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Stacy O'Connor acted as an advisor for the Hot Wheels For Real™ exhibit at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis May 26, 2012–Jan. 27, 2013. Read on to hear about how she got started in the business and her foundation for inspiration.
Stacy O’Connor, Track Designer in Mattel’s Hot Wheels division
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"40254","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":""}}]]Product design (and toy invention, in general) is not just a job to me—it’s who I am. My dad was an at-home inventor who was always tearing stuff apart and combining it in new ways. I grew up in an environment where if it didn’t exist in a store, it didn’t matter—you just made it yourself. One of my favorite toys growing up was a cardboard refrigerator box. Sometimes my dad would come home from work with one in the back of his work truck and it would feel like Christmas to me. I would build houses, forts and rocket ships. My earliest Hot Wheels memory is when I was 7 years old. I had all brothers. I was surrounded by boys. I remember being fascinated by these cars that rolled really fast and went through loops. After high school, I took a job at Tomy Toys where I discovered the design department where they researched and developed new ideas for toys. I couldn’t believe you could do that for a living!
Now I lead a team of designers that build Hot Wheels track sets at Mattel, like Wall Tracks, and other track sets you see at the store. My favorite product I’ve worked on while at Hot Wheels is the Trick Tracks track system because it launches cars through a series of dynamic stunts in a chain-reaction manner and all the stunts can be rearranged in any pattern you want to try. I think these are very creative track sets.
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"40255","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":"Hot Wheels Track Designer"}}]]The foundations for my inspiration are my ongoing fascination with how things work and watching science fiction movies with my family on Sunday afternoons when I was little. My dad loved science fiction and I guess I still do. These two childhood experiences helped me develop the ability to imagine things that did not exist yet and knowing how things worked helped me make the things I was imagining. I spent a lot of time, as a child, daydreaming and imagining a future that did not exist yet.
The kids of today are the future. I think they need more time to daydream and create the stories that will help to create a better tomorrow. When I was 7 years old I didn’t have endless choices of entertainment on cable, computers or video games. We would make up our own stories and games. One of the goals I have when I design toys is to make sure our toys allow kids to use their imaginations and to create their own stories.
If you want to follow in my footsteps and be a conceptual designer or inventor when you grow up, take time to imagine a future that doesn’t exist yet and learn how to make your ideas come to life. This could mean building, drawing or writing about your idea. Being creative is all about taking action! School is a great place to learn the skills you’ll need to be a designer or inventor. Being creative is also about believing in your ideas and keeping that passion going!
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