BATH, England—Lovehoney has launched the 2014 installment of its popular Design A Sex Toy Contest.
The sex toy retailer had a record number of entries to last year's competition and now two of the winning entries are in production.
"We had an amazing response to the competition last year with more than 400 entries - our most ever,” Lovehoney co-founder Neal Slateford said. "We are now developing two of the products and expect to release details later this year. This shows we are really serious about introducing new toys to the market from the competition.
The contest’s 2009 winner designed a rotating wheel which simulates oral sex, The Sqweel. Hundreds of thousands of Sqweels have been sold worldwide and the designer Trevor Murphy has earned more than $150,000 in royalties. It was even featured on Jay Leno's hit Tonight Show.
“I think we got so many entries last year because a lot of people have seen the success of the Sqweel and thought, 'I am sure I can match that,'” Slateford said. "If we get a design which brings something completely new to the market there is no reason why the designer cannot enjoy the same kind of pay day as Trevor. You don't need to be engineer or a designer to enter—all we need is a great idea and a rough sketch so that our designers can make your sex toy become a reality."
The Sqweel has been so successful it is now on its third incarnation—the Sqweel Go.
"I've been squealing with delight every since I won,” Trevor Murphy, from Toronto, said. “It has been wonderful seeing my design sold all over the world and even featured in movies and on the Jay Leno show in America. The team at Lovehoney are wonderful to work with. They are fantastic at bringing innovative designs to the market."
Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James is on the judging panel, along with LELO founder Eric Kalén. Lovehoney has worked with E.L. James to produce the official collections of Fifty Shades sex toys and pharmacy products. Lovehoney is offering a $1,500 prize in three categories: best sex toy for women, men and couples. A further $3,000 will go to the overall winning design, which has the chance to go into production like Trevor's Sqweel.
Entrants need to provide a drawing of their design, a product name, plus an explanation of how it works, who it is for and what makes it different. Lovehoney is being featured on the new fly-on-the-wall TV series, Frisky Business, being shown on TV on the Lifetime channel. In last week's episode, viewers saw the Lovehoney team judging last year's entries.
For more details and where to email entries for this year's competition, go to http://www.lovehoney.com/blog/2014/04/07/sex-toy-design-competition/ .
Entries can also be mailed to D.A.S.T, LH Trading, 100 Locksbrook Road, Bath, BA1 3EN, United Kingdom.
Pictured: Trevor Murphy and the Sqweel Go
