Construction toy, Geemo, designed by Cas Holman, USA, 2007

Construction toy consisting of five three-limbed parts made from flexible white TPE. The end of each limb encloses a magnet behind a circular teal panel.

The Geemo are contained in a drawstring bag made from unbleached canvas, printed in places with green and purple details, and sealed with a green cord and blue toggle.

Cas Holman (b. 1974) is an American toy designer, founder and principal designer at independent toy company Heroes Will Rise. Holman’s best-known products include Rigmajig and Imagination Playground, both of which originated as public play features for New York parks.

As of 2022, she is also a full-time faculty member at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the Industrial Design Department, having previously taught at Syracuse University. Originally based in Brooklyn, New York City Holman now develops prototypes across five acres known as ‘Camp Fun’ in Hope, Rhode Island.

Heroes Will Rise focuses on designing toys that foster creativity and invention – stemming from the belief that imagination is essential to childhood. Their toys are designed to be gender neutral and encourage unstructured, exploratory play. Identifying as part of the LGBTQI community, Cas channels her experiences into her designs, creating toys that encourage ‘figuring out and imagining what doesn’t exist’.

Geemo is a flexible construction toy with magnetic, web-like limbs that attract and repel each other. It was invented while Cas Holman was pursuing her MFA at Cranbrook School of Art, Michigan and launched at the New York Museum of Modern Art Design Store in 2007. It has since won numerous awards.

Geemo’s uniform colour, with no patterns or colours to distract, deepens the focus on the form, shape and material of the set when it’s being played with. By designing the Geemo’s this way Cas’ aim was also to provoke curiosity and wonder in the user, as the toy wobbles, links and repels in unpredictable ways.

B.18:1 to 6-2023