produced by new series? (eg Ciboys Serie 5) More than 200 designs. And we continue to develop more and more figurines (Not Ciboys) like the Lalacouple, Stereotype, Copycat, Kom, Sheepdream ... Are you planning to come out of a few series today sold out? I do not think so, it makes them memorable! You only do limited editions or do you make both limited editions and Mass Market? I do both. Because both have their own market. And honestly, who would complain about touching a mass market? Only mass production can make a lot of money! What is the Toy you are most proud of? Ciboy, definitely! I created it for fun at the beginning ... and it has become a big commercial success! YEAH! What do you prefer to: create characters with a concept or think of a concept that could become a character? Both. I'm not restricted to a single way of thinking, I just let things go ... Your characters are "Kawai", "Cute" But if we look more deeply we notice that they are rather oriented, the goal is to make Crossover of childish design with adult concepts? The childish design makes it possible to facilitate the acceptance of the public. Once it's accepted, there are many more people who dig and explore the thing ... it's the purpose of the maneuver. What is the typical audience of Itangers in Hong Kong and in the rest of Asia? Is there a typical audience? In terms of age, it's around 20-30 years old. Women and men. It seems like you love sports parodies (football and formula 1) and icons (Superheroes), do you think humor is a way of capturing people's interest? Yes really. And it's easier to capture people's attention if we create a line with characters already well known to the public. What is the most important for you: Designer new toys or push the concept of characters as far as possible? Both are important ... Designer new toys, create a wider market. And push the concept of characters allows them to have a longer life. You are not too much in the "Toy Vinyl articulated". Most of your creations are made of one or two blocks (apart from the COPYCAT series). Will it change? I used the PVC instead for Ciboys ... And for the COPYCAT series? It was a success? Copycat is a little different, it's rather a collection article. People like it for stories and hidden philosophy that we can find behind ... The strongest will survival Survival of the Fittest. What do you think of the designer toy scene? Hmm ... Personally, I think the scene is a little too much a niche, too far from the public ... While I like to be closer to the public and be part of it. Do you think that contempors be part of this scene or your job is something fundamentally different? It is also part of it, but we want our toys to be more "accessible" to the public. Is there a mistake or a choice you did and that today you would like to erase? We all make mistakes in the work, I do not want to erase them at all because they are good experiences, it's part of learning ... What advice could you give someone who would like to create and produce his own toys? Do not just think about money ... but rather with joy and good humor. If people feel that, they can possibly make money. What artist (s) would you like to see toy designer? Andy Warhol. With which artists / Toy Designers are you bound? Full, full. Some are my friends, others are the designers / artists under contract with my company. Which Toy you impressed you most in recent months? Ciboys - Hero Series. What is your favorite Toy? Ps2 With which Toy Designer would you like to work? Pete Fowler. What are your favorite classical artists? Andy Warhol. What are your modern favorite artists? Andy Warhol. Who are your favorite designers? Richard Wong. Who are your favorite comics / mangakass designers? Full, full. Most are Japanese. What are your favorite movies? Fight Club, Matrix. What is your favorite website? www.frindster.com What are your favorite animation movies? Too much ! What are your favorite mangas and comics? Too much ! What are your favorite brands (Clothes, Sneakers, Food ...)? Marc Jacobs What is your favorite shop? Lv What are your favorite disks / groups? Red Magic Sounds. What can we expect from you in the near future (question about toys)? We have more than 30 shops in Asia. Last question: what do you think of Panda-Z? I love. It's pandas and robots.