Product Design

Brick by Brick: A Product Designer Transforms a Childhood Toy into a Work of Art

Hanna Giuditta

April 9, 2024

VISUALLY delves into the journey of a product design lead in the fintech industry who, alongside his professional endeavors, finds inspiration and creative expression in Lego art. From childhood memories of building Lego sets to navigating a shift from architecture to graphic design, Randall Wilson discusses how Lego remains a constant source of creativity. The influence of educators and experiences growing up in the South, combined with the technical challenges of Lego art, shapes Wilson’s unique perspective, sharing with us the limitless possibilities of when creativity meets dedication.

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Ideating is a crucial step in the process of bringing designs to fruition.

Designing Products

I'm a product design lead in customer resiliency space [for a fintech company]. The work that I do as a product designer includes influencing a product, understanding what the customer needs are, the needs of the business, and directing the design in a way that achieves both business and customer needs and brings business value. That includes executing the design itself. It also includes conducting workshops. It also includes creating space for the special tech in business to influence the larger roadmap of the customer-resilience space.

I’m motivated by the opportunity for growth and challenge. It can come through the work. It can also come through the people that I work with. If they're looking for an opportunity to grow and build their product design shops, I have enough experience to lead them in a way where they gain something from completing a front. There's a people aspect. There's also the work aspect. All of these factors allow me to stretch, to grow, and this serves as a motivation.

Personal Goals

As long as I've been here, I've always kept top of mind that the work is always going to be the work. But if there is a specific challenge within it that I want to get better at, it’s communicating a large idea, it’s becoming a somebody in design and to sit at the table of business and product. That requires me to lead more into that strategic area as opposed to more of the execution of practitioner. This is in service of me being a creative in my life all the time. These are skills and competencies that I think will benefit me long term, no matter what type of work I do. I want to present myself as a thoughtful leader, someone that is productive, that you can collaborate with.

Design Journey

The first memory of my life is waking up in my parents' room and walking into the dining room and seeing the Lego set that got built the night before.

[Lego] has always been an interest that I've had. I ended up majoring in architecture in college, and I graduated and I realized that in order to be a practicing architect, I would have to get my master's degree and intern for thousands of hours to get my license—and the curriculum at Georgia Tech was so hard that I didn't want to spend additional time there or anywhere else to get that degree. It was at that point that I basically fell out of love with the major and started exploring how else I could practice my design skills, which eventually led me to graphic design and web design and development. So I pivoted to graphic and web design, and then eventually got hired on a whim as a contractor at a fintech compan

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For Wilson, designing Lego is an art of expression.

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Designing Lego [constructions] has always stayed by me through this entire journey. It is an art form that could indefinitely co-exist with whatever I’ve got going on in the moment. When I see other Lego artists create in the world, I immediately wonder how they built that piece, and that’s how the inspiration for a piece comes in. I love the deconstruction process of that and learning how they did it so that I can apply that to my work. Lego bricks are so nimble that with enough time, skill, patience, and...bricks...you can make something impressive and show off your skill.

On Growing Up

I grew up in Atlanta. It was a lot of fun. I lived in the Decatur area of Metro Atlanta. In the '90s, Atlanta was very much a black city, culturally, as it still is, but it was very potent back then. In the '90s, I remember being in that area and seeing just examples of Blackness everywhere, through my teachers, through authoritative figures, through everyday life. So that was where I was comfortable with, used to, happy to exist. I consider being from Atlanta a source of pride; I existed at a very specific intersection in time and place that I'm grateful that Atlanta afforded me.

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Chicago Theatre: currently residing in Chicago, Wilson pays tribute to the city in this magnificent piece.

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As I was playing and building growing up, there are certain relationships between bricks that I picked up and began to save in the back of my mind as I branched out and started creating my own stuff. Lego sets do a very good job of storytelling, and over time you learn how to apply your own stories through the brick. Lego is also sneakily great at teaching math through the different pieces available, so I apply that nowadays to any opportunity to create that comes my way; the particular challenge gives me an opportunity to pull out those techniques to achieve a certain look or feel depending on the ask. It naturally matured over time once I found out that it's a skill that's in demand and is appreciated by many.

Influence

Mrs. LeBron, in third grade, cultivated my love for math. I remember her most for the feeling of play that accompanied the learning she fostered in her classroom. I loved coming to class everyday because I knew I was going to grow, and for some reason I specifically associate her with me loving math. Not a subject that a lot of designers claim to enjoy, but I find it useful in my art. I always wonder where she is nowadays. I always want to reconnect with her.

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Wilson's teachers played a pivotal role in shaping his creative pursuits.

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Mr. Thomas in band [was another influence]. I played instruments growing up—violin and trombone. Mr. Thomas was a great example of a warm, authoritative, cool Black man that I was happy to take direction from and learn from. I respected him because he commanded that respect. Every time I see him, I still have that sense of respect for him. I think he cultivated the discipline and the respect necessary to be great at your craft. I translate that to design.

On Creativity

Being able to play and having a blank mind sparks my creativity. Sometimes creatives get tagged or pegged with the expectation that your mind is always racing. But I find that I need the contrast of not doing anything to be able to pour something back into my cup. It can't be full. I might emerge from that space and travel somewhere and be inspired by something that I see. So, seeing something, being visual, it makes me think. In Lego, for instance, I enjoy building replicas. The other thing would be if there's a problem that I encounter enough times in my life, this sparks my creativity because I think to myself: I bet other people in this situation have encountered the same thing. How do I solve it? The solution then stems from a creative thought. I would not say that I have ideas that come out of a vacuum, but they always start from the self and what I see as being of service to other people.

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Wilson finds joy in experimenting and constructing replicas as a means to push his own limits and test his abilities.

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Although Lego can be all play, for a Lego artist, there are technical constraints, and this is a part of the design process and where I love to start. Knowing the lay of the land and what to work with, or not, fuels the problem-solving that came along with the learning. I'm a purist; I’m using exactly what Lego has available with no alterations—no painting, cutting, 3D printing of a new piece, none of that. If a piece doesn't exist or a technique isn't feasible, I'm forced to approach the problem another way, which stretches my imagination into new places, or sometimes I'll just have to wait until Lego makes it! When I built my Chicago Theatre build, there was a specific piece that I had to wait a couple months for Lego to come out with, because, while it was a small piece, it was absolutely essential for the entire composition.

Looking Ahead

I'm looking forward to pouring more of myself and my energy into the Lego space. I've been fortunate enough to start a business with a friend to create culturally centric products and experiences out of Lego and carrying that over to being selected to be on Lego Masters a couple times. I see the world that is possible if I devote more of my time and energy to it and being that true creative way that I don't feel I'm being hindered or being held back. So, I'm looking forward to betting on me and giving myself a chance.

Brick by Brick: A Product Designer Transforms a Childhood Toy into a Work of Art

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