ASHLEY WOOD MINI Q+A Vol 1

Q: How do you determine the design of your toys? And what is it you think distinguishes them from others? 
A: I just do what I fancy. I don’t take much into account, I just do it. I don’t consider what distinguishes from others, I follow my muses and have no real interest or passion for what is in favour, which pretty much takes me on my own course.

Q: In your opinion, what is it about your designs that resonates with fans? 
A: That I can’t tell you, everyone is different and unique, sometimes it’s what doesn’t resonate is what is exciting and cool.

Q : What are some of the biggest challenges in the design and production process? 
A: Taking what are abstract thoughts and 2D designs into the 3D is the biggest challenge. It’s a balancing act to truly interpret this, it’s a give and take!

Q: In addition to providing the UV team with your design ideas, what other roles do you play? 
A: Well apart from designing it, I do all the packaging design for all toys, the ad design, the booklets/catalogs, etc. I do all the creative notes and edits during the production. I’m involved with all the decisions and paths that UV takes regarding business as well. It’s an all encompassing role that only in part is design. It’s a lot of work and after writing this I want a holiday!

Q : When you created the background story for World War Robot, does NOM represent your understanding of justice? 
A: The Nom do not represent my idea of justice, actually WWR doesn’t represent my ideals in any real way. I created the world of WWR as a sandbox for fun stories that let me explore different aspects of war from the personal to the broad strokes of conflict. To tell stories one has to separate themselves from the material to be able to find more interesting characters and situations.