My favourite design is LEGO which is named “Toy of the Century”.
For me,
it's not just a toy, it's a tool to create an imaginary world. I was addicted to the process of playing because I can play my imagination to do any buildings, or I can patiently put the bricks together step by step according to the teaching book. It can bring me the fun of exploration, and a full sense of achievement.
LEGO seems small and simple, but it contains infinite creativity.
Good design is unobtrusive - Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the self-expression (Dieter Rams, 1976).
Lego has a large number of different elements. Approximately 400 billion LEGO elements have been manufactured since 1949 – and there are 915 million ways to combine six 2 by 8 bricks (Jørgen E. Christensen). So the more bricks you own, the more you can build.
Good design is innovative (Dieter Rams, 1976). There are many different types of lego themes for customers to choose. And with the Power Functions Motor, the technic lego can be moved by your control! LEGO has been unafraid to experiment with emerging new technologies to extend its brand from the world of physical play to the world of digital play. As a result, the company has created a line of programmable robots, such as the R3ptar, that bridge the gap between physical play and virtual play (Dominic Basulto, 2015).
this is my own one ☝️
Lego is very elaborate. Bricks, beams, axles, minifigures, and all other parts in the Lego system are manufactured to an exacting degree of precision (Jørgen E. Christensen). The standard brick has a variation of just 0.004 millimetres, (Genevieve Smith, 2016) which means it is more accurate than some daily machine. I believe no toy can do this. LEGO’s objects are made up of many small elements that you may not have thought of. For example, the minifigure is made of three basic parts: head, torso, and legs. The torso and legs are made up of individual parts themselves (Jordan Schwartz, 2014). Nine
parts in total!
(the picture is from- https://dinoattackrpg01.fandom.com/wiki/Minifig)
Good design is long-lasting (Dieter Rams, 1976). LEGO will not be outdated. As Ville Kilkku said, Children of my generation used LEGO not only with LEGO, but also to build vehicles, buildings, and furniture for action figures and dolls. It is this platform aspect that gives LEGO much of its longevity via spanning over generations (Ville Kilkku, 2015). And it is also very durable. When snapped together, pieces must have just the right amount of strength and flexibility mixed together to stick together. They must stay together until pulled apart. They cannot be too easy to pull apart, or the resulting constructions would be unstable; they also cannot be too difficult to pull apart, since the disassembly of one creation in order to build another is part of the LEGO appeal (Jørgen E. Christensen).
“Only the best is good enough”- LEGO
Reference
Dieter Rams (1976). 10 principles for good design.
Jørgen E. Christensen. The quality story of LEGO.
http://newfutureformula.com/f/papers/quality-story-of-lego.pdf
Genevieve Smith (2016). Lego Is the Perfect Toy.
https://www.thecut.com/2016/12/lego-is-the-perfect-toy.html
Jordan Schwartz (2014).
The Art of LEGO Design: Creative Ways to Build Amazing Models
Ville Kilkku (2015). LEGO as a platform and as service.
Dominic Basulto (2014). Why LEGO is the most innovative toy company in the world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/02/13/why-lego-is-the-most-innovative-toy-company-in-the-world/
#DES100 Inspirations
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