(Written by Chi-bacca)
Recently I contacted the LEGO Group by email to find out what it takes to become a LEGO designer and what are the required qualifications. I asked them due to the fact that I will soon have to decide which direction to go with my education and I would really like to work for LEGO. I figured I’m not the only one with this question, so I thought to share with you their reply that I received in only a couple of days after my initial inquiry. 🙂
Dear Robert (my real name),
Thanks for getting in touch with us.
Being a LEGO Model Designer is a lot of fun: you get to work all over the place and meet new people. One day you might be building a huge castle at LEGOLAND® and the next you could be building hundreds of tiny fish to swim in the moat. Can you imagine a better job?
LEGO Model Designers usually go to college and study 3D Arts. Some have also studied architecture, industrial design, theatre design, carpentry and even sculpting.
If you’re interested in becoming a designer the best thing to do is play with LEGO sets as much as you can. Try making something as realistic as possible: when we meet people who want to become designers, we often ask them to build a small head out of LEGO bricks in four hours. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Once you’ve been realistic, try combining unlikely combinations – a flying car, a bouncing house… become comfortable thinking the idea through – the good bits, the bad bits and how you make something better. Try to make your ideas into a piece of music, a story, a movie, a picture.
The more things you try to master, the richer the ideas. Mathematics is good for engineering (how things work), English is good for explaining why your idea is important, business skills are good for working out if your idea will help you retire as a rich millionaire or not… Pretty much every class can help you think of ideas.
When you’re ready and feel prepared, you can check out what jobs we currently offer at jobs.LEGO.com.
Thanks again for getting in touch. We’re always pleased to receive feedback from LEGO fans! Please let us know if you need anything else.
Happy building!
Claudia
LEGO Customer Service
Nice response, isn’t it? LEGO really got awesome customer service! As far as what is required to become a LEGO designer, it looks like you just need to be an experienced LEGO builder. So that’s what I’m going to do; practice building! And if you would like to become a LEGO model designer too, I encourage you to do the same. 😀
For more specific information and to check out currently available positions at the LEGO Group, here are some links that you may find useful: Main LEGO Jobs Site, Currently Available Jobs at LEGO, How to Apply for a Job at LEGO, FAQ About LEGO Job Applications.
One way to perfect your skills is to give yourself LEGO building challenges similar to the ones I have been sharing with you in my own MOC Challenge Series (links at the end of this post, and more coming). You can also participate in LEGO contests at various LEGO events run by LEGO itself or by LEGO fan-sites. As Claudia mentioned above they give candidates a LEGO building challenge with a time limit, so getting some practice ahead of time is a good idea. (Check out the awesome LEGO designer office below!)
Who knows, if we all follow these words of advice we may meet up in the LEGO office designing a LEGO Star Wars Starfighter or a LEGO Modular Building together! What do you think? Have you considered becoming a LEGO designer? What steps are you taking to achieve your goal? Have you given yourself tasks and challenges to improve your LEGO building skills? Feel free to share in the comment section below! Would love to hear from others who are planning to become a LEGO designers! 😉
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