Token

I don’t know if you know, but the toy collectibles world is kind of blowing up.

There’s a lot of people sharing their unboxing moments online and are all excited about getting in on something exclusive. It’s cool seeing adults openly admit they’re still into toys in public because toys bring us back to simpler times. Remember that freshly-saved-up-allowance purchase joy of being a kid? We wanted to make something that went beyond products and collectibles and brought people back to just straight-up, kid-happy vibes.

Token was about creating a world where a toy store could make and release their own toys and figurines. (Think toys but for grown-ups — grown-ups that still want to escape reality — so, basically everyone). To bring it all to life, they needed a name, a retail concept and lots of collateral.

Token is an entire world of characters: sleepy tokens, yogi tokens, smug tokens and a ninja; among others. The colour palette and general vibe is inspired by the distinct analog warmth of 1970s arcades and the dopamine hit of finding a gem in a dingy thrift store. Everything for the brand is very pungently 70s-inspired for a bit of feel-good with some modern touches (Insert inevitable Instagram backdrop here).

Walking into the store was about walking into this whole world and a simpler time. The space is fit out with vinyl that makes a landscape shared with the tokens. It’s their world, we’re just shopping in it.