How is lego designed

We gave them elemental powers and just launched the Ninjago world. That said, we always start with a simple, initial concept. We want to spark their imagination. We have all the bricks at our headquarters in Denmark. Our design team is very mixed. It includes people from very different creative backgrounds who are also — and I mean this in a very nice way because I include myself in it — a bunch of geeks.

The knowledge of popular culture within that building is incredible. That just inspires and helps us come up with these new things. Does this fit into that world? The Ninjago movie line has been a career high for me. In fact, I just built that one myself to have at home. In the age of unprecedented competition for their attention - from videogames to TVs to countless activities - children still spend over 5 billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks. But building simple modular toys with interlocking bricks is a lot more complex than it seems.

Their most popular set - the police station - is completely redesigned every few years to keep up with the times. They are kinda simplified and targeted at kids, but still have some good insights in process.

First video can be found here. Playlist of all 6 videos somebody have assembled. It is actually super complex. They first start by tinkering, when they have an idea. Then they start building. When they have the object built, they rebuild it step by step, gluing each step to a board. Then a device scans the boards for changes, makes the instructions, and calculates part count. Or at least that is how they used do it. How do I know this?

I read it in a book by 2 former Lego designers. Called Forbidden Lego, you can look it up on Amazon and preview the pages where it has the info. We work hard to make sure our toys are surprising, fun and can be passed down for generations! Finally, we ship the finished sets off to all the stores!

As I understand it, their modern process is a mix of both real-life and digital building. Building a physical model is important for testing durability and such, while digital building is helpful for quickly testing different color schemes. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? We need to validate ideas with research, we need to validate them with sales numbers from previous products. Getting into LEGO as a fan is a great start toward making it a career, but there are some major differences between hobbyists and professional designers.

I never had that experience building for myself before because whatever works works. And that can be a little frustrating, especially coming from the fan community and trying to build all these crazy things and just trying to make something look really hot. Those rules aren't always a bad thing, though.

Coming up with the initial design is the fun part. After that, designers must go through the long process of presenting their creation to the people responsible for developing it into a buildable set. This step, called a final quality review, can take anywhere from a day to a week for larger sets. By the end of it, designers are exhausted.

It can be really tiring. They may get lucky and be able to assemble the model from the existing pieces. If not, they'll need to have some new pieces specially made. Some sources seem to indicate that this should be the last resort in order to keep the production of the kit costs, and therefore shelf price, as low as possible.

New pieces could mean anything from simply changing the color of an existing element to of course a completely new design. Other considerations include trying to keep a balance within an existing theme and look Star Wars, Pirates, etc as well as the number of blocks per kit, and age group they are targeting. New elements are first hand-drawn and then translated into 3D on CAD programs.

Here the designers play around with texture, color, and finish. In recent years, they have begun implementing a 3D printer. Once printed, they are washed and dried, and then they need to be painted and decorated if needed. Decals, if needed, are also designed and printed as stickers ready for applying to the new element. The designers experiment with colors and details until they get the closest fit to what they are trying to emulate.

Once happy with the basic design, and new elements and decals have been created, the kit is ready for test production. Elements are printed with decorations which are stamped on, rather than using stickers though not always in a fully automated manufacturing process at LEGO's production plants. Once the kit is finalized, there is one missing piece in the final kit.

As everyone knows, each and every LEGO kit comes complete with its very own set of easy-to-follow instructions.