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Wooden Design Cars | Spliners by Maarten Olden

Wooden Design Cars | Spliners by Maarten Olden

Honey Adraque
September 4, 2015
1 Comment

Spliners, a series of toy cars designed by Maarten Olden. They are made in Holland from Ash-Wood and the tyres are made out of TPR or thermo-plastic rubber. The cars are safe to play for children from 3 months old until they have had enough. Read on and enjoy!

The name Spliners comes from ‘spline’ a curve drawn though certain points. 6 different splines are used to make the 6 different types of Spliners. Each type has a different curve.

- Maarten Olden

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My father –in-law once showed me a special furniture makers trick. This trick was really amazing. I was used in the old days to make an ornamented leg for for instance a cabinet. I have studied this trick thoroughly . I started to design wooden toys in SolidWorks (the modelling program I use) using this trick. Both I made some prototypes out of foam. I accidentally met Hans Neijts a toys maker in Amsterdam. When I showed him my portfolio he was intrigued by my Spliner-designs. We decided to cooperate. I made the designs, he made the prototypes in Ash-Wood. He now brings Spliners to the market under the wings of his existing wooden-toy brand Goochem.

- Maarten Olden

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I think I was inspired by cars I used to see on the roads of Europe since I was a kid. Both I wanted to make a nice gift for my nephews, cousins and nieces. I is nice to give a toy to young kids that you have designed yourself. I tried to design cars that are easy on the eye but still give people the opportunity to use their imagination. Clear lines, not to many details. Now a lot of my friends that are fond of cars are really enthusiastic about Spliners, they like to put them on their desk or in their interior as an art-piece. In the meantime my 7-year old son just rides them around next to his Lego cars.

- Maarten Olden

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The Spliners look very simple. But they are not that easy to make. We need ed to make sure they are safe for the youngest children. There are a lot of safety rules concerning toys. That means we were chanllenged to make clever details. Strong construction to fix the wheels to the chassis without making it look to technically. To make things look simple.

- Maarten Olden

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We made several small revisions in the prototyping phase. Especially the fixing of the axles under the Spliners was difficult. You need enough material to make it into a study construction. At this point we had to ‘kill some darlings’.

- Maarten Olden

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About Maarten Olden

After having worked for several design offices in both product and architectural design, Maarten Olden set up his own office in 2002. The office is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His designs are on the cutting edge of architecture and product design, on a broad diversity of scales. His company is called MO,O which designs furniture and products for a variety of manufacturers, and interiors for schools, shops and exhibitions. Maarten also develops his own products and furniture and collaborates with other designers and craftsmen. He has a wide knowledge of materials and production techniques. His fascination for machines and moving parts are revealed in most of his designs. Sometimes explicitly, more often in a more subtle way. Maarten Olden strives to build up a relationship with both his clients and craftsmen. This has resulted in many projects and products that have proven to be very successful. You can find more of his works on his Behance profile or website.

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