While working on a graphic design job at FAO Schwartz, entrepreneurs Sandra Higashi and Byron Glaser recognized a need for something new in toys. The result was the birth of Zolo, an innovative, interactive toy, designed and produced by Higashi and Glaser and distributed by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The initial idea for Zolo evolved from thumbnail sketches into 50 original pieces based on classic "stick in hole" construction. Refined sketches were drawn with colored markers and pencils on tracing paper, and then actual models were constructed from balsa wood and foam, materials that felt good to hold and manipulate. Zolo has evolved from its original classic wooden box, filled with wooden shapes into a plastic tote, filled with plastic shapes in order to make the toy more affordable and to reach a larger market. All sets work together so that combinations are practically unlimited. A new set called Zolotopia has mixed materials and can be played as a game using a spinning wheel game board. (Contains 1 online resource.)