add to their creations. The positive reactions they got to the project led Harry to believe there was market potential for such a product. The original Colorforms sets were spiral-bound booklets hand-assembled by the husband-and-wife team in their New York City apartment. The first 1,000 sets were sold "on concept" to the FAO Schwarz toy store. Shallow boxed sets containing screen-printed, die-cut pieces, and illustrated backgrounds began appearing soon after. The company used the slogan "It's More Fun To Play The Colorforms Way!" in print ads and television commercials to promote their products. Prominent graphic designer Paul Rand was commissioned to create the company logo that remains in use today; he also gave input for a "signature-edition" playset. The company rarely employed an in-house creative staff, relying instead on the Kislevitz' own artistic direction provided to top freelance illustrators for layouts and finished work. Indeed, even the company's creative director from 1965 until 1986, toy designer and inventor Mel Birnkrant was not a formal Colorforms employee, working instead for a royalty percentage. The defining feature of most Colorforms playsets is their signature plastic "Stick-Ons™" that can be placed and repositioned on top of graphic backgrounds to create endless scenes and scenarios at a child's whim. Company timeline 1951 - Harry and Patricia Kislevitz experiment with new flexibly vinyl sheeting material to decorate their apartment by cutting out shapes and affixing them to smooth surfaces; they realize that this could be applied to an activity toy set, thus beginning the Colorforms concept. 1957 - Popeye becomes Colorforms' first licensed character applied to its products. 1959 - Graphic designer Paul Rand creates the Colorforms logo. 1968 - The Outer Space Men carded action figures are released. 1962 - Miss Weather, a Colorforms character featuring a wardrobe that changed with the weather, makes her debut. 1981 - Colorforms acquires licensing rights to Shrinky Dinks kits; during its licensing period, Colorforms created and marketed more than 50 different Shrinky Dinks toy activity and creativity kits. 1997 - Toy Biz acquires Colorforms. 1998 - University Games acquires Toy Biz. 2000 - Colorforms listed among the Top 10 Toys of the Century by the Toy Industry of America (TIA). 2011 - Colorforms named one of the Top 100 Toys of All Time by Time magazine. 2014 - Out of the Blue Enterprises acquires Colorforms 2018 - 9 Story Media Group acquires Out of the Blue Enterprises