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One day this summer, I visited the western New York headquarters of Fisher-Price, the world's largest maker of playthings for children under six years old, to see how beliefs about child development get incarnated in particular toys.
今年夏天的一天，我参观了纽约西部的费雪公司总部，这是全球最大的六岁以下儿童玩具制造商，我想看看关于儿童发展的观点是如何体现在特定的玩具上的。
In the main building's atrium, I watched an employee ride a giant cherry-red spiral slide from an upper level down to the ground floor.
在主楼的中庭，我看到一名员工顺着巨大的樱桃红色螺旋滑梯，从较高的楼层滑到一楼。
Scattered throughout the hallways were examples of the company's best known and bestselling toys, from the classic Rock-a-Stack ring stacker, on the market since 1960, to the 4-in-1 Ultimate Learning Bot.
走廊各处散落着该公司最知名、最畅销的各种玩具样品，从1960年上市的经典彩虹套圈，到四合一终极学习机器人。
Creating a line of toys often takes a couple of years. At Fisher-Price, which has been owned by the $6bn toy conglomerate Mattel since the early 1990s, commercial concerns quite naturally come first.
创造一个玩具系列通常需要几年的时间。自上世纪90年代初以来，费雪一直由市值60亿美元的玩具集团美泰所有，商业利益自然位居首位。
The design process begins with a sheet from the marketing department specifying how many different products are needed for an upcoming season, at what prices, and for which outlets and licensing franchises.
设计过程始于市场营销部门的一张纸，上面明确列出了下一季需要多少种不同的产品，价格是多少，以及供应给哪些专卖店和特许经营店。
Then come the trend reports, which help to set design directions, from the colour palette to the personality of each toy. Every offering must be "toyetic", which translates into English as "cute" and easy to market.
然后是趋势报告，帮助确定设计方向，从每个玩具的主色调到性格特色。每个产品都必须"有玩具性"，翻译成白话就是"可爱"且易于推销。
In the late 2010s, when designing the Linkimals, a hugely popular line of educational toys in the form of quirky mammals that supposedly teach basic literacy, numeracy and the colours of the rainbow, Fisher-Price considered many types of characters.
在2010年代后期，费雪在设计"联萌"系列(一个非常受欢迎的益智玩具系列，样子是稀奇古怪的哺乳动物，据说可以教基本的读写、算术和彩虹七色)时，考虑了各式各样的角色。
"Woodland and offbeat creatures were really starting to trend," Dom Gubitosi, who oversees the design of the company's infant and toddler toys, said. "Parents were bored of elephants and tigers."
"森林动物和另类的动物真的开始流行起来了，"负责婴幼儿玩具设计的多姆·古比托西说，"父母们厌倦了大象和老虎。"
Today, the line includes the A to Z Otter, the Boppin' Beaver and the Lights & Colors Llama -- but sadly no Patterns & Prepositions Pangolin. "No matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't make the pangolin cute enough," said Kevin Crane, the Linkimals' principal product designer.
现在，"联萌"系列包括"字母表水獭""波波音乐海狸"以及"光彩羊驼"，但遗憾的是还没有"图案与介词穿山甲"。"无论我们多么努力，我们就是没办法把穿山甲做得很可爱。" "联萌"系列的首席产品设计师凯文·克兰说。
Even in the age of online delivery, the defining moment in the life of many mass-market toys occurs in the shop aisle. Children start making their own purchasing decisions around the time they enter primary school, but for nursery-age toys, adults are still by-and-large the ones doing the buying.
即使身处线上配送时代，许多大众市场玩具的决定性时刻还是发生在商店的货架过道上。孩子们大约上小学时开始自己做购买决定，但对于幼儿玩具，基本上还是成年人说了算。
To convince grownups to open their wallets -- or to incite children to wheedle, plead, cajole and then go thermonuclear until grownups open their wallets -- the "on-shelf experience" of a toy is crucial.
要想说服成年人掏钱 -- 或者鼓动孩子们哄骗、恳求、劝诱，然后撒泼打滚，直到大人掏钱 -- 玩具的"货架体验"至关重要。
