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    Discuss This Story
    Set Designers Q&A Part 1
    Hot Bionicle NewsWednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 10:04pm by Jeremy, BZPower Reporter
    [Source: Binkmeister]

    Webmaster Kelly McKiernan (aka Binkmeister) sat down with several BIONICLE designers - past and present - and asked them probing questions submitted from BZPower members. (Kelly bribed them with lunch.) The following hour and a half was filled with laughter, introspection, more laughter, some unpublishable comments, and a lot of fun insights into Life With BIONICLE.

    To make it easier to get through the questions, Kelly collated all the questions down to the essence, and grouped them into categories. The first category is About Being a Designer. Future categories include Sets, Process, Marketing, Story, and so on. Since the design team is always busy, we're spreading out the answering period. Besides, it's more fun this way.


    Designers:
    JD: Jeffrey Alan Davies
    EF: Esben Fl�e
    MTJ: Michael T. Jeppesen
    LT: Lars Thygesen
    JV: Jes Vestergaard
    CR: Christoph R�ttjer
    CR2: Christoffer Raundahl
    AS: Andre Sang-Tae Stenbryggen

    Moderator:
    KM: Kelly McKiernan

    ABOUT BEING A DESIGNER

    Question: How can I become a LEGO set designer? What degree or education do you need, and where would I need to live?

    Answers:
    • CR: Get a design degree (helpful but not necessary)
    • MTJ: Kill one of the existing designers to get his place. You have to be creative. You have to show your creativity.
    • JV: I made furniture for kids. That was my entrance exam.
    • LT: I�m a blacksmith originally, but I also have a design degree.
    • CR2: I�m a baker. You need to keep your kind of like your childhood thinking, be curious, try to stay in that childhood mindset, and remember what it was fun to be a kid.
    • MTJ: And be able to live off pocket money. :)
    • JD: Industrial design and Canadian. Every good business should have at least one Canadian.
    • CR: (You need to live in) boring Billund, Denmark.
    • MTJ: Or within a couple of hundred kilometers of Billund.
    • CR2: Within commute distance of Billund. If you have a helicopter, you could live far away. Of course you need supernatural powers, but we can�t reveal them.
    • MTJ: Designers are born, not made. The hard part is to leave it at work.
    • CR2: We�re not actually designers, but really toymakers. It�s not like fashion design, but creating toys.
    • EF: It�s also about working closely together with a lot of people.
    • JD: Having some sort of social skills is important.
    • MTJ: Or antisocial.
    • CR2: Some sort of skills.
    • All: Laughs.
    • KM: Make checks payable to Binkmeister. Then you�re in. (not really)
    Question: Which set are you most proud of designing?

    Answers:
    • MTJ: Kardas dragon.
    • LT: 8621. Actually, the Rahkshi. And I�m proud of Jeffrey and Esben � they�re real BIONICLE characters.
    • JD: That�s (number is) probably something from Duplo�
    • EF: You can build us up from scratch�
    • CR: Gresh.
    • CR2: Tahu, Kopaka, and the Bohroks. And the �chicks� (Bahrag)
    • EF: Tuma
    • JV: Strakk. (And the Duplo police boat)
    • JD: I haven�t created it yet.
    Question: Where do you get inspiration for the sets? Movies, video games, etc.?

    Answers:
    • JD: Childhood, for example, the trap in the KARZAHNI set was inspired by a giant crab sculpture in front of the Vancouver museum I remember from my many visits to the museum as a child.
    • CR2: Brickmaster.
    • All: Internet
    • CR2: Movies, cartoon, all the weird designers�
    • Cr: Nature
    • EF: Discovery Channel
    • LT: I had a dream the other night�
    • MTJ: Super Brugsen (local grocery store)
    • JD: Second-hand shops
    • CR2: Brainstorming together, putting weird things together, doing crazy stuff
    • MTJ: When we did Mahri, we went for a scuba dive with sharks and eels and everything
    • CR2 & LT: Las Vegas! (But what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas)
    • JD: London, but we almost got blown up by terrorists�
    • CR2: Science museums, art museums, etc.
    • LT: Playing with the kids during tests with kids. They�re great inspiration.
    Question: What do you love most about your job?

