Aardman’s Merlin Crossingham to talk character creation at Toy and Game Design Conference 2018

Aardman’s Merlin Crossingham is set to speak about the studio’s approach to creating characters at this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference.

Kicking off Mojo Nation’s inaugural Play Creators Festival, the Toy and Game Design Conference, sponsored by Hasbro, Alpha Group and Wynne-Jones IP, is a day set to inspire, enlighten and wow the industry’s creative backbone.

With a line-up of exciting speakers from across toys, games, tech and the wider worlds of playful design, the conference will unite designers, inventors and those interested in the creative industries.

Crossingham joined Aardman as an animator in 1996 having completed a degree in Animation at Newport Film School. He initially worked on commercials, went into features as a lead animator on Chicken Run, and then second unit director on Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were Rabbit. He then co-directed Creature Comforts USA for CBS and following this, specialised in directing Wallace & Gromit.

In 2009, Crossingham took on the role of Creative Director for Wallace & Gromit and in 2014 he directed the relaunch of Aardman’s oldest stop-motion character, Morph. Most recently (for the last two years), he has been animation director on Aardman’s latest feature film, Early Man.

“I am delighted to be part of the Toy and Game Design Conference to talk about creating characters,” said Crossingham.

“Playfulness is at the heart of what we do at Aardman and I look forward to sharing how we embrace that in our creative processes.”

Billy Langsworthy, co-founder of Mojo Nation, added: “We’re over the moon to have Merlin involved in speaking at this year’s Toy and Game Design Conference.

“The tactile nature of Aardman’s work has inspired creators for years, and as the creative force behind Wallace & Gromit, Merlin’s talk – ‘Bucketloads of Character’ – looks set to be a highlight of the Festival.”

The Toy & Game Design Conference, sponsored by Hasbro, Alpha Group and Wynne-Jones IP, is taking place at London’s Emirates Stadium on Monday, September 10^th.

To book a ticket to the conference, click here. A conference ticket will also give delegates access to the Play Creators Festival opening night party.

For conference sponsorship enquiries, email [email protected].

More Recent News

Our top 10 most read interviews of 2024

This year’s top 10 features interviews with Exploding Kittens’ Matthew Inman, Hasbro’s Angus Walker and Jazwares’ Magdalena Eichhorn.

AMIGO to meet game inventors at Mojo Pitch 2025

“We are thrilled to be back at the Play Creators Festival in 2025,” said AMIGO’s Alessandro Montingelli.

Think Influence eyes toy partners for Fisch

The popular Roblox game launched earlier this year and has over 800,000 concurrent users.

Transformers Age of the Primes figures land on Hasbro Pulse

The Transformers Age of the Primes Titan Class Thirteen Star Optimus Prime figure comes with a cannon blaster, shoulder blasters, and the Zodiac orb.

People of Play welcomes Shannon Swindle as Director

“I look forward to creating meaningful experiences, celebrating the work of toy and game designers and continuing to support the incredible people in this industry that I love so much,” said Swindle.

Rubies readies UK launch for Bluey costumes

“We are confident that Rubies’ new Bluey dress-up options will be popular with families on this side of the world, after the positive reception they received in Australia,” said Anita Majhu, Head of Licensing (Softlines) at BBC Studios.