A steady diet of junk food and too much television in his youth led Timothy Young down the odd career path he now finds himself on. As a boy he loved to doodle and play with clay. His mother fondly remembers yelling at him for getting Play-Doh stuck in her rug. After a fun-filled but generally misspent youth, Tim accidentally attended Pratt Institute, where they convinced him that the scribbles he had made on his math and history notes could earn him a living as an illustrator. Inspired by the British 3-D Illustrators Peter Fluck and Roger Law, Tim began to create sculptural illustrations. They were so well received by his instructors, by the time he graduated, Tim found himself with an apartment full of sculptures that would not fit into a portfolio
Though he was having fun in animation, his heart was still in illustration, so he began to seek clients. A friend from college gave him his first assignment for Doubleday Books, a 3D Alien artist for the cover of a catalog. Before long, Tim was creating 3D images for clients such as Leroux Liquors, Golf Digest, Popular Science and National Lampoon.
Around this time, Tim met Karen Lyons; a plush toy designer who had worked on the Pee-Wee's Playhouse toys for Matchbox Toys. She introduced him to the people at Matchbox, and he was given the chance to design and sculpt the Talking Penny doll. He was very proud of it and couldn't wait for it to come out in the stores. Unfortunately, due to marketing concerns, the doll was never manufactured. Undaunted by this experience Tim sought other Toy industry clients.
Not knowing any better, Tim attended Toy Fair, walking into showrooms where Toy Companies were trying to sell their new toys to buyers from around the world. Tim somehow managed to meet some of the right people, and ended up designing and sculpting toys for companies such as View-Master, Tyco, Galoob, Toy-Max and many others.
Tim was then offered a job at Marketing Equities, soon to be called Equity Marketing (now called Equity Toys). He spent two years as a full-time freelancer, designing premium toys for fast-food restaurants such as Arby's and Burger King. While there, Tim was instrumental in acquiring the Simpson's license, and was the first sculptor to figure out how to make Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson's hair work in 3-dimensions. The Burger King Simpson promotion was a big hit.
Still jumping back and forth, doing illustrations here, toy designs there and the occasional animation project, Tim was about to make a big change in his life. Soon after he was engaged to be married, his fiancee, Melanie, was offered a job in London. As she was born in England, she was eligible to work there. As soon as they were married, Tim could work there too. So they got on a plane and moved to the UK.
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