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Tell us a bit about yourself – hobbies, occupation etc

Hi there, I’m Brickdesigned! A little bit about me, I’m a 26 year old afol from Atlanta, Ga. I live with my boyfriend of 7 years and have a cat named Sandy. Other than LEGO, my hobbies include DIY projects and drawing. For work, I’m job recruiter!

When and how did you get into LEGO?

LEGO was always my number one toy growing up. My favorite themes included City, Orient Expedition, Spiderman, Pirates, and Castle. I packed it all away during my teen years, as most afols do. Then when I was 20, I walked into a LEGO Store for the first time and decided on a whim to buy the Creator Expert Cinema Palace. And I never looked back, LEGO truly became a passion of mine.

When did you start making MOCs and Furniture?

When I got back into LEGO, I started buying the modular buildings and soon wanted to try my hand at creating my own full modular building. So I built a pizza shop with an apartment above, which was the start of my MOC building! Building furniture came later, actually more recently. When I started my Instagram account (@brickdesigned) I got some very positive reception after posting some quick couch builds that I did for a MOC I was working on. That inspired me to create #furniturefriday!

Pictured: Before & After of my first MOC. On the Left is the original I built in 2014. The Right is the remodel I did last year.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

For my furniture builds, I tend to be inspired by either real-life objects or just random LEGO elements. I have several trays full of spare, random pieces that I’ll dig through and become inspired by certain connections or individual pieces. I like to let the pieces “guide” me as I build. For buildings or other MOCs, I’m usually easily inspired by everyday architecture that I’ve seen, or I just start building and do a lot of experimenting.

After you get an initial idea, what happens next?

If I’m not building when an idea hits me, then I whip out my phone and add it to my growing To-Do list of future build ideas, so I don’t forget! I’ll plan it out a little in my head and go from there. I don’t really sketch it out, I like to just go for it and experiment. That goes for both digital building and real-life building.

Are there any techniques in particular that you really like implementing?

One of the best things about LEGO is all the different building techniques and styles! It seems like there are an unlimited amount of them! Personally, I love SNOT building, especially when building facades. I also really love “illegal” building techniques! Figuring out new ways that pieces connect and fit together (especially building furniture) is often necessary to attain certain details.

How long does it take from initial idea to finished product?

When it comes to #furniturefridays, it usually takes me one to three building sessions to get the items just right. Sometimes if I’m really inspired I can easily get lost creating several versions or items, but not end up posting all of them. For bigger MOCs, it all just depends on size and my piece collection at the time. Perhaps several weeks, or a couple months.

From your vast collection of builds, what is the most popular, also which is your personal favourite?

The most popular by far, is my #furniturefriday Vacuums. I got such a large, positive response from that post, as well as my Garbage Bins post! Personally, I would have to say my favorite furniture build I’ve done are my ovens/ranges! My favorite modular MOC I’ve done would have to be my Vet Clinic building!

Pictured: Vaccums

Pictured: Vet Clinic Modular MOC

What would be your dream MOC to create?

My biggest dream MOC would be a huge minifig-scale Theme Park with different themed sections, including an Asian-themed area, Pirate area, Dinosaur area, and Super Hero area. I would also love to build a huge shopping mall, a zoo, and a large Winter Village!

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on my largest modular MOC. It’s a double corner building with shops below several floors of apartments. I am also always working on furniture builds and some smaller carnival-themed MOCs. I am also working on creating some instructions for some of my MOCs as well, which is pretty exciting!

Pictured: my current modular MOC

What advice would you give to beginner MOC builders?

My advice is to simply, EXPERIMENT! Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new techniques. I would also say, get inspired by official LEGO sets or other builders! That’s the whole reason I started an Instagram account. I hope that I inspire other people to try new things or even build what I build. Just go build something!

Apart from making Furniture and General City items what other aspects of LEGO do you like, sets, minifigures etc?

I love many of the different LEGO themes! I collect some Star Wars sets, and the Creator Expert sets. I also love displaying many of the Architecture sets (especially the City Skylines). I love the Creator 3-in-1 theme, Brickheadz, Collectible Minifigures, IDEAS, and the Friends theme. Friends is sort of underrated, but in reality offers some fantastic piece assortment & color variety, and some really creative building techniques. One theme I have yet to tap into would be Technic. I would love to get the Technic Land Rover Defender though!

Thank you to Greg and The Brick Post for featuring me and allowing me the opportunity to share a little about myself! Check out my builds and MOCs on Instagram @brickdesigned BrickDesigned.

Many thanks for taking the time to answer some questions and talk to us, we wish you all the best with your future projects!