What It’s Really Like to Design and Create a Sex Toy
Similar to meditation or a weekend massage, self-pleasure is an essential ritual of self-care. Masturbation can not only improve skin, but orgasms have been proven to enhance sleep, support a healthy immune system, and provide numerous other benefits.
With self-pleasure becoming increasingly important, a new trend of technology-forward sex toys has emerged. Unlike the past, where sex toys were often marketed in a seedy manner, sleek, chic, and well-tested sex toys for individuals with penises and vulvas are now a priority.
Dingfoo is one such brand with a straightforward mission: to create sexual wellness and intimacy products designed for everyday human experiences.
“We believe that sexual health is a part of self-care,” says co-founder Alisha Williams. “Therefore, it is crucial for us to focus on providing a safe, comfortable, and accessible experience for customers to explore our products and understand the thoughtful considerations that went into their development.”
“At our core, Dingfoo aims to liberate individuals of any gender from judgement and shame surrounding sexual wellness. We encourage people to embrace their most authentic selves and to question outdated narratives and conversations surrounding these products. Simplifying and destigmatizing the experience can foster intimacy in everyday moments.”
We interviewed Williams to gain insights into what it takes to create a sex-positive range of sex toys and accessories.
The Latch: Hi Alisha! Can you tell me a little bit more about the decision to launch Rosewell with your own pleasure toys?
Alisha Williams explains that prior to working on a sexual wellness brand, each member of their team had established careers in very traditional fields. Rosewell was created as a result of their own unsatisfactory experiences in the current sexual wellness market, which sparked a curiosity to start questioning its norms. They wanted answers to questions like: Is it normal to feel like this? How many others share these experiences? Where are the products that don't tell us how to behave or look? What ingredients are in these products? Who are the people behind the leading brands? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions were disappointing and they experienced toxic materials being misguidedly labeled as "body safe," misleading product information, lack of transparency, and confronting marketing campaigns that dictate how users of sexual wellness products should look and act.
TL: And this sparked an idea to create your own?
The sexual wellness industry today isn't very different from where it was 20 years ago, according to Alisha Williams. A simple Google search of sex toys leads to overwhelming and confusing stores or retailers with low-quality products made of suspect materials like PVC or silicone. Most of these brands are run by men, commercializing on the female empowerment and sex-positive movements. They believed that they could do better by prioritizing safety, quality, and sustainability and nurturing, respecting, and supporting sex as an individual human experience, without any assumptions, stigmas, or unrealistic portrayals of sexual wellness.
TL: Love that. Aesthetically, the products are very classy and chic. Was it important for you to follow a more sophisticated appearance?
AW: We took inspiration from other industries such as personal care, beauty, and medicine to create a modern, beautiful, and simple aesthetic for both our brand and products. It was important for us to make the appearance of our products subtle and undetectable as sex toys, by moving away from the bright pink vibrator and opting for a more discreet design. We also recognized the importance of our packaging, website, and branding in cultivating an authentic and unique purchasing experience for all of our customers.
TL: So tell me, how exactly did you manufacture the toys?
AW: We conducted extensive research on commonly used terms like "body-safe" and what they actually mean in terms of materials, manufacturing, testing, and quality assurance processes. Unfortunately, we found that toys marked as "body-safe" often use cheap, non-porous rubber jelly that can be easily penetrated by bacteria, viruses, and fungus. Another popular low-quality option is polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which contains toxic chemicals called phthalates that can leach out of the toy and affect reproductive health, hormone balance, and even be linked to breast cancer by breast cancer charities.
For us, it was essential to use the highest-quality medical-grade silicone, which is the same standard used in menstrual cups and breast implants. This silicone is biocompatible and non-porous, meaning that it won't harbor potentially toxic microorganisms.
TL: How many people were involved? Did you have testers? And how did you engineer the shape and materials?
AW: Similar to many other industries, it took a lot of trial and error, research, and conversations to find a sex toys manufacturer whose values aligned with ours. This process took almost a year of reviewing manufacturers, requesting samples, testing, and asking big questions to see how far we could push the process.
During the sampling phase, we talked to anyone who was comfortable talking to us, including friends, colleagues, acquaintances, parents, and even strangers at a friend's birthday party. We wanted to hear from people of all ages, from our friends' younger siblings to our 60+-year-old moms. We also conducted surveys to understand what people were looking for and made product decisions (mainly regarding shape, noise, and size) based on this feedback.
Through this shared experience, we prioritized neutral colorways, subtle motors, and chose high-quality materials that we were proud of. We began ordering small batches of each product so we could frequently improve our products.