“ When did you first come up with the idea of making a globe? ”About 10 years ago, when my children were still small. My daughter asked me where France was, and it annoyed me a bit when I couldn’t answer right away. 

I decided to look for a globe to use at home, but all the globes for sale were the same old standard hard ones. There were plastic globes aimed at older children, but they were too dangerous for babies and toddlers. I also found a magnetic jig-saw puzzle, but the pieces were small and hard to pick up, and it would’ve been a choking hazard if an adult wasn’t present, so I ended up not buying any of them.

“ So that’s when you decided to make it yourself? ”Yes. I wanted a globe that even young children could play with safely, so I figured I may as well make one myself if it wasn’t available on the market. In the end, a whole decade has passed since I first came up with the idea, and now we finally have the Terrette globe made with soft material and a fluffy finish making it ideal even for younger children. However, when it comes to babies and young children there is always a risk of suffocation or other accidents, so I urge everyone to still be wary of this.

“ How many years did it take to complete? ”The actual production started in June 2021, and release is scheduled for February 2024. So that is two years and eight months in terms of the production period alone.

“ Did you hire a designer to do the illustrations? ”Yes. I haven’t a clue about design, so I had to ask a professional designer to do it for me. I was very fortunate to meet two wonderful designers on a website called Lancers. One of them is of Japanese descent living in Europe, and as she has asked to remain anonymous, I won’t speak about her but want to say that she drew wonderful original illustrations. The other designer is Mrs. Ramu Takayasu from Tokyo. She adapted the original drawings created by the first designer. Ramu edited the illustrations to give them a natural warm Scandinavian feel and made them suitable for this project. She was also in charge of almost all the design elements of this project, including packaging, advertising, and creating the website. In addition, Ramu is intelligent and precise, and always gave me the advice I needed. To be honest, without Ramu, I don’t think I would have been able to bring this project to retail.

“ What was the most difficult aspect? ”It was difficult to choose an illustration appropriate for each region. I would mull over the choices. I was worried I might choose something that is famous from that region but that the locals didn’t resonate with. I went down a rabbit hole of trying to take the current state of the world situation into consideration, avoiding religious symbols, and ended up stalling for a whole year. In the end, I asked Ramu to choose the illustrations to use.

“ Is everything original, from the drawing to the selection of fabric? ”Yes. It’s completely original. However, we made subtle changes to the original design and changed the choice of fabric along the way. The design changed little by little. I’m a very picky person, so if something bothers me, I get the urge to start over from scratch. I requested illustrations to be switched out many times and ordered print after print in order to find a font that would go well with the fabric and that was easy to read. Now I feel like I’m finally satisfied with its current form.

“ I believe your sister made a prototype, and you built on it from there. In order to make large amounts of handmade items, do you have envision hiring more craft persons in the future? ”Sewing also isn’t my strong suit, so my sister has made the prototypes since first coming up with the idea. She made dozens for me. Currently, the number of orders has increased, so naturally, my sister can’t keep up with production on her own, so I’m looking to hire more crafts people online.

“  Do you plan to continue making changes in the future? ”Yes. Once we actually start selling the product, I’m sure we will get constructive feedback. I plan to take each point raised into consideration one by one, and to continue to make improvements and adjustments to make the best version of Terrette as possible.

“ Can you tell me the story behind the Terrette logo? ”Ramu came up with the image of a child hugging the Earth. I thought that the child’s soft and enveloping embrace matches Terrette’s image perfectly.

The illustration depicts a child hugging a small Earth. By reducing the vast Earth to a much smaller size we want to convey our hope that children will feel closer to, love, and cherish this irreplaceable Earth that we live on. I am very fortunate that Ramu came up with this design because it is a perfect fit and I really like it. 

“ How do you want customers to feel when they receive a Terrette, and how do you want them to use it? ”I am thinking of selling Terrette mainly as a gift item. I want the person who receives it as a gift to feel joy. I also hope that the adorable illustrations give the person who owns it the chance to learn more and share a sense of excitement and fun for the Earth.

Of course, our world is not all sunshine and roses, and in reality, there are many dark occurrences. With this in mind, we purposely chose food, animals, buildings, and people that are reminiscent of each area. Although our choices may be a bit biased, it includes many expected representations, such as chocolate for Ghana, and hula dancing for Hawaii. Since Terrette is meant to be an educational toy, I hope that it will not only be fun to look at, but will also arouse interest to visit these places, and stimulate the mind to learn about each item.

“ Can you share a few final words with us? ”I think some people are busy day in and day out, and just don’t have the time to relax. However, I also think that simply having one item in your home that you can hug on a daily basis, or something adorable for you to look at and that makes you feel at ease, can offer a huge relief from the stresses of a busy modern life. I sincerely hope that everyone who gets their hands on a Terrette will feel a sense of relief by cuddling the soft cotton globe tightly.

ー　CREATOR　ー

Graphic Designer /  Ramu Takayasu