Just keep building! Recreate Finding Nemo’s first day of school with this colorful undersea Product Idea. Hear from Dani_Fus, the mind behind FINDING NEMO - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
My name is Daniele.
- Where are you from?
I am from Gaeta, a small and beautiful city in the center of Italy.
- How old are you?
I’m 27.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I work as a mechanical engineer.
- What hobbies do you have?
Apart from designing MOCs with LEGO, I play the saxophone and I love traveling.
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
You can find some of my creations on my Instagram, @modified_brick.
- Have you created any LEGO MOCs (my own creations) that you’re particularly proud of? What is it, why are you proud of it and do you have a photo of it?
I am very proud of my previous LEGO Ideas submission, Japanese Red Crowned Cranes. I think captured the elegance of the birds, plus the calm environment. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/f08246f6-61fa-4ae9-b395-e0f993bba258
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I started playing with LEGO when I was very young. My family and I moved in a new apartment and the previous owner left there a big box full of LEGO pieces, which I played with for hours. I got interested in LEGO again a couple years ago, when I got a job as a toy designer. - What does the LEGO hobby mean to you? How does it fit into your life? E.g. build, display, meetups, play the games or 'just' watch the cartoons.
I find designing MOCs very relaxing and fun. My life is pretty busy at the moment, but I always try to find time to sit down and design something new.
- What is your favorite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
In the past I used to be obsessed with LEGO Technic. As a kid, watching gears spinning and mechanisms moving was mesmerizing! Currently, I’m a big fan of the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets.
- What is your favorite official LEGO set ever? Why?
The Technic green dirt bike (8291). I have so many great memories of that set! I built both the A and the B models and played with them countless hours, then started to design my own bikes with the pieces. I really got the best out of it!
- What is your favorite LEGO element? Why?
Definitely the 1x1 Round Plate with Bar (26047). It allows for so many useful and original connections.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
Honestly, I don’t know! One day, I found the song “Just Keep Swimming” (in the Italian version of the cartoon, it translates to “Zitto e nuota.”) playing in my head, and that was it! I did some research, found out that there was no Ideas project related to the Finding Nemo movie, and decided to submit one myself.
- How long did the process of making the project take and what did you have to research? What kind of prep, research and design phases did you go through to produce your creation?
The research phase didn’t take long. I had a few ideas in mind based on different scenes from the movie, but I quickly decided to go with the first day of school scene. It is full of color and features lots of funny and cute characters from the movie.
- What special challenges or frustrations did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
The biggest challenge was designing Nemo! The model is pretty small scale and so getting the orange and white stripes right wasn’t easy. I had to make some compromises, but I think the final result looks pretty good.
- If you could talk to yourself before you started on this project, what would you tell him/her? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
I would simply say, “build more corals!” I’m very happy with the design, but some more colorful corals would have made it even more eye-catching.
- How long did it take to complete the model? Did you finish it fairly quickly, or did it take a long time? And how did the build time compare to the time you spent promoting your Product Idea to reach 10,000 supporters?
The design process took approximately a week, working on it one or two hours a day. I didn’t spend a lot of time promoting it, I just shared it on a couple of Facebook groups and that was enough to gain a lot of supporters!
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It took approximately two months. I remember checking the phone before going to sleep and I had approximately 9,950 supporters. I thought, “tomorrow I will wake up and have 10,000 supporters.” In the morning, I opened LEGO Ideas website and… I had lots of comments from users congratulating me on the achievement! It felt amazing.
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
Approximately 850 bricks.
- What is your favorite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
I really like how I designed Tad the butterfly fish, because it uses some nice SNOT building techniques. And I used bananas for the fins!
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I built my model digitally with Studio software.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas Product Idea?
Simply build something that you like. Other people might not like it as much as you do, but being passionate about your project really does help!
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
I advertised it on Facebook groups, both LEGO and Pixar related, and shared some pictures to my Instagram.
- What is your favorite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
I really like the Working Gumball Machine from SunPro Bricks.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
I love the fact that anyone can become a fan designer! I also like the interactions with other builders.
By
JacobM366