FibreCraft

Here’s a story about one of our most energetic and accomplished designers, John Porubsky. John is a longtime designer and illustrator whose work is always engaging and fun. In this interview, John chats about his job at Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.®, his history as a designer and his extensive toy collection.

Josh Baskin and John Porubsky have a lot in common. They’re both kids—trapped inside adult bodies—with huge toy collections. The difference is that Josh is Tom Hank’s character in the 1988 hit movie “Big.” John is real.

While the rest of us are balancing our checkbook or looking at floor tile, John is debating which action figure to add to his 500-plus collection. Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman, Star Wars and G.I. Joe make up a large part of his personal stock, but that’s not all he has for show and tell.

“I have a few goofy ones,” John says. “Stephen Hawking in a flying wheelchair from ‘The Simpsons,’ Macaulay Culkin from ‘Home Alone,’ Mork from ‘Mork and Mindy’—really, too many to recall. I like to think that the display area can also be important: a newborn Alien (from the first movie) in my fridge, Iceman in my freezer and Norman Bates near my shower.”

For John, feeding his toy addiction isn’t just an indulgence or continuation of a childhood dream. It’s a big reason why he’s so good at what he does for a living.

“I have an incredibly fun job,” says John, who has worked for seven years as a product designer at Fibre-Craft®. “I get to make stuff for kids all day long. I illustrate awesome pictures that get turned into foam stickers or pirate ships. And my designs are sold in stores all over America!”

Product designers combine a talent for design with an understanding of the production and marketing of consumer goods. Those who succeed are equally skilled at making three-dimensional models of their designs as well as adhering to cost estimates given by production staff.

John can’t walk down a store aisle sometimes without calculating the shape, size and composition of every product he sees. He also can’t walk out of a toy store often without buying something. But at least he’s learning to share.

“I used to be pretty fanatical about expanding my collection. But my philosophy now is if I’m going to buy something, I should not keep it in a box—there’s no point in keeping it in a box,” John says. “I still like Sideshow Toy 12-inch action figures. My 8-year-old nephew likes them. I go shopping for him just as much as I do for myself now. I’m always looking for things from ‘Cars,’ the first movie he saw.”

John’s favorite toy remains the G.I. Joe from the 1960s—the boy’s version of a Barbie doll. The action figures decorating his cubicle aren’t as well organized as his home collection, which features three life-sized figures from the Star Wars franchise, including a fiberglass Imperial Stormtrooper he bought in 1997.

“It was the price of a Mac,” John says, shrugging. “I’m glad I bought it, because computers come and go.”

With his toys scattered across his desk for inspiration, John finds it easy creating arts and crafts projects for kids all day long. “What I love most about my job is that I get to make my own race cars or dinosaurs,” says John, who once had the rather “arduous” task of reading Harry Potter during work hours for marketing research at a previous company.

But it’s not all fun and games. The most challenging part? Meeting deadlines. “It’s like homework all over again,” he says.

John was hired by Fibre-Craft in 2003 after previously working at Leo Burnett and Simon Marketing, where he handled projects for such clients as Walt Disney and Warner Bros. He graduated from the American Academy of Art in 1987 with a degree in illustration.

“I was always into illustration as a kid. I wanted to be an artist,” John says. “I didn’t realize until I was older and in school that there were jobs where you could actually design really cool stuff.”

His advice to kids who want his job someday is simple.

“Don’t give up,” John says. “I can’t stress that enough. If you really want it bad, just work hard for it. You don’t have to be the most talented to find the job you want—you just have to keep at it. It’s the most clichéd thing in the world, but it’s clichéd for a reason.”

Wearing name tags and gazing around in wonder, the kindergartners slowly file into the room along with their teacher, Persephone Kelly. On the far wall is a large drop-down projection screen.

“Mrs. Kelly’s class!” A boy named Andre exclaims as he sees his teacher’s name appear on the screen, followed by the names of his 17 classmates at Elizabeth Meyer School in Skokie, Ill.

It’s 10 a.m. Thursday, April 22, at the Fibre-Craft Materials Corp. headquarters in Niles, Ill. This is just another Kids Day, one of the programs regularly held at the arts and crafts company’s office to connect with the community and learn more about what kids like.

But first comes a question crucial for any group of young students. “Before we start, does anyone have to go the bathroom?” asks I-Wen Kim, Fibre-Craft’s product development director.

Two girls raise their hands. A third pipes up: “Me too!”

They’re shown to the bathroom just outside the doors as Heidi Growosky, Fibre-Craft’s product development supervisor, talks about the Creative Hands® brand and conveys in simple terms how a craft goes from a concept in someone’s head to its arrival on store shelves.

“What does yellow and blue make?” Heidi asks. The students reply green. “What about a yellow marker on blue foam?”

“It’ll just make the yellow color because it’s on blue foam,” one girl named Leta says.

Nodding, Heidi goes on to explain how special markers, like the ones made by Fibre-Craft, stay the right color on foam. “Are you ready to have some fun now?”

“Let’s get started!” one boy shouts.

Now it’s down to business. A total of 11 Fibre-Craft employees from different departments—all wearing lime-green smocks with “get sm’ARt” and the Creative Hands® trademark splashed across the front—station themselves around the room to lend a helping hand wherever it’s needed. There are seven worktables, each with a tray containing all the supplies essential for arts and crafts projects: glue, glitter pens, sequins, feathers.

For the first project, the kids get to decorate a foam person however they want.

“Look, I’ve already put glue all over my person!” a boy named Lucas says as he is handed a paper napkin.

“I’m done. I’ve made myself happy!” Andre says, referring to the expression on his foam person.

“I broke this with my thumb,” Lucas says, holding up a Fuzzy Stix™.

“Your thumb is your strongest finger,” Andre says sagely.

“You forgot your hair,” Lucas says, pointing to project.

“I don’t want hair,” Andre replies. “I’m the first one done!” he adds proudly.

Meanwhile, Ms. Kelly is glancing around the room, a smile on her face. “They’re all mesmerized—it’s so cute.”

Next comes the warehouse tour, where the kids measure its length in footsteps, walk inside one of the trucks backed up to the docking area and witness some of the machinery at work, including a large shrink-wrapping device and some very tall forklifts.

“Oh man! Whoa! That thing can actually touch the ceiling!” Lucas exclaims while watching the forklift demonstration. Just moments before he had been asking: “When is it going to be lunchtime?”

Returning to the first room, the kids start on another project, one specifically designed for Earth Day. They’re each given an empty toilet roll and a piece of colored tissue paper to make the body of a bird. Then, with string, googly eyes and other components, they’re able to accessorize their creation.

Soon it’s lunchtime, and the kids are happily eating pizza while watching Pixar short films on the large drop-down projection screen. Afterward, they receive Creative Hands® goody bags from Fibre-Craft. Before leaving, at Ms. Kelly’s prompting the Fibre-Craft staff receives a treat of their own: an Elvis thank-you. The kindergartners perform one of Elvis Presley’s signature moves while mimicking a favorite saying of his: “Thank you very much.”

Here’s a story about one of our most energetic and accomplished designers, John Porubsky. John is a longtime designer and illustrator...