42 T3 Tomorrow ’s Technology TodayAUGUST 2019 WWW.T 3 INDIA.COMusua
thisnewmodelis goingtobe
$79.99orwhatever.That’sin the
brief,sothatmeansthere’sa limit
of howmanypiecesyoucanput
in it. Becauseyoucouldcontinue
addingpiecesandmake a product
thatcannotbeaffordedbyanybody.
Theexperienceddesignerswill
havea goodideaabouthowmany
piecestheycanputintoa set.
“Also,wewanttoensureforthe
consumerthatthe valuetheygetis
similartoanothersetatthe sameprice.
Sowehavea goodideaabouthow
manypieces you can get.”
ISTHEREA SETTHATYOU HAVEN’T
BEENABLETOMAKEYET,BUTYOU
WOULDLIKETOEVENTUALLY?
“Yes,thereareseveral.Andthat’sfor
differentreasons.Therearesomethat
wouldbeverydifficulttomakea play
modelof,bothbecausetheywouldbe
toofragile,oraremaybenotappealing
tokids. Therearemodels thatare
super-difficulttocreate.
“Oneexample,forinstance,is the
medicalfrigate[fromtheendofThe
EmpireStrikesBack]. Weknowthat
thatspecificshiphasbeena high
requestfromfans,andtherearea
lotoffancreationsoutthereofthat
ship.Butwehaven’treallysolvedthe
stabilityissue.I’mnotgoingtosay
a medicalfrigatewillneverhappen,
butweneedtomake surethatthe
qualityis thelevelit shouldbe.
“Sometimeswetrymodelsagain,
and it couldalsobe, inthe meantime,
thatwe’vegotsomenewelementsthatsolvea
specific problem we had when creating thefirst
modelor so.”WHAT’SANEXAMPLEOF THAT?
“SlaveI, wherethefirstversionswerevery
brick-like.Theonlyangledpieceswehadwere
rooftiles,andlaterwehadshapedelements,
whichmadeuscapableofmakinga more
accuratemodel.Whencreatingnewmodelswe
trytomakethingsfromexistingpieces,alsoto
showtheversatilityofLego.Youcanusewhat
youhavein yourbin andcreateanything.So
we’retrying to avoid making too many specialpiecesforourmodels.
“When theelementsarecreated
therightway, theycanbeusefulfor
otherthings. Whenwe’redesigningit,
we’realwayssayingthatwe’renot
lookingattheelementsforwhat
they’reintendedfor– we’relookingat
themasshapes.
“Wehavea huge wallwherewe
haveallthe elements,andtherecould
be,let’ssay,a pinkflowerpotsitting
therethat’sbeenusedin oneofthe
fringemodels.Butit looksexactlylike
the exhaust.Thenwe’lljustmake it in
a newcolour,andaddthatelement,
and it’sshowingthat versatility again.”DOYOU STILLGETTODESIGN
MUCHTHESEDAYS?
“Unfortunatelynot,butI’ma bigpart
ofit,andI lovetobuildmodels.I build
themin theprocess[ofdevelopment],
andwhentheproductsaredone.
Ibuildeverythingthatthedesigners
aredoing. That’sasa check,butalso...
I lovetobuild.It’salsothatI wantthe
productstobe consistent.It’sokay
if StarWarsLego fanscantell,‘Oh,it
mightbe thatdesignerwhobuilt this
model’,butit shouldn’tbetooclear.
“Alongwiththedesignstyle, it’s
super-importantwithStarWarsthat
it’svery,veryclearthatit’sLego.It
meansthatmaybe we’recreatinga
modelthatcouldeasilycoverupthe
knobs ontheback,butI wantthere to
alwaysbe visible Legoknobs. It
shouldclearlylook like a classic
Lego model.TOPEveryLukemodelfromthelast 20 years
ABOVEJens(inthe greyjumper)withhis crack
team ofLego Star Wars model designers“I buildeverythingthatthe
designersaredoing. That’sas
a check,butalso...I wantthe
products tobe consistent”allythey’rebeingbriefedthat
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