Navigating through the early-stage of her business, Lisa Ha was certain about how much dinosaur content she wanted to feature in Haha Concrete: A lot.
“Dinosaur figurines are the earliest batch of toys I’ve ever had,” recalls Ha. “The plastic ones are affordable and fun to play with. I had a great time imagining going on adventures with them.”
There was a time Ha thought of becoming a toy designer. When she was still in university, Ha created the Dino de Vinyl, a batch of plastic dinosaur figures for people to play with, but soon found herself more inspired when working with concrete. Deciding that concrete isn’t the most child-friendly material, Ha then started to brainstorm ways for people to interact more with her creations.
Earlier this year, the Dino Magnetic Figurine Series was born. Ha combines neodymium magnets and concrete to create the bodies, then polishes them with beeswax. These palm- sized, popsicle-coloured dinosaur figurines are great at holding onto small loose metal objects, like bobby pins, coins and paper clips.
“Keep away from asteroids,” notes the description.
“Interactiveness is definitely a key feature of my creations,” says Ha. “I like the way that I was able to interact with my childhood toys, so even though I’m not designing specifically for kids now, I’d still want people to interact with the figurines and build more connection to them.”
Shop playful concrete goods at Haha Concrete. Also available at the Lot Collective.
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