Odds of Getting In
The toy design field is getting more competitive; designs are growing in sophistication, and the combination of technology and microprocessors allows for toys to be smarter in smaller packages. The United States alone spends close to twenty-five billion dollars a year on toys, and that number continues to grow.
However, despite the huge amount of kids in the world and the boundlessness of their imaginations, the career outlook for toy designers isn't great. The industry is only projected to grow two percent over the next ten years, which is slower than for the average job (source).
But don't be discouraged. The official numbers might suggest slow growth, but a number of schools with toy design majors or concentrations boast job placement rates in the ninety percent range. So if you take the college route and can muster up some decent designs to put together in a portfolio, you should still have pretty good odds of breaking into the toy design world.