DREAM JOB: PAUSE DESIGNS
Creating badass toys for a living, Pause Designs caught our attention with their chainsaw panda bear. Aftering doing a bit of digging, we found the guys behind Pause are 'Canadian art guys specializing in apparel, illustration, vinyl toys, painting, switchblade combs, sculpture, all-day breakfasts, and looking cool at parties'. We caught up with Eric to ask him a few questions about this dream job. 
Tell us how you got into designing toys.I had been collecting designer vinyl for many years before I ever created my own. All my favourite artists had production toys out, and in most cases it was a more affordable alternative to purchasing their prints or originals. I hadn't given much thought to designing my own, primarily because I was working just in illustration, and I hadn't had much experience with painting or sculpting. Eventually I had a collector approach me to commission a custom Dunny for them, even though I had zero experience doing it. But I gave it a go and had a lot of fun making it, and the collector was pleased with it. Other collectors saw the piece, and my commission list grew. Then with every new toy I made, I got more and more requests for pieces. Eventually the toy company Kidrobot took notice, and approached me to make a production piece with them. We did. And lived happily ever after.
What is the strangest thing you have gained inspiration for?I suppose the panda bear with chainsaws for arms would be it. We just drew it one day because we thought it was funny, and it seemed to end up everywhere on the internet somehow. Like a B-list meme. People send me pictures of it tattooed on themselves. It's pretty awesome.
Tell us more about the upcoming Designer Toy Awards! Dango, Pause got a lot of awards!The Designer Toy Awards are held in New York every year, and they honour the best designers, artists, and brands in the industry. This year we were lucky enough to be nominated in the 'Break-through Artist', 'Best Resin', 'Best Collaboration', and 'Best Custom' categories. We didn't win anything, but getting nominated was an honour.What's coming up for 2015?A lot more toys. Both production and custom pieces. Unfortunately I'm not allowed talk about them just yet, but I will say that they are in fact composed of matter. I've also been working a lot on canvas lately, and plan to continue to make more in 2015.Keep up with all their designs and projects on Facebook and their blog for more.