Danish Kristian Sidelmann and Rasmus Fiil Svarrer have used their own children as test bunnies so to speak and now their Danish design you can play with have become a success. The magnetic wooden animals are produced in Vietnam via a Danida project and the pair founded their project FableWood through crowdfunding.
In an interview with JydskeVestkysten, Kristian Sidelmann talks about how the idea behind Fablewood came to life and how the durable range of animals are made.
The idea was originally a school project. Kristian Sidelmann and Rasmus Fiil Svarrer both studied engineering at DTU in Lyngby, Denmark and Kristian Sidelmann got the idea to create toys for his daughter who was one year old at the time. After producing a few demo types and watching how his daughter played with the animals, he made the first five animals, packaged them, and handed in his project.
Seeing potential in the idea to create a playful design beyond just a school project, Kristian Sidelmann and Rasmus Fiil Svarrer wanted to test the potential and set up a Kickstarter campaign with crowdfunding, where they accepted pre-orders before they started production.
Now four years later more than 1,000 people from all over the world have supported the project. FableWoods range of twenty different animals are made of American walnut and ash wood and are today available online and at around 100 dealers in Denmark.
Besides creating beautiful Danish design pieces, Fablewood empathizes with the responsible manufacturing of its products. “We have made an agreement with Sydfyns Legetøj, which gets their wooden toys produced in the southern part of Vietnam at a Vietnamese-Danish production company via a Danida project,” Kristian Sidelmann explains.
The project is about knowledge sharing and a responsible work environment is something FableWood refuses to compromise on. The company is making sure that the production company complies with the Danish standards for a good work environment throughout the entire production.
The plan before the pandemic was for FableWood’s products to be more available abroad but that plan has been slowed down a little. The pair are however working on ideas for new products but it’s still too early to share those, Kristian Sidelmann says.
