Welcome back to the first 10K interview of this special review period. To reiterate once more, this series of interviews will put our newest creators, and newest ideas under the spotlight! Today we meet Francisco, a.k.a. LegoFan_506 and his fantastic DR. SEUSS AND LEGO project. Leave Francisco a like or comment to show your support!
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
Francisco Escobar.
- Where are you from?
The beautiful and green Costa Rica.
- How old are you?
36 years old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
I am a visual and user experience/interface (UX/UI) designer. I consider it one of my strengths, for example, to have extensive experience in website creation and process improvement.
- What hobbies do you have?
The LEGO hobby is my biggest passion! I love bringing sets to life, growing my collection, constructing unique models (MOCs) and dioramas, and sharing my creations and LEGO journey on Instagram.Aside from LEGO building, I am always eager to learn more about various subjects such as art, design, culture, technology, my professional career, wellness, and anything geeky or random that catches my attention. Recently, I had the amazing opportunity to explore Europe, visit museums and historic landmarks, and immerse myself in local culture. The experience was incredibly enlightening, providing me with new perspectives, ideas, and ways of life that I can apply to personal growth and self-improvement.
And, of course, I made sure to hit up every LEGO store along the way when I was travelling!
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Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
My Instagram account, brickfran506 is where I share my LEGO adventures and related content (in my short spare time). I mostly use it to connect with other LEGO enthusiasts and get inspired or motivated by their beautiful creations. - 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?
In all my previous LEGO Ideas projects: Mexico City and San José skyline, Spinning Planets, and the Nightmare Before Christmas. As a designer, I take great care in my work and always try to add my personal touch to each project, in which I put in much time, effort, hard work, and love into each one to ensure they truly reflect my passion for LEGO building and design.
In addition to my LEGO Ideas projects, one of my earliest and most memorable MOCs was based on the theme of Jurassic Park. I tried to use only my old castle bricks to complete it, and I liked the result.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
As a child, I was lucky enough to receive LEGO castle sets or other sets as gifts for my birthdays or Christmas. To this day, I still have those sets in great condition, and they hold a special place in my collection.
- What is the LEGO hobby to you? What does it mean to you? How does it fit in your life? E.g. build, display, meetups, play the games or 'just' watch the cartoons.
It means most of the magical things in my life: A creative outlet that allows me to express myself and bring my ideas to life; it gives me a dream and goal - to someday work for the LEGO Group (I also make the best Costa Rican coffee, just saying); opportunities to connect with wonderful people and form lasting friendships, and most of all, LEGO building brings out my inner child and fills me with joy and happiness. It's just so much fun!
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
Right now, it is the castle theme from my childhood.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
It’s impossible to choose one now, but I want them all!
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
The 1x1 plate is my favourite piece because of its compact size and versatility, it can offer endless possibilities.
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
There are so many amazing LEGO designers out there, it's hard to choose just one! But I have to shout out to my friends in the TICOLUG group in Costa Rica. They are seriously impressive, and their creations never cease to inspire me. You should check out their page on Facebook, you won’t be disappointed!
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
One of my favourites is "Beyond the Brick"; they have awesome content all the time.And if you speak Spanish or are from Latin America, you should definitely check out the "Bricks in Bits" magazine. They always have the latest and greatest LEGO news, updates, and original content. And they were even pioneers in starting a LEGO competition between Latin American teams and LEGO User Groups (LUGs) called "BIBuilders Latinoamérica." The Costa Rica team won in 2021! It was a huge moment for TICOLUG.
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
Upon seeing the Harry Potter book sets, I was blown away by the possibilities of creating even more amazing book sets. My mind is overflowing with ideas for possible books, and I hope to bring them to life at one moment.
- How long was the process of making the project, and what did you have to research as well? What kind of prep, research and design phases did you go through to produce your creation?
I had a fantastic time preparing for this project! I dedicated many months, maybe even a whole year, to working on it during my free time. I was so excited to get started! My first step was to choose three books from a vast selection of incredible stories, including the many books by Dr. Seuss. As an animator, I have a big love for animated movies, which definitely influenced my final decision for these 3 titles. Also, part of my decisions was based on my research. Before starting, I conducted thorough research to have a good understanding of the books and what was already available in the market about them or similar products (benchmarking studies). This allowed me to confirm the potential for creating a fantastic LEGO project and helped me figure out how to make it stand out.
In addition to research, my guiding principle throughout the project was to keep one thing in mind: continuously question whether the result of what I was working on truly paid homage to these incredible books and could bring happiness to myself and other LEGO/Dr. Seuss enthusiasts. I started by listing all the details and ideas I wanted to include based on the books. I made a rough sketch and started building 3D prototypes to test out different ideas. I explored different variations of details and experimented with various approaches. Then I felt it was time to move on to working prototypes with actual bricks. The building process took longer than anticipated because of my continuous revisions and efforts to incorporate as much detail and excellence as possible - while keeping the essence of the illustrated books or animated movies. This meant that I rebuilt the sets several times!
For example, when I was building the Cat in the Hat, I changed the colour palette multiple times to ensure that it was very colourful and playful, but at the same time, every element blended seamlessly with the others and stayed true to the book (which only use two colours as a reference). And with the Lorax book, I think I still want to iterate more on the factory pipeline!
