The set designers for Mattel, Inc., a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world, are experts at creating large-scale, museum-quality installations for trade shows and other events to display their iconic brand portfolio that includes Barbie, Hot Wheels, American Girl – and so much more.
In a partnership with CHOC, now Rady Children’s Health (RCH), Mattel has notched a first: creating a permanent installation of replica products featuring five of its beloved brands.
Key members of the team who played a role in the project for RCH’s new Southwest Tower in Orange say the work has been among the most rewarding of their careers.
“It was a humbling responsibility to do this right, to do this justice, and to inspire children and give them some welcome distractions and some cool aspirational moments,” says Lars Auvinen, a senior set designer at Mattel and lead set designer on the CHOC project.
For years to come, kids and families who have appointments at the tower’s more than 25 outpatient clinics will be able to enjoy the Mattel displays that are located just off the elevators on five of the Southwest Tower’s nine floors.
Details of installations
In the lobby of the tower’s second floor, a wayfinding display with a tiered wave design gives visitors a glimpse of what they will find on the five floors, with the hospital’s beloved mascot, Choco bear, cleverly “hidden” in each display:
Little People
Located on the fourth floor, home to the Hyundai Cancer Institute, which includes an outpatient pharmacy and infusion center that also is for patients with acute and chronic illnesses unrelated to cancer.
The Little People display showcases aworld of moments that mark hopeful life experiences and milestones in a patient’s recovery journey. Each cubby portrays certain moments, like a child’s next birthday, first day of school, and the CHOC Oncology Patient Ball, an annual tradition.
Polly Pocket
Located on the fifth floor, home to endocrinology, hematology, infectious disease, metabolic disorders, rheumatology, pediatric surgery, nephrology, and gastroenterology.
Visitors can step into the Polly Pocket universe and experience her and her community in all her forms and sizes. There is a mixture of vintage to contemporary Polly Pocket products differing in detail, shapes, and sizes. Compacts are displayed open to highlight private interior moments, while oversized graphics bring visitors back to a larger park scene.
Hot Wheels
Located on the sixth floor, home to craniofacial, orthodontics, plastic surgery, genetics, dermatology, high-risk infant follow-up program, and interventional radiology.
From a bird’s eye view, visitors can take in hundreds of Hot Wheels cars radiating out of the canyon landscape, zooming out of tracks, or chugging along in a row between canyon passes.
UNO
Located on the seventh floor, home to pulmonology, an RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) clinic, and pulmonary function testing.
Visitors can see all the UNO cards in an undulating display that creates a sense of movement and shuffling. Included are cards from the UNO Colorblind and Braille decks.
Barbie
Located on the ninth floor, home to the CHOC Research Institute.
For the research wing, Barbie shows herself in her diverse and aspirational forms: a pool party with all of her friends, a beach day surfing the waves, and much more. The display highlights accessible and diverse forms of Barbie, Chelsea, and Ken and well as “Hi Barbie!” text bubbles in Spanish and Vietnamese.
Origin of the idea
The idea to approach Mattel about the displays in the Southwest Tower came from Cynthia Neiman, chief experience officer of RCH and formerly the chief marketing and experience officer of CHOC.
Before coming to CHOC seven years ago, Cynthia spent her career in marketing for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including IKEA, Munchkin, and – critically – Mattel.
Cynthia was able to tap into her relationship with her former Mattel colleagues to negotiate a partnership that led to the installations.
Discussions started shortly after the COVID pandemic began in 2020 and concepts for the displays were finalized by the end of 2024 to ensure they would be ready for the opening of the Southwest Tower in June 2025.
Lars was one of three key Mattel associates responsible for creating the displays.
The others were Carlo Maghirang, a set and technical designer for Mattel trade show productions, and Brittany Cruickshank, associate manager, Mattel Children’s Foundation & Corporate Philanthropy.
Carlo and Lars were part of the production design team that took the concept all the way to completion. They worked closely with Brittany to curate the products.
Carlo, who has an art gallery background, was the leading visual designer specifically for the installations, which ranged from initial concepts to visual and technical design for the fabrications. He says the project is a highlight of his time with Mattel.
“I tried to not just put products in static displays but instead really tried to make them about the world and feelings around those products and have the diversity of characters really reflect the experience of the children looking at the displays as they go through their healing process,” Carlo explains.
There are Mattel characters in wheelchairs, one with the skin condition vitiligo, which causes patches of skin to lose its pigment or color, one with a cochlear plant, and others with prosthetic limbs.
“Every single child walking through the doors of the Southwest Tower can look at our displays and feel seen and heard and get to enjoy the play experience,” Brittany says.
Guiding principles
Ryan Norton, a senior manager in Mattel’s Global Corporate Events division, served as senior manager of the Southwest Tower project.
“It was a proud moment for me watching this all come together. The team worked so hard to create truly inspirational moments that serve to provide some moments of play in an otherwise difficult time.” says Ryan.
One of the team’s guiding principles was to create a visual experience that would function as an enrichment activity for patients and medical staff in order to embrace the ethos of “Play as Healing” and also tie in with the motto, “Long Live Childhood.”
Another key was fostering a sense of nostalgia and discovery as patients and staff experience each floor display.
Hiding the Choco bears was a play on the game of “Where’s Waldo?”
Beyond expectations
Nancy Molenda, vice president of global corporate events and philanthropy at Mattel, joined other company executives at the opening of the Southwest Tower.
“We were all misty eyed,” Nancy recalls. “It was more than we had ever anticipated in this project. We were all so excited.”
Asked how much money Mattel spent on the project on labor and products and materials, Nancy says:
“It’s priceless, you could say that. It was a one-of-a-kind labor of love.”
She added: “If prospective philanthropic partners are talking to Mattel, we ask them, ‘What can we do for you in the interest of play?’ And a lot of times the answer is our product and our people, and really the global corporate event team’s talent that can bring that to life.”
Brittany notes that Mattel is in the business of curating play experiences.
“And I believe what our team brought to life here is a play experience that can be lived and breathed every time a child walks up these displays,” she says.
