Comments on: LEGO fan vs. LEGO Designer — the Mark Stafford interview [Part 3]

By: DCD

DCD — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:01:26 +0000

I would love to see a huge spaceship. With minifig scale interiors. Why hasn’t LEGO ever made one? But if you have keep making cafe corners (which i like) and Tal Mahals, then how a about a church or a cathedral?

By: Joel (JD4M)

Joel (JD4M) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:17:38 +0000

Really interesting read. As a young AFOL and a future architect, I often wonder if I could become a Lego designer someday.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:31:07 +0000

^^^ Awesome, thank you. That doesn’t surprise me at all. LEGO is international in every other respect.

By: Erland (Front)

Erland (Front) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:01:56 +0000

Joe, you do not have to speak Danish to work at Lego, but I guess english is required in most cases. The area where sets and bricks are developed, are quite an international work-place. I’ve been doing part-design for close to two years now, and worked with designers from Germany, Denmark, England, USA and Canada.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:32:12 +0000

Does LEGO require any knowledge of Danish to work in Billund?

By: Gobblin.net » Blog Archive » Wednesday Linkblogging

Gobblin.net » Blog Archive » Wednesday Linkblogging — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:17:31 +0000

[...] Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) to professional set designer! This three part interview at the Brothers brick is a fascinating [...]

By: VarietyAlleyCat

VarietyAlleyCat — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:13:56 +0000

The Crystal Sweeper and Gothica are awesome!

By: Erdbeereis1

Erdbeereis1 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:15:56 +0000

Many thanks for your answer!

It’s great that you took the time to do this. I enjoyed finding out about some of the “behind the scenes” things.

By: Mark Stafford (Nabii)

Mark Stafford (Nabii) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:02:20 +0000

That version of the Crystal Sweeper was one of many versions built through the development stage and models can go through drastic changes. The first working sketch model of the Crystal Sweeper was built by Mister Zumbi, the version you see here is my first version, the final version is a hybrid of both of these and some things (like the lights) brought over from other models to help tie the theme together. The main reason the wheel at the front had to be changed and built using the new elements was strength, when this version went over crystals or monsters you were just as likely to end up with parts of the wheel in the back as anything else!
Price per piece is not my area, so I’ll have to pass on that. When I design a set I try to include whatever pieces are need to make it work within the frame I have (as explained in my answers to BB), the ‘number of pieces’ I rarely think of. Though I will point out the Rock Raiders set that would match up with this (if it were a current theme) has over 100 pieces less.

By: Erdbeereis1

Erdbeereis1 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:25:43 +0000

Great interview!

I love the Agents sets you designed, especially the Command Center. And Power Miners are also a very creative and fun theme.

One question, what were some of the reasons that the prototype of the Crystal Sweeper didn’t end up as the actual set?

I was also a bit curious why that particular set is priced very high for the piece count.

The set is great though!

By: Rocko

Rocko — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:36:19 +0000

Great interview and thanks to Mark for answering questions. You crank out some fantastic Lego designs regardless of the various constraints and criteria.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:39:26 +0000

I have to agree with Ry. I now have all the Agents sets, and I think they are some of the best Lego products in years in terms of design, value, and play. I never picked up the Ultra Drill Walker due to having most of the parts in it already, but I really admire the design. And I love the PM stuff. So fun to play with.

I’m really looking forward to Mark’s future projects. The track record so far is excellent!

By: ry

ry — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:04:43 +0000

Awesome interviews, I’m finally building my copy of the Mobile Command Center I picked up months ago and it’s one fantastic build. It’s quickly rising up my list of top Lego sets ever; what a phenomenal parts pack and all-around satisfyingly large build with *tons* of play features.

By: nolnet

nolnet — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:36:48 +0000

Cheers, Mark for giving this great interview. Funny I just recently contemplated over the design of one of “your” sets, the Agents’ Gold Hunt.
When I saw the huge-baseplate-whith-no-seat-at-all for the Truck’s chassis I thought “they got to be frickin’ kidding me” (some other barrel-related details spring to mind). But then I found all the fun features in it, like the SNOTed fenders/jet intakes, the simple yet interesting suspension technique and the hilarious guns for the henchman. In the end, the jet alone is so well designed it makes up for any minor drawbacks.

Thanks again for the insight, quite an interesting read!
Moritz

By: Mark Stafford (Nabii)

Mark Stafford (Nabii) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:12:41 +0000

An ‘illegal build’ is one where the LEGO elements are stressed – meaning they are being forced out of shape, for example when a technic pin is put into a 1×1 round brick it cannot ‘pop’ out at the bottom end, the lip is constantly pushed together, over time this will permanatly warp the element. Not such a big deal in a MOC, put not acceptable in a toy.
LEGO Designer Jamie Berrard explains more in his ‘Stressing the Elements’ presentation.
http://indylug.org/blogs/jeramy_spurgeon/archive/2006/10/19/Jamie-Berard_2700_s-_2200_Stressing-the-Elements_2200_-Brickfest-Presentation.aspx