Colorforms was one of the first toys to be advertised on television and the phrase "sticks like magic" became synonymous with the brand. Colorforms has developed play sets with popular licensed characters, starting with Popeye in 1957. Over the years it added Barbie, Mickey Mouse, Gumby, G.I. Joe, Charlie's Angels, The Three Stooges, Blue's Clues and Harry Potter.
The company's iconic logo designed by famed graphic artist, Paul Rand, who also designed logos for IBM, Westinghouse, ABC and UPS, is the focal point of the company's new Brush With Genius product. It brings technology to Colorforms and allows kids to use the brush not only to paint a picture but to also add sound. "It is a creative tool for young children," says Bob Moog, president of University Games. It enables a child to create a story and to tell the story with sound.
Patricia and Harry Kisleveitz, art students, invented the toy in their New York City apartment. They were playing with the stick-on material, and actually had it up in their bathroom, where their guests would spend much longer than normal because they were playing with the various shapes and making designs on their bathroom wall.