Spin Master’s Mike Bisogno on how in-house design experience shapes his work with inventors

Mike, it’s great to catch up. Let’s start at the beginning! What set you on a path into the toy and game industry?
Well, this wasn’t something I recognised that I wanted to do – or that it was even a job choice, right? I always loved games and was a big gamer growing up. Friday nights we played Risk at my buddy’s house and it was a good time. Much later, my wife and I took a family trip to Atlantic City. While there, my sister-in-law said: “Did you ever consider going to school for toy design?” She had graduated FIT in Packaging Design.

And for context, what were you doing?
I was at Stony Brook for Business Management. She knew I liked toys and drawing, though… When we returned from that trip, I contacted Judy Ellis – the chairperson for FIT’s Toy Design program – and expressed interest in the course. She gave me a project to take home for the rest of that summer. I’d come back and share that in an effort to see if I’d be worthy to join the Toy Design program.

No pressure! And how did it go?
I made the cut; I was accepted! A couple of years later, I was graduating the class cum laude and received the department award for Toy Design that year, which was pretty cool. So I had no formal training going in – it was just something I was very passionate about. Then my career started right out of that program because I was hired at Cardinal Games a month before I graduated college.

How does having experience as an in-house designer shape how you work with inventors?
Overseeing design for some categories as well as Inventor Relations for Games lets me look at things as a much wider portfolio. I know what we’re developing internally and that lets me give a clear picture of what we’re looking for externally. I also like to involve our design team in the inventor relations process now. We play concepts together as a whole team – design, marketing, inventor relations. Getting them excited early lets them show some ownership for it and stand behind the concept as we put it through the pipeline.

Also, I feel it’s super important to view internal and external developments with a very similar lens. Ultimately, it’s still the Spin Master Games portfolio – regardless of where the idea comes from. We should support these concepts in the same way throughout. We also love to have local inventors come in and spend time with us and the whole design team. It’s a cool way to build that connection.

The other thing is that – hopefully – I can give inventors useful feedback that’s informed by a design lens. Even if it’s not something that winds up with Spin, I always want to provide feedback that benefits the inventor.

Spin Master has a great reputation for stellar inventor engagement. How does the company maintain that?
It’s part of the backbone and DNA of the organisation. Spin has always been extremely inventor friendly and has always invited inventors to come here first. We pride ourselves on being a really innovative toy company – we call it ‘Spinnovation’! Part of that reputation for innovation comes from how we engage with this wonderful inventor community. From the very beginning, Spin has made this a priority. It doesn’t matter what category or brand you’re on; inventors are important to us.

What are some key elements to establishing positive relationships with inventors?
It’s about focusing on the people and ensuring every inventor gets their moment to present and share their concepts with us in a meaningful way. We have to pay attention, give meaningful feedback and be good communicators. I know if I was in their shoes, I would want the same thing.

Can you talk me through a recent launch to come from an inventor or invention studio?
Yes! There’s Snack-O-Saurus Rex, which is a game we did in partnership with Dan Klitsner, Brian Clemens and the team at KID Group. It’s been featured on The Today Show and nominated for awards… It’s a fantastic concept. KID are great partners and that’s a fantastic recent success story. We also have a game on the way from Pace Development’s Robert Schwartzman and Peter Williams – one of the first party games those guys have done. It’s awesome and they have so much enthusiasm for exploring a new space for them. I think we’ve brought a few different toy-design inventors over to the ‘dark side’ actually!

Ha! And as well as working with the established community, how important is it to bring new inventor talent into the business?
It’s critical that we find and foster the next wave of talent. I put a very concerted effort into the different conventions across the year, making sure that I’m seeing predominantly new faces at each of the events. The more inventors we’re meeting with, the more concepts we’re ultimately going to see. And in the waves of product we have coming up, you’ll see some new names that we’re partnering with.

Before we wrap up, are there any new Toy Fair launches that you’re especially excited about?
I’m very excited about some innovations within the Rubik’s portfolio. It’s a critical brand for us and it’s probably the highlight of my career to work on and lead design for the Rubik’s portfolio. We have another great new kid’s game on the way, as well as some cool launches in family games and party games.

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