Summary
The AFOL Designer Program was created to celebrate 60 years of the LEGO brick and to acknowledge the creativity of the AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) community. The Program allowed us to collaborate with fan designers and help realize unique designs with truly original themes. Thirteen designs were successfully crowdfunded and are now limited edition 60 Years Anniversary sets.
My role
As the lead designer, I was responsible for:
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Designing packaging, inserts, instruction booklets
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Copywriting and proofreading
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Designing for the landing page, item details page, and admin dashboard
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Designing marketing materials, such as emails and social media posts
Other responsibilities outside of my role during this time include:
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Being the liaison between BrickLink and outside vendors (for packaging and booklets)
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Traveling and presenting at LEGO conventions
Packaging design
The packaging design required the most amount of effort and lead time. We prototyped several different box shapes but ultimately decided to stick with the rectangular shape because the size of the sets varied greatly, from just 370+ LEGO elements to over 2000.
Even though this program was a collaboration with LEGO, the box design had to be significantly different from existing designs (e.g. what's in stores) as to not confuse consumers that these products are typical LEGO products.
Constraints and challenges
The AFOL Designer Program was basically new territory because most of the team had no prior experience with manufacturing or logistics. We underestimated the scope of this project which led to other projects being deprioritized or forgotten altogether. The timeline was also extremely tight as we only had about a year to plan, research, produce, and ship the 60 Years Anniversary sets.
Outcome and learnings
I had only ever designed for digital before this project, so I was apprehensive about taking on a project that involved both digital and print materials. Despite my initial hesitation, I was excited for the challenge and was able to learn the process for print materials, collaborate with outside vendors, and be a presenter at conventions.
Ultimately, the AFOL Designer Program challenged a digital team to create physical products. Based on forums and articles around the web, it was well-received, with some asking for a second iteration. After the Program officially ended, the LEGO Group acquired BrickLink.
Reviews from fan media
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Revisiting the LEGO Wild West Saloon set... – The Brothers Brick
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AFOL Designer Program packaging – Brickset
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Set review: Skyline Express – Bricks For Bricks
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Set Review: BIKES! – Bricks For Bricks
