Welcome, everyone! We are kicking off this Friday with another addition to the 10K club. Today we meet Ishmael, a.k.a. LORDSQUISH, and his STUD LANE BOOK NOOK project. If you are a fan of playable and multi-purpose LEGO creations, this innovative idea will be sure to impress. Show your support, and find out more below.
ABOUT YOURSELF
- Who are you?
Ishmael Kamran.
- Where are you from?
The United Kingdom.
- How old are you?
I'm 29 years old.
- What do you study or do for a living?
In the day, I’m a self-employed garden designer and craftsman! But by night (or more, evening) 2 nights a week I’m a streamer.
- What hobbies do you have?
I’m quite fortunate that my job and my hobbies align quite nicely! So, I love to garden! When I’m not working, I’m usually designing MOCs or traveling across Europe or just to the beach!
- Do you have a personal LEGO portfolio website that you can share with us?
I do! I put all my Lego creations on my Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/lord.squish
- 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?
Aside from the Book Nook, I’ve made quite a few MOCs that I’m quite proud of. However, the one that stands out to me is the scenery I made for the Looney Tunes CMF series. I enjoyed giving them their own home! I’m a big fan of using affordable colours/pieces and both these sets hit that mark.
- How and when did your interest in LEGO products come about?
I’ve been a fan of Lego for as long as I can think of. My family would buy me Lego sets as a child and I think the love of building and creating is why I do what I do for a living now. I found that because I was fortunate to have a few sets as a child I was able to break them all down and let my imagination flourish. And I’ve never stopped loving it!
- 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.
Lego is my brainteaser. Some people use crosswords or games, but I find that if I’m building an official set or if I’m designing a MOC it’s the thinking and planning that relaxes me. But this year it’s become a lot more. Earlier this year I decided to stream Lego MOC designing and now it’s become a place where I can meet new people and socialise. I never knew how many AFOLs there were until I started meeting amazing fans online!
- What is your favourite LEGO theme (current or past)? Why? And has any theme inspired your building style or preference in any particular way?
Harry Potter and Star Wars. One of my prized possessions is the original Hogwarts Castle. Whilst I love the Star Wars space ships I think I’ve always been more into buildings and rooms when it comes to building.
Hogwarts/Harry Potter sets always have a similar theme colouring which means I can mix and match as much as I like to make new pieces. It’s creating that specific scene in the moment that is what inspires me to make my own pieces.
- What is your favourite official LEGO set ever? Why?
The Lego C26 Sea Cutter. (Set 4022) This was my first Lego set. It’s still sitting in pride of place on my shelf after all these years.
- What is your favourite LEGO element? Why?
The Lego Element that will forever have my heart is the 1x1 Slope 30 (54200).
Why? Because it’s so incredibly basic but so versatile! Fire, Water, Bubbles, Sea Foam, Roofing, Grass, Rockery, Woodwork – This piece can add texture to anything! I don’t think I have a MOC that doesn’t use this piece! I could never tire of using the element on anything!
- Is there a LEGO designer (official LEGO designer or fan designer) who you are inspired by and look up to? Who and why?
In terms of the Lego Community and designers, I’m still fairly new so there isn’t anyone who stands out as of yet.
- Is there one or more particular LEGO-related websites (not official LEGO websites) that you visit often and/or are inspired by?
Bricklink – Whoever invented the ability to export a studio file to a website you can buy all the bricks from, is a genius! I always tell people about it!
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
- Where did your interest in this particular model come from?
The Stud Lane Book Nook is loosely based on areas like the York Shambles. The winding and narrow streets make it some whimsical. I was gifted an MDF Book Nook for Christmas and whilst they’re a fairly heard of the concept it was yet to be tackled properly with Lego. So, I was inspired by these factors to make my own version.
- 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?
This is going to sound a bit crazy – But the whole thing took about 5-6 hours! I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do and live-streamed the whole design process (Wish I’d saved the VOD if I knew it was going to get this far!!)
I premade the base ready for the stream and then I pretty much improvised the whole concept. I had a rough idea of what the York shambles look like in my mind and went with that.
The buildings went up pretty quickly and the only major change I made in the design process was to demolish the inn (Was originally Tudor style but looked too busy)
The hinge idea was a good laugh. I kept forgetting it was on the hinges and kept adding long bricks along the join! (Had fun changing all those!)
The graphics I made in Photoshop and designed them decals for the signs and windows. I find I just tend to make what I like, get a rough idea of how it should look, and then build it 😊
- What special challenges did you face creating the model? What was the most difficult part to recreate?
HINGES! The moving concept I thought would be a brilliant idea to make it a bit more unique and a set with playability instead of just being all crammed in place – but as I said earlier, I kept forgetting about them and sticking long pieces of the joins! It was a funny process correcting it, but I never expected it to be such a challenge.
