DESIGNER Simon Wilson took a game he had invented to his daughter’s school to entertain the children.
Now, just a few years later, it is on sale in the world’s most famous toyshop.
The 49-year-old, of Norman Avenue, Henley, spent 18 months developing eyedentity, a board game in which players have to recognise famous logos.
He runs a creative agency in Twyford, which specialises in corporate identity and maximising brands from the finance, leisure and entertainment industries.
“It started as a bit of fun,” said Mr Wilson. “The children at my daughter Poppy’s school loved it. I went back three years in succession and it was so popular that a friend suggested I develop it properly as a board game.”
eyedentity is on sale at Hamleys in Regent Street, Harrods’ toy department and WH Smith stores and other major retail outlets as well as online.
Mr Wilson said: “This has fulfilled a great ambition of mine — I would know if the game was a success if I could walk down Regent Street and see it in ‘the best toyshop in the world’.”
His 17-year-old daughter, Poppy, who used to attend Sir William Borlase School in Marlow and is now at The Henley College, launched the product at Hamleys with a friend, Elle Parkinson.
Mr Wilson and his wife Jocelyn have two other children, Tom, 21, and Billy, 10.
He is marketing the game with the help of Maurice Hall, a fellow director of Xanadu, the company that makes the game. Mr Hall used to run Bell Street toyshop Bagatelle and has been in the toy business for 35 years.
The game, which retails at £24.99, is being offered for £20 at Bagatelle during the town’s late-night Christmas shopping event on Friday, December 4.
To win, players have to guess correctly the identity of a logo against the clock, enabling them to move round the board. The game features 350 household names and brands, which have had something removed, usually the lettering, so that they are harder to identify. For example, the Boots logo without its name is just a blue oval.
Mr Wilson had to obtain permission from all the brand owners to use the logos, including 20 charities, but now receives enquiries from other names who would like to be included in future versions of the game, such as for the internet or mobile phones, or a travel edition.
For more information, visit www.xanadugames.org
Answers: The Bell Bookshop, Higgs Group, Invesco Perpetual, Henley in Bloom
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Published on 30 November 2009
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