The Children’s Imaginary Friends Have Been Transformed Into Physical Characters By Leading Creative Artists

AMV BBDO has brought together some of the world’s best creative talent for a new exhibition, which opens this week at the V&A Museum of Childhood.

The project began way back in September when more than 60 children were invited to a workshop, where they were asked to describe their imaginary friend in as much detail as possible. The most interesting characters were then brought to life by the likes of Tsuneo Goda, the creator of the Japanese pop icon Domo Kun. Aardman, famous for their creation of Wallace & Gromit and Becky & Joe the two creators of the viral hit ‘Don’t Hug me I Am Scared’. The results are as varied as they are intriguing and range from an 8ft dinosaur to a three-eyed girl with a pet cloud. The Imaginary Friend Collection is on show at the V&A Museum of Childhood, London E2, until 12 February. vam.ac.uk

Rankin then photographed the children with their models to create a striking photo series.

Arvid Harnqvist & Amar Marwaha, the creative team who devised the idea, said: “Children create many amazing things. Take their imaginary friends for instance. They are talked about all the time and often become part of the family. But when the child gets older, these marvellous creations fade away. This project aims to immortalise them.”

Cat: (“Lilly’) made by Psyop for Ruth Fekade

Monster: (“Monster”) made by Aardman for Leo Georgiou

Girl: (“Chloe”): made by BlinkInk for Mable Brim

Lion: (“Swerl”) made by Picasso for Eva Wood

Dinosaur: (“Nessi”) made by Psyop for Julio Sanz

Fox: (“Jamie’) made by dwarf for Lily Whitby