Little Splashers

A growing fresh identity

project developed for Hape

Pop & bold
identity

Safety toys
easy to clean

Surprising
water effect

A child's hands play with ‘Musical whale Fountain,’ a bath toy produced by Hape, as water flows over the toy.

Splish-Splash Fun!

Building on a small line of bath toys, we’ve expanded the family with wide-eyed animal companions in bright colours.

The collection now spans sensory features and parent-friendly designs that are easy to clean and store, blending consistent visual identity with practicality, making bath time a highlight of the day!

A fresh expansion

Our contribution

Magnifying glass over a beige circle, representing search or investigation.

Research

Strategy

Illustration of a light bulb with a yellow background and black outline.

Concept

Line drawing of a pencil on a circular background

Identity

Stylized illustration of a paint palette and brush in front of a large yellow circle, representing art or painting.

Design

Illustration of two gears inside a tan circle.

Development

Simple line drawing of a 3D cube with lines indicating its edges, set against a light circular background, with small lines representing motion or impact.

Communication

Two speech bubbles overlapping, one in front of the other.

Identity in evolution

We began with a small line whose only defined element was its colour palette. From there, we continued developing the line by introducing new animal friends for the bear, each with wide and expressive eyes to keep the look playful.

By reworking the original palette in thoughtful combinations, the range evolved into a refined, cohesive collection with a distinctive and recognisable identity.

Colorful children's bath toys including a bear, an octopus, a whale, stacking cups, and a star shaped toy, in bright shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white all produced and selled by Hape.
A young child playing in a bathtub with "Feed-me bath frog" by Hape, surrounded by bubbles, with a window in the background.
A young child with wet hair smiling in a bubble-filled bathtub holding "Squeeze and squirt pippette" by Hape.
A young boy playing with "Multi-spout sprayer" by Hape in a bubble-filled bathtub, smiling with wet hair, in an urban high-rise bathroom with city buildings visible through the window.
A young child playing with "Squeeze and Squirt Pipette" by Hape in a bubble-filled bathtub during bath time.
A young child playing in a bathtub with "Musical whale fountain" by Hape, surrounded by soap bubbles, with water splashing.
A young child with wet hair playing in a bubble-filled bathtub playing with "Double fun fishing set" by Hape.
A young child playing with "double fun fish set" by Hape in a bubble-filled bathtub.
Children playing with colourful, sensory and mechanical animals from the ‘bath toys’ line produced by Hape, under running water from a sink during a playtest.

behind the scenes

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behind the scenes ~

Playability

Child playing with "Squeeze and Squirt pipette" by Hape in a bathtub filled with bubbles.

This project began with one aim: to understand how water toys truly work and what children genuinely enjoy. Countless playtests and prototypes revealed the surprises that delight.

The Hape Squeeze and Squirt, inspired by the humble turkey baster, gained its “wow” twist from beads inside, an unexpected detail that transformed simple play into a delightfully surprising effect.

Video of a test run of a bath toy produced by Hape.

Child's hand holding and playing an Hape bath toy from the Ocean floor squirter" set, covered in soapy bubbles during a bath.
Child holding and playing with "Ocean Floor Squirter" by Hape, in a bubble-filled bath.
Child's hand holding a green frog-shaped bath toy that is part of "double Fun Fishing Set" by Hape, in a bathtub.
Child's hand holding "double Fun Fishing Set" by Hape and playing with it in the bathub.
Child's hand holding "Multi spout sprayer" by Hape.
Child using "Rock pool squirter" by Hape to plsy in the bathub.

Most squeezers share a flaw: closed designs that trap moisture and invite mould.

To tackle this issue, we designed the Hape bath toys with easy access to the inside, aiding drying and cleaning without losing any playability.

Research turned parental frustrations into thoughtful solutions, reminding us that every project has two users: child and parent.

In this particular case, however, adults were given special consideration, especially regarding cleaning, ease of use, storage and more.

Safety and usability in mind

An exploded view of a starfish-shaped toy from the bath toy Hape collection with a teal body and orange spots.
A toy crab from the "Hape bath toy" collection composed of orange and red plastic with a hollow body, water droplets on its surface, and a removable orange top, set against a white background.
Green and yellow toy fish part of the Hape bath toy collection with a removable yellow fin.

The Full Collection

Overview of the Hape bath toy collection, designed entirely by Studio Balzo