The design of the toy instantly makes it recognizable as a gun that shoots projectiles. We clearly see a gun barrel, trigger mechanism and reload mechanism. The shape is strongly rectangular and has a large handle. The toy’s important interactive elements like the loading mechanism and trigger are large and easy to use. The colours also guide the users experience throughout colouring the trigger, loading mechanism and barrel in distinct colours from the whole gun. This guides our eyes towards the important elements of the gun like the trigger and barrel. There is a large black rectangle that sticks out the top of the gun and slides horizontally across it. This is the loading mechanism that creates a small air vacuum when pulled back. When pulling the trigger, this vacuum is released which shoots out a large amount of air pressure our of the muzzle of the gun. The foam darts, seeing as they are made of foam and very lightweight, are then shot out at a distance of around 27 metres.
The design of the toy also accommodates for attachments, feeding into the gun aesthetic. The foam bullets are easy to reload and have to be placed directly into the muzzle by hand or can also be stored on the rotating barrel right behind it. They are also bright and colourful, making them easily recognizable and retrievable even after being shot.
Advertisements for Nerf show players running around and shooting each other with Nerf games, creating a “play-fight” scenario where harmless toy guns are used. Nerf is a toy designed to replicate combat akin to gun shootouts without actually shooting one another. Nevertheless, the brand does not shy away from emphasising the “seriousness” of their toy guns, almost portraying them in a equal form as real guns.