'First Principles First'

Collector's Dolls Houses

Award winning designs

I use a dynamic approach to try to understand the essence of a play situation. I then seek solutions which have maximum play value, trying to stimulate all the senses with form, texture, graphics, sound and the subtle colours of wood with bright colours only sparingly. I also try to arrive at solutions which are ethical and ecologically sustainable

The toys I design are classed as traditional wooden toys, but they are born of a modern vision and style; nostalgic, but also connected with life as it is lived today.

This is a new Internet site devoted to Robin Brookes the designer, but it is not the first place my work has been shown on the Internet. I have been co-director and chief designer for 20 years at Honeychurch Toys, known worldwide for their sturdy but refined traditional English dolls houses.

I have received a number of prestigeous awards for design. The most recent toy design awards are below. Honeychurch Toys was awarded others for collectors dolls houses - link through . I register virtually all my designs and I can organise this side of things for my clients.

I consider the copying of designs to be theft which is why I have fought and won two copyright infringement cases and have become a member of Anti Copying In Design - link here and below.

Wood Valley Farm

is the first of my toy designs to employ what I call the 'Floor Games' principle. H.G. Wells coined the phrase to describe the absorbing games he and his nephews used to play, which occupied the whole of the drawing room floor to build a land and seascape spanning from skirting board to skirting board. Wells book 'Floor Games' was about how you play, particularly the important role of an adult as facilitator and it has become formative in the way I look at toy design.

The components and buildings of Wood Valley are separate and large enough to accommodate the bendable dolls made by Pintoys. Children can spread the farm out and enjoy the experience of being inside the world of the farm.

The great advantage of Wood Valley Farm is that the buildings stack inside each other for compact storage.
See and read more about it here...

Children's Dolls Houses

Drawing on years of experience designing for Honeychurch I have developed two designs for young children, manufactured by Pintoys and distributed by John Crane. More here...

Medieval Castle

Children are fascinated by real castles and something of our history can be explored through this series of toys, which is why this is my one concession to my rule about not designing war toys. In the floor games idiom, the walls and towers can be altered in their configuration and added to, to give a variety of scenarios and fort layouts. More here...

Woodlands, Ledge Hill
Market Lavington
Wiltshire SN10 4NW
ENGLAND

T +44 (0)1380 812294
F +44 (0)1380 818268

Partnership worldwide

I am currently working closely with John Crane Ltd of Northampton, England who are known for their enthusiasm in finding and bringing quality wooden toys and educational toys to the British market. They are the main distributers for Pintoys.

Most of the toys are manufactured by Pintoys of Thailand. This is a big company with four factories but still a family business with a caring attitude towards their workforce. They use replenishable timber, mostly from rubber trees which have come to the end of their latex producing life. I have no qualms about working with this company, they are a fine example of how we should manufacture in the 21st century.