Colorforms is a creative toy named for the simple shapes and forms cut from colored vinyl sheeting that cling to a smooth backing surface without adhesives.

Eventually, however, the Colorforms line evolved to include full-color illustrated playsets, games and puzzles, interactive books and creative activity sets for children of all ages.

The Colorforms concept was developed by Harry and Patricia Kislevitz in 1951,[1] firmly rooted in the Modernist design ethos and reflecting the Color Field abstract style prevalent at the time.

The basic concept behind Colorforms is the ability to adhere and reposition abstract and geometric color form shapes on random surfaces to create art.

Both recent art students, the couple discovered the idea when they acquired several rolls of flexible paper-thin colored vinyl used to manufacture plastic pocketbooks and found that it would stick to the glossy paint in their bathroom and allow them to reposition it at will without affecting either surface.

Simply cutting shapes out of the material and sticking them to the wall turned out to be amusing enough that they left extra vinyl with a pair of scissors for guests to add to their creations.

The company rarely employed an in-house creative staff, relying instead on the Kislevitz' own artistic direction provided to top freelance illustrators for layouts and finished work.

The defining feature of most Colorforms playsets is their signature plastic "Stick-Ons" that can be placed and repositioned on top of graphic backgrounds to create endless scenes and scenarios at a child's whim.

Later Colorforms licensed various properties, producing sets supporting varied cartoons, TV series, movie releases, and popular musical artists, like The Beatles, Peanuts, Gumby, Tarzan, The Three Stooges, Doctor Dolittle, Star Trek, Batman and Superman (along with a whole pantheon of comic-book superheroes), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Michael Jackson, The Smurfs, and even Steve Urkel.