Lego launches custom-made model service to gain creative inspiration

The Lego Company is looking to take ideas for new products from Lego enthusiasts who design custom-made models through a new website.

Lego Mosaic, which is launched this month, allows consumers to create their very own Lego models by turning photographs into numbered building maps and ordering customised Lego bricks to build them at home.

The initiative is the first step in the company’s plan to involve consumers directly in coming up with ideas and designing new and one-of-a-kind Lego toys which may be included in future product ranges.

“Lego Mosaic is just the beginning,” says Brad Justus, senior vice-president of Lego Direct, the global direct-to-consumer division of the Lego Company.

“In the future, we hope to offer our consumers the chance to see their ideas come to life as actual Lego products.” Visitors to the website (www.lego.com) are invited to submit a digital image – for example of a child, a friend or a family pet – which is then converted into a building map. From there you can order the bricks necessary to turn it into a Lego model.

“This gives us the opportunity to listen to and involve the creative powers of our consumers to design new and one-of-a-kind products,” says Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, owner and chief executive of the Lego Company. The new venture is part of a multi-million pound investment for the company in its online systems.

The Danish toymaker last month predicted losses of up to &£30m for 2000 which it blamed largely on the weak global market for traditional toys. The company says it plans to concentrate on existing businesses, strengthen direct consumer access and build consumer relations over the next five years.