In the last design stage, I created the stickers and … had another round of iterations. Then I finally shot the photos and edited them.
But the best part of the process (or journey) was when I showed my prototype to my closest friends, who were astonished about the sets and were supporters from day 1. Their reaction was duplicated when I had the opportunity to showcase the prototypes at Brick Festivals in the UK. I’ll never forget the little girl who returned to where I was and stared at the books again, but this time for 15 minutes straight – it was just amazing! Her smiling face and the one from dozens of other children and parents meant that all the hard work was worth it!
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
Incorporating a complex narrative and scenarios within the limitations of compact space; including all the crucial details from my list; constructing a dynamic, vibrant set from a limited colour scheme reference; integrating small interactive elements to increase playability; representing the spirit of Dr Seuss’s books and staying true to what has been done before; ensuring all these elements work together and making sure the books closed!
- If you could talk to yourself before you started on this project, what would you tell them? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
Don’t forget to have some spare bricks in case you lose or damage some while travelling!Seriously, I would remind myself of 2 critical things:
1. Persevere, never surrender, and work for your dreams
2. because life is full of beautiful surprises!
I never anticipated that my project would somehow connect me with extraordinary people on the journey. And when I showcased the prototypes at UK Brick Festivals and receive tremendous support from children, parents, and fellow builders – it was like a dream!
How was I supposed to know that someone like myself, from my small country and with limited resources, would end up in Europe sharing what I have done with others?! I would never have imagined that in a thousand years!
- 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?
I've been working on this project for about a year now while also holding down a full-time job. In the future, I hope to have more time to work on my LEGO projects and bring more unique ideas to life!Promoting the project has been easier than I thought it would be, thanks to all the support I’ve received. I was amazed that I was getting around 50 votes per day, even though I couldn’t do much promotion because of my schedule. I think people really loved the project, and that makes me so happy!
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
It took me one year and one month to reach 10,000 votes on my LEGO Ideas project.But I can’t just focus on this project alone. I also have to consider my experience and the years I’ve spent working on other projects that didn’t reach the 10K mark. I’ve learned that reaching a goal in life is a process filled with lessons and “failures”. I feel like "Dr Seuss and LEGO build" didn’t quite go viral on the internet. If it had, it might have shortened the time to a couple of months maybe.
And I can’t express with words how grateful I feel after reaching a new milestone. It has been a long journey, and lessons from lessons learned from previous projects. I am truly grateful to everyone who has supported me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
I must say, the techniques used in the Harry Potter books were a huge help with this project. I went ahead and bought all the sets so I could study them. Of course, I told myself it was for “research”, but let’s be real, I love Harry Potter, and I couldn’t resist adding these sets to my collection.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I used Studio for the 3D prototypes.
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
I created the stickers from scratch, but I used as much of the imagery from the books as possible while adding my touch and LEGO style to them.
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
As a UX professional, I believe the idea and how you develop it is the key to success. At every step of the way, keep in mind what will make others and yourself happy to see as a LEGO set and what you or they would like to see in it.Also, one of the most important things to do that is also part of the UX process, it’s to test early on and get honest feedback from others. By doing this, you can learn their thoughts and see what they would like to see in the final product. This helps to understand their needs and wishes.
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support for your Product Idea?
Honestly, I was pretty swamped with finishing my master’s in UX/UI and working on related projects after that, so I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to promote my LEGO Ideas project. But even with limited promotion, I still received a ton of support, and I’m so grateful for that.Posting on Facebook, attending Brick Festivals in the UK, and getting interviews with Apollo Exconde (Skylerace15 on YouTube) and BIB Magazine gave the project a big boost. I don’t know where I would be in the voting process right now if it weren’t for their help. I’m so grateful to them and everyone who helped me share the project. Thank you!
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
It’s tough to choose just one favourite project, but today, I’m particularly fond of Winnie the Pooh. It’s one of the stories I loved as a child and holds a special place in my heart. And yes, I think a lot of great projects have been overlooked. Even if a project doesn’t get approved, if it has 10,000 supporters saying that there must be something special about it. I believe there’s so much potential in that scenario to work with, whether it’s the idea itself or the designer’s talent. That’s why I‘m optimistic that in the future, there could be more paths once a project reaches the 10K.
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
Because it’s LEGO, of course! It’s my biggest dream is to someday work for the LEGO Group. Who wouldn’t like that?!
While I keep working on that dream to become true, LEGO Ideas is the closest thing to it, at least for me. Can you imagine having one of your designs become a whole set and be ready to be built and enjoyed by other fans?! With LEGO Ideas, it could become real.
Tips that I hope could be useful:
The most important thing is the Idea. Explore what is there already. And before starting, ask yourself: will others like my idea and what I will be creating?
Getting to the 10 000 votes can be the most difficult part, you need to plan how to carry it out ahead.
My best advice: if it is your dream to do a set with LEGO Ideas and you don’t reach the 10K or the previous milestones, please don’t surrender. Enjoy the journey and learn from it. Try again and again until you make it!
- Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint of what that might be?
Yes, I love doing LEGO projects! I have an idea in my mind spinning back to me. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it.
