Clutter announces the DTA Board of Judges

Clutter Magazine is proud to announce the Board of A-list art toy stars chosen to judge the inaugural Designer Toy Awards. The Board is a select group of Designer Toy professionals - artists, producers, commentators, manufacturers and influencers. To comprise the Board , Clutter Magazine carefully selected top international industry professionals from this exciting and expanding field including industry luminaries Paul Budnitz, Ron English, Frank Kozik and Tara McPherson.

"The DTA values each board members' unique involvement in the art toy scene, which allows for a full range of perspectives to be exercised when choosing the winners," says Miranda O'Brien, Editor-in-Chief of Clutter Magazine. "Clutter is honored to act as the catalyst for this awards event which it hopes will become an ongoing institution within the designer toy scene and the larger art world as a whole."


The Designer Toy Awards is comprised of twenty-two categories organized in two sections: Board voted awards and public voted awards, designated as the Community Choice Awards. The Designer Toy Awards will accept nominations from the public from now until June 20th at www.designertoyawards.com/categories. Fans around the world may submit as many nominations as they choose for all twenty-two categories.


After June 20th, the Board will review the nominations and choose a winner in each of the thirteen Board voted categories, including the coveted Best Toy of the Year Award. On June 27th, the public may vote for one nominee in each of the nine Community Choice categories. Clutter Magazine will host an awards ceremony announcing the winners on Thursday, July 21st at the Munky King Comic Con Party in San Diego, California.


Board members from around the world share their thoughts on being part of the first-ever Designer Toy Awards:

"I'm very honored to be part of the Board of Judges," says Michael Rouah, owner of Artoyz and manufacturer of vinyl toys, based in Paris, France. "I think the DTA is a great idea to boost the market and increase focus on the designer toy movement."


Mark Nagata, founder of Max Toy Co says "I'm honored to be asked to be on the DTA's board and hope we can shine the light on some of the many talented artists out there. Having devoted most of my collecting life to Japanese toys and being a full time Kaiju toy maker, I look forward to bringing a different viewpoint to the process."


Luc Hudson, Co-founder of Triclops Studio, Ltd says "Designer toys are designed by the best designers so it seems only fitting that the best designs should be judged by the best toy designers. And artists. And Triclops."

The Inaugural Designer Toy Awards Board:

The full bio of each board member is available on the DTA site.