    Answers:
    • CR2: The chain around my foot. (CR�s been here for 10 looooong years). The community and the fun, and having a job that�s serious but not serious� you have fun that you don�t get in other companies
    • MTJ: The job is different from beginning to end
    • JD: It�s about taking a product from concept to stores
    • CR2: Getting the recognition from kids when they play with the toys, seeing their reaction and joy
    • MTJ: Making children happy
    • JD: Reading BZP.
    • LT: Free coffee.
    • JD: Free fruit
    • EF: Being around your colleagues, and the fun we all have.
    • JV: Meeting the fans and seeing that they really love what we do. That�s great.
    • CR: Office fights (with dart guns)
    • All: It�s fun to get to play with LEGO all day long, every day!
    • LT: The days where I get to leave late in the evening and can get here early in the morning.
    • CR: CAKE. (chorus of assents and cheers)
    • CR2: What�s not to like???
    Question: Do you ever design any sets that don�t end up being released?

    Answers:
    • CR2: Yes. There�s been a lot of stuff that will never be released.
    • MTJ: We pick just the best, the cr�me de la cr�me
    • JD: Yes.
    • JV: Plenty of concepts, but not all are approved
    • MTJ: It�s part of the way we work, the process of development. We have so many ideas they can�t all be released.
    • AS: Yeah, we did some designs but they were too "dark" and we re-did them to be more kid-friendly.
    Question: How did you end up working at LEGO, and how long have you worked there?

    Answers:
    • CR2: I was headhunted because they didn�t have enough cake in the company. They were looking for creative people. That was 12 years ago. We did a test for a month, building alone.
    • LT: We built stuff at home and sent it in. I�ve been here 15 years.
    • JD: Took a wrong turn � No, it�s political exile. I�ve been here 6 years.
    • MTJ: Been here for 12 years�
    • LT: Just after the second world war!
    • MTJ: I was abducted directly from school.
    • EF: I�ve been here for a year and a half, but waiting to get in for 10!
    • CR: I�ve been here for one year, I�m quite new. I just applied for a job.
    • JV: I�ve been here 9 years, started in the Baby line which doesn�t exist. I�ve been in BIONICLE about a year.
    • AS: I was hired as a graphic designer to make decorations for minifigs and labels and stickers. I showed some of my sketch work and drawing skills. That got me an interview with System, 12 years ago.
    Question: Is it fun designing BIONICLE sets?

    Answers:
    • All: Of course!
    • (mystery voice): Controlled fun.
    Question: How does it make you feel to know that your designs are so beloved by kids around the world?

    Answers:
    • JD: My head is so big it can�t get through the door!
    • CR2: You feel proud and good, because being a kid is the best time of your life
    • EF: You feel like a kid again when you meet fans who are really into BIONICLE
    • MTJ: I didn�t know my designs would be loved by kids around the world. Makes me want to have a big picture of my face on the back of the box.
    • JD: Makes me want to ask for more money.
    • MTJ: Me too!
    • CR2: If Michael�s face was on the back of the box, I wouldn�t buy it�
    • MTJ: It�s a post-purchase benefit!
    • AS: It's awesome, of course. You get very proud when you see and hear people talking about what you worked on.
    Question: How do focus groups affect your designs?

    Answers:
    • CR2: No kids were harmed in the making of this BIONICLE.
    • CFR2: It has a big effect. We listen to what the consumer and kids say, and we\re very aware of what they think BIONICLE is, and how they want to play with it. If it�s not working in the test, we scrap everything we have.
    • (everyone): Nods.
    • EF: Kids have always been involved in the process, for every model.
    • JD: There�s something we do� we gather so much experience from our focus groups and what they like, it�s not jst one particular test, it�s all the tests we�ve had in the past.
    • MTJ: It�s also about testing children�s abilities to play with the sets
    • CR2: It�s also refreshing our view of what kids are doing, since it�s been a few years since we�ve been kids. It�s good to see what kind of world they�re in, to find their inner child.
    • JD: I�m still looking for my inner adult.
    • LT: Nods.
    Question: Would you recommend your job to a BZP member or other fan?

    Answers:
    • LT: Yes, I would.
    • MTJ: No, it�s ours!
    • CR: Only if you buy cake.
    • CR2: We don�t want competition!
    • JD: My job�s not available currently.
    • KM: Let�s re-phrase. Would you recommend your COLLEAGUE�S job?
    • (everyone) Nods.
    • MTJ: I definitely would.
    • KM: I would too.
    • AS: Yes!
    To Be Continued...Discuss This Story

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