Book Review – 'The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks: The Story of a Design Icon
The ultimate barefoot tyrant, it has conquered the world of creativity and imagination since its humble Danish birth in 1949
If playing, gifting, discovering, and connecting with LEGO bricks has taught the world anything, it’s that you must turn on a light in a dark playroom when walking barefoot. What lies ahead is certainly the building blocks of an industry that has spawned several new euphemisms for pain.
Thankfully, this observation is not the first thought in the mind of author Daniel Konstanski in The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks: The Story of a Design Icon. In fact, it’s his giddiness that one reserves for uncovering a long-lost secret, coupled with a dogmatic attitude that there must be some reason why a little plastic 2×4 brick revolutionized the toy industry in the early part of the 20th century.
Steeped in history and more than a lot of science, Konstanski traces the origin back to the family that started it all. Founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen was a carpenter who built toys from wood with a company already underway since 1932, including a version of interlocking bricks introduced in 1949. But in 1954 it was the curiosity of his son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen (known as ‘GCK’) in conversation with buyer Troels Petersen that had him thinking beyond the one-off. “No two products were intentionally designed to work together, let alone be underlain by a system which informed their design,” notes Konstanski. “Craftspeople worked on products that they thought would appeal to children, end of story.”
The LEGO Futura office in the early ‘80s. © The LEGO Group
Thus began in 1955, the introduction of the System in Play, whereby the LEGO team created an urban setting reflecting modern Danish life with cars, gas stations, and houses that came together via interlocking bricks (made from cellulose acetate) and a unified aesthetic with a color set. But another hindrance arose: the bricks were not sticking together properly after a build. The earliest iteration had a hollow inside, which lacked what was called ‘clutch power.’ The issue was solved by producing a three-tube version on the underside, thus ensuring stability. The patent was handed in and on January 28, 1958, the LEGO brick as we know it today, was born.
[Properly inserted side note: LEGO bricks are currently manufactured using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). While the group started using bio-derived polyethylene for their leaves, bushes and tree elements in 2018 and would phase out packaging in single-use plastic for recyclable bags in 2020, they’re on a 2030 goal to find more eco-friendly alternatives to the ABS plastic.]
Formal guides had been established regarding what was and what was not acceptable when it came to design. But what about the adults? Once considered a children’s playground, LEGO started moving forward with the aid of technology, and some of the most innovative and forward-thinking concepts that no one could have imagined in those formative years.
The birth and formative years of putting bricks in motion was at first not a natural meeting of the minds, considering the obvious logistical limitations of a circle and a rectangle connectivity. GCK’s son Kjeld, who as a youngster was keen on ship model-making, expressed interest in cars and along with company designers, formulated the first working LEGO car he dubbed ‘LECA.’
1968 US version of the European Lego 330 Jeep Set, Kjeld’s ‘LECA’ car. Under license from Samsonite
Trains were introduced and with the advent of the LEGO Minifigure in 1978, versions were manufactured to accommodate these human-inspired characters. Replications of transit such as high-speed train collectible sets, have evolved over the decades, most having been inspired by the adult demographic moving towards more complex builds, including those in the LEGO City schematic.
And what of the aforementioned Minifigures? As early as 1965, designers released the LEGO tile “that covered the surfaces of brick-built furniture with a sort of ‘topcoat’,” as Konstanski describes, “which helped them to avoid looking alien in a third-party doll’s house.” The dolls of the ‘60s were the only ones to be tested until LEGO hit upon a ‘buildable’ figure, complete with interchangeable heads and articulating arms.
Set 200 LEGO Family featured five buildable figures and was released in 1974. © The LEGO Group
As for the creation of what the public calls a collectible ‘Minifigure’ today, the process is not as straightforward. “In 2008 Matthew Ashton, now Vice President of Design at the LEGO Group, returned to LEGO headquarters in Billund from a trip abroad with three inspiration boards,” writes Konstanski. “ He had been fleshing out an idea: could minifigures be collectible?” That germ of an idea exploded into what is now considered the most popular spin-off of the system: wholly created characters that jump out and as Tara Wike, a Senior Design Manager observes, “Of course we love putting in totally silly figures: somehow Hot Dog Man has become an ambassador for our brand!”
“Try me with mustard, ketchup, relish or sauerkraut!” Hot Dog Man © The LEGO Group
But what about the initial “missing ingredient,” notes the author: where would these Minifigures reside? Hence the birth of LEGO® Town, with LEGO Castle as its centerpiece. The creation of a ‘sculpted horse’ enhanced the experience with careful emphasis on play (jousting) instead of conflict (war). This mindset carried over to LEGO Pirates, LEGO Western, and LEGO Adventurers. The Minifigure would later morph into the mini doll, as seen in the LEGO Elves and LEGO Friends series, with a more defined look, inviting in a collaborative role-playing community.
One of Konstanski's enjoyable and commendable attributes (he is also the US Editor for Blocks magazine) is the wide-ranging forensic backstories he extrudes from any one of the group’s numerous projects. LEGO Bionicle and LEGO Technic had their start with the introduction of the electrical components that made up trains and cars and were built into action-oriented playsets. This innovative thinking was crucial in keeping children constantly on the path to the more intricate building aspects of LEGO and a component that is not often thought about regarding the economics of LEGO: being able to reconstitute past molds into brand-new elements.
LEGO Technic Set 8421 Mobile Crane, 2005. © The LEGO Group
No one would argue that the group’s continuing popularity in pop culture is a direct result of their licensing deals that resulted in the LEGO Star Wars and LEGO® Harry Potter™ sets. Those blockbuster franchises confirmed that imagination could have someone wield a lightsaber and blast off to a galaxy far, far away, and turn the beloved Hogwarts™ Castle into a delightful environment that originated from a singular entity. LEGO® Harry Potter™ also launched the first dual-sided head (for the Professor Quirrell Minifigure), which would lead to greater LEGO character expansion further down the line.
LEGO moved in the 21st century with a new thought process: what was once the realm of upper management and designers segued way into the digital era by way of the Creative Play Lab (CPL). Their purpose is to focus on specific product ideas that can be brought to fruition, including fans, as Konstanski explains, “Inputs from all these sources, often numbering in the hundreds, are eventually collected for a given brainstorming window.”
The chapter on the germination and conceptualization for the LEGO NINJAGO series and the LEGO Legends of Chima series are brought forth in human terms, with stories springing from the designers. And when the LEGO® Cinematic Universe blasted off with The LEGO Movie in 2014, Ole Kirk Kristiansen’s vision had broken through (pun intended) by entertaining the world, brick by brick by brick.
The LEGO® Movie - Official Main Trailer [HD]/© Warner Bros. Pictures/The LEGO Group/YouTube
The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks: The Story of a Design Icon by Daniel Konstanski is available from Unbound, Bookshop.org, and Amazon in the US and UK.
