My latest creation is a picture puzzle called Ravel. You are a postman trying to escape from a bizarre world in which you have no idea how you got there. Click on the picture for the riddle on how to solve the puzzle. It’s inspired by a childrens book called It’s for You and the flash game Looming.
Posts by Nannan
Awkward Dinner
In this comical vignette, Kevin Wise (WisrthanU) presents one of the best uses of the dummy fig along with an effective application of forced perspective.
Modernist house
Niek Geurts‘s modernist house is an architectural feat. The builder created this original design inspired by the Dutch architect Willem Dudok. There are quite a few subtle details you may not notice at first glance such as the diagonal tiling of the sidewalk and the construction of the brown walls using plates.
There’s even a complete interior to the house. You can see all the pictures on Flickr.
Castle of the underworld
Ivan Angeli from Serbia presents a bloodcurdling red castle in an underground city from the Dungeons and Dragons universe. The extreme proportions of the architecture is fitting of the fantasy genre. Check out the gallery on Brickshelf for more photos including construction and detail shots.
Reflections on Creations for Charity 2010
Creations for Charity took place in the past two months where LEGO fans sold their creations to raise money to donate LEGO to children in need. Here are a few words on the organization and the results of this year’s fundraiser.
The beginning
Creations for Charity began with the idea of giving LEGO to underprivileged children for the holidays. It started with a proposal by Don Wilson to keep a record of LEGO donations made by a group of fans. This inspired me to create a fundraiser where fans use their talent with LEGO to raise money. Although it seemed ridiculous to ask people to give up their personal creations, we got an overwhelming response and raised over $2,000 in 2009. We used the money to purchase and donate almost $3,000 worth of LEGO.
One year later
Drawing on previous experiences, I aimed to raise $3,000 this year. To my amazement, we reached this goal in record time with still a month left before the deadline. We progressed at an average of $1,500 a week from late October to early December, ending on $9,035. We not only surpassed last year’s record, we more than quadrupled it. After buying more than $14,500 worth of LEGO, we still had money left for a $723 check to top off our donation to Toys for Tots.
Good will is contagious
We had the good fortune of having over 60 contributors donate over 150 creations ranging from large-scale creations to custom minifigures. Our highest contributor racked up over $900 through sales of his custom minifigs, and several others donated creations that brought in over $500. People helped in other ways such as by spreading the word about our event. We benefited from mentions by some prominent non-LEGO sites such as Slashgear, Gizmodo, and even Toys for Tots. Others like Sean Kenney invested his time in assembling 60 keychain gifts; Ansgar from Chromebricks donated the gold-plated bricks that adorned them; and Linus Bohman designed an effective splash page for the fundraiser. The Brothers Brick chipped in a lot of money cover the cost of the raffle prizes and the expensive keychains. We even had three builders who donated their contest prizes to the cause. We’re really grateful to have the help of many in making this event successful. You can see all our participants and records here.
Why we do it
Creations for Charity costs both time and money for its participants, so why are we doing it? Consider this: the builders feel good about raising money through their talents, the buyers can own an original creation while helping charity, and the kids receive tons of LEGO. While I can’t speak for everyone, for many of us it’s all too good to pass up.
The big donation
On the day of our donation drop-off, I drove a truckload of LEGO across the metroplex to the Dallas / Fort Worth Toys for Tots distribution warehouse. The marines and volunteers were at work processing toys like Santa’s elves. They wasted no time hauling in the 567 LEGO sets. I stood and watched as half a dozen marines lifted boxes and bags out of the truck. Before I knew it I was already on the highway going home, and that’s when it dawned on me that thousands of dollars worth of LEGO and the fruits of many people’s work had passed out of my hands in just minutes. (Indeed it’s hard for a LEGO fan to give up so much of what he loves). But at the same time, I thought about the countless hours of joy that we will have given the children, and that made everything worth it.
The future
We envision Creations for Charity to continue and grow as an annual event. Starting next year there will be a team of coordinators running the fundraiser. With more help, we plan to expand the distribution of our LEGO donations to cover more cities in the US and possibly other parts of the world. Our contributors reside in a dozen countries, and we want our future donations to reflect that diversity. Next year we look forward to welcoming more participants and to make Creations for Charity a tradition for many LEGO fans.
Last words
Thank you for making Creations for Charity an inspiring success. It reflects the generosity of LEGO fans and spreads our hobby among both children and adults. By now many people will have our creations on display in their homes, and many more children will have a cool LEGO set this Christmas. Happy holidays and we hope you’ll join us for Creations for Charity in 2011!
Design the Brickworld 2011 Event Kit
Brickworld is celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2011, and this year you have the opportunity to design the convention’s event kit. This is a rare chance to have hundreds of people own a creation designed by you, and you don’t even have to be an attendee to submit a design. Check out more details on the Brickworld website.
Truckin’ in air
Air trucks are the 18-wheelers of the sky (we count the thrusters instead of wheels). This air truck by Ragsnarock has both functional details and an interior. There’s even several animated gifs showing off the features.
Circle is the new square
There was a time when circular towers were the latest innovation in castle building, now Tyler (Legohaulic) builds castle on a circular base. I only remember one other creation that features this technique, and that was built several years ago. Filling the circle is difficult with rectangular LEGO bricks, but Tyler finds an effective solution by laying differently shaped bricks to create a cobblestone mosaic.
Do you like tall towers?
I can’t believe it’s been almost a year and a half since we last saw a castle creation by Rocko, but things are different when you have your own business to run. Fortunately for us, Rocko’s had time to build a new castle recently. I love the contrast between the tan walls and the blue water. The greenery gives a breath of life to this otherwise fig-less display. Fortunately for us, Rocko has share two views of this great scene showing a beautiful curved staircase.
A minifig Christmas
If you remember some of the old Lego holiday catalogs, you may recall a few having covers that depict minifigs from different themes coming together to celebrate the holidays. I built this concept in a scene that features a gingerbread house and a Christmas tree. How many different themes are represented?
LEGO Technic Antikythera Mechanism – an ancient computer replicated in LEGO
Andrew Carol built a working replica of the Antikythera Mechanism astronomical computer that dates back to 150 BC. The design was discovered in a shipwreck and is now brought to function for the first time — at least in LEGO. The video below is simply astounding. You can read more about it on New Scientist TV.
Thanks for the tip Brad everybody in the known universe!
Taz is hungry
And I’m glad I’m not on the menu for Anni Diment‘s Tasmanian Devil. Those teeth look sharp!
Thanks for the tip Tom!