402 - Klim Kozinevich of Bigshot Toyworks

Klim Kozinevich is the Creative Director at Bigshot Toyworks and has been involved with the designer toy world for the last two decades. From working with leaders in the art toy industry, a slew of past AID guests, all the way up to corporations like Progressive Auto Insurance, Klim uses his vast experience to bring many people's dreams to life. From direct involvement to managing expectations and budgets, Bigshot Toyworks has worked through every imaginable aspect of creating a model. Mark goes through every service that Klim offers and one by one picks them apart to get a full view of what Bigshot Toyworks offers as a creative problem solutions studio. We get into all of it and Mark may have met his match on someone who can actually out talk him. 

Talking Points

• The invisibility of industrial design.
• Essential purchases before a flight to China with a screaming child.
• How much conceptual work from a client is helpful?
• Exploring inflatable pig shapes and where to blow them up.
• How the formulas of the entertainment industry are stifling creativity in other markets.
• Competing with the entire world when no one is taking a chance.
• Making an "approved" Darth Vader or making the best Darth Vader.
• Character development and dynamic poses form all angles.
• Balancing out features for creating a non sexualized girl figurine.
• Understanding another artist's visual language.
• Ball joints, balance, and resin.
• The sometimes wild production process when using organic materials.
• Making a mascot that will or will not be walking around a trade show.
• Showing your clients examples that you can't move forward with.
• The shift from traditional sculpture techniques.
• Realizing the career you have now might not be the career you always have.
• Crowbarring the last three months of your life.
• Old school job hunting and the art of making a spectacle.
• The greatest desperate move that paid off.
• Staying employed by not being a dick.
• The difference between toy design and toy production.
• Keeping your clients in an affordable working space and managing expectations.
• Do you design for production or figure out production after the design?
• Product packaging and idea execution.
• Managing costs and the role of the 3D printer (currently).
• Production timelines on a developing a toy form start to finish.
• Where does the thirst for toys come from?
• Russian Jews move to a Warriors Style Bronx.
• The pros and cons of moving to a melting pot.
• Klim's entry point into the art toy world.
• Does America have too much freedom?
• Balancing running a business and being an artist.
• Romanticizing the toymaker profession.
• Making the best Iron Giant for Mondo.
• Useless 3D files from the 90's.
• Working with artists you admire that also trust you in return.
• Knowing when to ask other professionals for help.
• Separating your style from who you work with.