Designing LEGO

Star Wars Toys

A Presentation by Rob Johnson at Celebration III

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LEGO Minifigure Design Process:

Reference material is obtained from Lucasfilm
A 3:1 conceptual rough sculpt is created
A 3:1 final sculpt is created and approved by Lucasfilm
The final sculpt is digitally scanned and "modified"
A 3:1 hard copy is created
The hard copy is digitally scanned and approved
Decoration design begins
A 1:1 rapid prototype is created, hand painted and approved
A 1:1 Copper electrode is created, production molds are cut
1:1 Injection molded test shots are created
Once approved, production begins
Decorations are applied

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Rob said this Yoda head sculpt was rejected because they wanted to go with a less realistic, more "cartoon" or LEGO stylized head design.

(Rob explained the process for creating the SLA, but it seemed beyond me. Lasers create a hardened structure inside a liquid substance & then the liquid is just drained off... or something like that. If he explained what the acronym SLA stood for then I must have forgotten.)

Rob said that sometimes (when the timeline is tight) these hand painted prototypes are used in the photography that is used on the box. He said this then becomes a lot of work for them to clean it up as much as possible before, & then do the rest in photoshop, to make them look like a finished product & not a prototype.

Progression of Greedo head through above mentioned phases

Progression of Gamorrean Guard through all of above mentioned phases

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Packaging Design Process:

Receive briefing
Brainstorm and review models with product designers
Establish a "Principle Design" for the assortment
Create individual "SKU Designs" for each set
Begin design phase with rough pencil sketches
Create low-res digital layouts after sketches are approved
Go through various rounds of approval, both internal and with Lucasfilm
Once layout is approved, high-res digital photography is shot
Final artwork is created, SKU front backgrounds are illustrated
Proof prints are made, checked and signed off on
Print files are delivered to the printer
Files are printed

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Create low-res digital layouts:

(I'm sorry my digital camera wasn't quick enough to catch all 6 rounds)

Once layout is approved, high-res digital photography is shot:

Progression of box layout design in proccess.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed was seeing the unused designs for the "retro" packaging. The inspiration for these were taken from old LEGO boxes & sets, one specifically was based on the Classic Space packaging of the 80's sets (Second Concept).

These designs, Rob said, were rejected (internally) when they looked at a computer generated mock-up of how these box designs would look on store shelves. They all agreed that, even though they liked the designs by themselves, when they were viewed on the store shelves they just didn't pop out like their new products. That is when they decided to abandon these designs.

Rob then said that he came up with the final concept late one night at his computer when he decided to go in a whole different direction and mimic the old Kenner packaging from the 70's line of toys. And this was received very well, both internally and with Lucasfilm.

Q&A

Q: What's the actual production timeline like. Once everything's all set & done, how long does it actually take to start cranking out boxes?
A: It can be done pretty quickly. Packaging is printed all over the world, so depending on where it's printed, and where it's going to, it could be as quick as a couple weeks, or a couple months, depending on how we're gonna ship it. We've got it down to where we can get something done, approved and on store shelves, if we have to, really quickly.

There was one question (I think in reference to the UCS Y-wing) when Rob said they were going to "phase that out" but when I asked him about that later I realized that he was referring to the Original Trilogy style packaging & NOT the UCS line. He said they plan to continue the UCS line. (whew!)

Q: What's your favorite?
A: All of them. ha, no the Millennium Falcon is probably my favorite. (Which one?) The retro Millennium Falcon, that's the one I'm most prm don't take any direct design from anywhere online, or fans, legally we can't do that.

Q: At any one time how long is the list of things you're considering?
A: It's pretty lengthy. We have a large database of models that we wanna build, prototypes that we have built that haven't been used yet, there's a lot of building, a lot of prototyping going on all the time.

Q: Are you affiliated with any of the LEGO movies they do, like outside in the exhibit hall?
A: Yeah, the movies are all done by us.

Q: How's the Death Star doing in this process?
A: The Death Star is releasing soon. The packaging is done and designed and the boxes are being printed.

Q: What's coming after the Death Star?
A: I can't talk about that, sorry.