- 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?
If I could talk to me in the past I’d have said “Don’t use sand red!!”
I had no idea there was a filter that allowed you to pick only available colours and by the time I did know, I had already submitted it. I had no idea the rarity of that colour (sorry IDEAS judges!)
- 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?
As mentioned before the whole design, research, and rendering took approx. 6 hours (But I guess as it's my job as a Garden designer) I’m used to creating in smaller spaces of time.The 10K Journey was a fun one! I think it spanned about 4 months in total and I cannot even begin to tell people how appreciative I am for their support. I had no idea it was going to go through so speedily, but I really did my best to promote it to the right communities! I would say the first 8000 votes felt like they flew by. It was the promotion for the final 2000 that felt like it took the longest! It was a lot of graft!
- How did it feel when you reached the magic 10,000 votes and how long did it take?
I was tracking the final 100 over the course of the day and averaging 50 a day so I really didn’t think it was going to hit 10k the day it did – to the point I popped out to see someone and stopped tracking it for the day!
It wasn’t until my phone was going off constantly with people congratulating me that I realized it had hit 10K!It was an odd feeling! I was so happy that I had hit 10K, but I had been working so hard for those final 2000 votes that I actually felt a little lost because I didn’t need to think of new promotional ideas anymore! But overall, I would say it just felt so triumphant! It's so difficult to visualize 10,000 people but that’s how people were there supporting this!
- Approximately how many LEGO bricks did you use to create your model?
There are approx. 1400 pieces for the Stud Lane Book Nook. (Not including any minifigures)
- What is your favourite building technique or part/section that you’ve incorporated into your Product Idea?
Funnily enough, my favourite building technique is a good textured floor! I like mixing and matching to create floors with pattern/depth! You’ll see that in the pavement, road, and even carpet in the Stud Lane Book Nook.
- If you built your model digitally, what software did you use to build and render your model?
I did! I sued Studio by Bricklinks and I cannot recommend them enough! It’s an incredibly user-friendly piece of software, has photorealistic rendering BUILT IN (Which in the design world, is like the best thing in the world!), and the ability to export the parts list to purchase and make your instructions. It even has prices for every part you use! Honestly, it’s amazing!
- If you used custom stickers or prints for your design, how did you create them or where did you get them?
The prints are all designed by me in photoshop. I borrowed a couple of images of Lego elements such as the frog and the book for the signs then colour-matched the bricks myself 😊
ABOUT LEGO IDEAS
- Do you have any useful advice about creating a successful LEGO Ideas project?
I think there are 3 main factors that should always come to mind when submitting a Lego Idea.
1) Playability. Lego is about having fun but that doesn’t mean it should be limited to one type of demographic. Make something that’s a joy to build, capture your attention, and encourage you to play/tweak it!
2) Be original. It takes 5 minutes to search existing sets on Ideas and make sure that you’re not making something the same as someone else.
3) Know your audience. Lego is still a business and one of the factors that will be taken into consideration is the marketability of the product and who it will appeal to. I designed The Stud Lane Book Nook to be something you can store and display on a bookcase, something you can open and play with, an alleyway for a modular Lego city, and even something that could be opened up and made into a backdrop for a Lego modular city too.
Because of the flexibility of my design, I was able to promote it to bookworms, Lego Modular Collectors, Parents, design fans, and even cozy and relaxed communities. When promoting just make sure you’re sharing it with people you genuinely think would be interested in your design instead of just anyone 😊
- What (if any) methods did you use to advertise and attract support to your Product Idea?
Reddit and Twitch were my two main avenues. Because of the versatility of my design, I was able to find some amazing communities on Reddit who loved it and voted. I network a lot with other streamers, and they were always happy to share my idea with their audiences.
- What is your favourite LEGO Ideas Product Idea (besides your own of course)? Are there any Product Ideas you think have been overlooked?
I LOVE The Mr.Bean set by Minibrick Productions. I’m a big fan of Mr. Bean and I would love to have a Mr Bean Lego set! Maybe a full apartment with the car?
- What is it about the platform that attracts you? What tips would you give to anyone who is thinking about uploading an idea?
Where do I even start? Everyone always used to say “I wish they would make this a Lego set.” Lego Ideas has actually made these a reality.
My advice to anyone who is submitting an Idea is to love what you’ve made. If you can look at your idea and say “I could see this being a set” then don’t even hesitate! Because as it turns out, there's a good chance 10,000 may think the same!
- Do you have plans to submit any other Product Ideas in the future? If yes, can you give us a hint what that might be?
I’ve always got a few ideas in mind but now I’m really loving my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory submission!
I don’t think I’m quite finished with the Book Nook style as well. I think that has opened up (Excuse the pun) more opportunities to make secret worlds!
By
Hani2