RATAPON

RATAPON was born in the mind of Rafael Argoud, materials engineer, who discovered woodworking during his studies. The company designs 100% French natural wooden games and toys made locally which aim to raise awareness about the massive production in China when we have everything we need in France. She was born in 2021.

Its concept was born from the desire to make children's toys purer, more eco-responsible, less harmful for children and also for the planet. The majority of children's toys are covered with several layers of paint, glue, varnish, which has some contradictions with the environmental values ​​of the wooden toy. The specificity of Ratapon are its raw wooden toys, without collar, without varnish, and without any paint; which owe their color variations solely to the choice of different woods used such as walnut, maple or beech. You can find puzzles, motricity cubes, a built-in form game and also a construction game.

His creative process is natural and intuitive. Forms come to Rafael by observing nature and the objects that surround him. Then a work of adaptation to the existing technical means is essential; with his sources of inspiration there, he then makes the link with the machines at his disposal in order to check which forms can be made or not.

On the production side Rafael first works his sketches on paper, then on computer. It is with the help of an Isère sawmill, a family business founded in 1822, which uses wood from Isère, Savoie and Ain that RATAPON creates its products. He works with different types of wood, and plays with their different textures and colors. All this combined with his know-how, allows him to create unique and special games for each child.