For those who grew up in the 1960s, making toys took on a quite literal sense, thanks in no small part to toy manufacturer Mattel. The company, which had only just introduced Barbie and would later introduce Hot Wheels, managed to bring the same manufacturing methods used for mass manufactured toys into living rooms around…

It’s no secret that Quirky has had a significant impact on disrupting the way that things get made. Similar to Local Motors, their crowdsourced design business structure allows ideas to be tested within their community before being refined and sent into production – with royalties coming back to the original inventor. While many experienced designers…