Play isn’t just for kids. Rather, Cas Holman says it’s the spark that ignites our creativity and imagination, throughout our lives. Featured in the Netflix series Abstract: The Art of Design, Cas creates open-ended toys that have no set function or objective, letting kids play and create without fear of failure. And she knows that play is as valuable for adults as it is for children—it encourages us to indulge our curiosity, work together, and learn without fear of failure.
For two decades, Cas has been producing innovative toys that are designed for open-ended play. As the founder and principal designer of independent toy company Heroes Will Rise, she’s created interactive play spaces that encourage people of all ages to explore, imagine, and collaborate. And play doesn’t have to be restricted to the playroom. “Curiosity is playful; ideas can be playful; asking questions can be playful,” Cas says. “If we can play together, then we can live together.”
As a consultant, Cas has worked with the leadership and design teams at Nike, Ford, Disney Imagineering, and MIT. She helps the world’s biggest companies integrate the benefits of play, open-ended processes, and new ways of thinking into their ethos. She’s dedicated her life to challenging conventional ideas about how we learn, and reimagining our systems for play.
Watch Cas explain what it means to design for play:
