Ways LEGO use designs to establish its identity

[Mister Phes]

I'm about to write an essay with the following question:

Select 2 prominent corporations. Examine the ways design has been used to establish an identity for the corporation, use visual example and theoretical research to discuss the ways these companies communicate this identity to us. Consider whether the design accurately reflects the actions of the corporations.

Of course I chose LEGO as one of the corporations.

So far I've come up with the following...

• The Brick.
  LEGO is synonymous with the brick. Even though LEGO has branched out in countless areas over the years, when most people (who aren't obsessed) think of LEGO they imagine the bricks. On 90% of the bricks somewhere is the LEGO logo, originally found on the studs but now moved to more inconspicuous locations.
  
• The mini-figure
  Despite the introduction of figures for Duplo figures, Fabuland, 4+, Technic Figures and Belville the mini-figure is the only one to stand the test of time.
  
• The LEGO Logo
  This logo is found on every LEGO set. A simple yet cuddly logo.
  
• LEGO Lands
  LEGO enthusiasts can visit an entire theme park based on LEGO.
  
• LEGO website
  LEGO keeping up with the latest technology now has a online market and resource centre where other LEGO enthusiasts can interact.
  
• LEGO Digital Designer
  Despite its many limitations, for the first time LEGO enthusiasts can design and buy their own creations from scratch, then share them with other people.
  

LEGO likes to promote itself as a caring company who family friendly.

This is my intial starting point which needs to be elaborated upon and expanded. Anyone else got any ideas?

[jonfett]

Why not go on to mention some of TLC marketing campaigns? Such as the slogan 'Imagine'. You could use this to disuces the fact the Lego has always been about construction and using your imagination to create things. If you asked a non-AFOL about their outlook on Lego, they would surely mention that you can build whatever you want.

I hope I have not gone off the point here, and good luck with your essay! ;)

Jon.

[xwingyoda]

If you discuss Design = identity, 3 major things come to my mind.

You mentionned two of those: logo and the actual product, but I would definitly add the packaging aspect of Lego !!! You have a dual identity on those: the Lego brand (with the Logo) and the theme identity with its own designed font, colour, drawings and pics.

When you see a SW box, you KNOW its a SW Lego set ;)

Have fun writing this essay Phes ;)

BTW, what is the second Company you chose, Playmo to create a nice parallel, or Megablocks :D :P

[snefroe]

If you discuss Design = identity, 3 major things come to my mind.

You mentionned two of those: logo and the actual product, but I would definitly add the packaging aspect of Lego !!! You have a dual identity on those: the Lego brand (with the Logo) and the theme identity with its own designed font, colour, drawings and pics.

When you see a SW box, you KNOW its a SW Lego set ;)

Have fun writing this essay Phes ;)

BTW, what is the second Company you chose, Playmo to create a nice parallel, or Megablocks :D :P

i would have to disagree with you on the sw-box/design, yoda. when i visited the tru in paris, i saw these star wars toys that used exactly the same sw-logo as the lego sw-boxes. in fact, i was thinking about this as an example to illustrate the star wars logo for SW...

1) about the minifig: i would refer to the original smiling minifig as the basis for the concept of the fig. later on, the fig diversified, without jepordising the identity... but this may be a question of generations, i mean, some of my friends are just a little older than me and they mostly identify lego with the older lego family of, i guess, the mid seventies...

2) you should elaborate on the logo, because it did change over the years. however, i think the word "lego" has always been written the same way...

3) shouldn't you link lego with the image of Scandinavia? i mean: lego is a quality product, lego refuses to produce in low cost countries, refuses to use children there to produce sets,... scandinavia has a reputation for quality, humanity, decent government (that was also the case for TLC untill a few years ago)

4) i'm not sure about 4, 5. sure, tlc has a website, but it's not really unique or pioneering, if you're asking me... they also missed out on the bricklink and brickshelf success; in fact, i find tlc a bit old fashioned in this regard. i feel they're quite slow when internet and digital revolution are concerned... you can add to this a rather weak marketing instrument with very poor communications channels to the market/community.

5) i would add: lego is a toy for kids. they're constantly repeating that, even tho they are now producing weapons in a US dino line, but not in europe. surely you can link that also to the scandinavian image...

[jonfett]

Another point to mention on logo. Red and yellow, bold colours which are easily imprinted in our mind and so we remember them well. This is what makes the logo so recognisable, the simplicity is effective!

Also, whilst talking about the minifig say that (up until recently) all Lego people are equal, yellow represents everyone. This is another reason why the minifigure is well known.

Jon.

[Mister Phes]

I hope I have not gone off the point here, and good luck with your essay! ;)

Jon.

I don't need luck now I've enlisted some of the best LEGO minds in the world to help me!

Why not go on to mention some of TLC marketing campaigns? Such as the slogan 'Imagine'. You could use this to disuces the fact the Lego has always been about construction and using your imagination to create things. If you asked a non-AFOL about their outlook on Lego, they would surely mention that you can build whatever you want.

Yes marketing campaigns are a good idea, especially slogans. Was LEGO's originally "Only the best" then it became "Just imagine..." and now its "Play on..."?

Another point to mention on logo. Red and yellow, bold colours which are easily imprinted in our mind and so we remember them well. This is what makes the logo so recognisable, the simplicity is effective!

This is also a good point. LEGO is using a simple and recognisable design for their logo to imprint in the consumer's mind. On every single box (or packaging) somewhere is that red square with the letters LEGO surrounded by black and yellow lines.

[Mister Phes]

I would definitly add the packaging aspect of Lego !!! You have a dual identity on those: the Lego brand (with the Logo) and the theme identity with its own designed font, colour, drawings and pics.

When you see a SW box, you KNOW its a SW Lego set  ;)

Yes, I think packaging is somewhat important. LEGO seems to have gone to some efforts over the years to produce appropriate backgrounds to photograph their sets. This further accentuates the "theme of the set and in some instances it makes the set appear better than it actually is. I think I mean that in the sense it seems more complete because its depicted in the environment you'd expect to see it. Wheras, when you built it yourself and put it on display, it begins visually competing with whatever else you have in the room and that detracts from the set. Unless of course its something like a Skulls Eye Schooner which can act as a centrepiece and steal all the attention in a room - assuming there aren't any other centrepieces of course!

BTW, what is the second Company you chose, Playmo to create a nice parallel, or Megablocks  :D  :P

Actually I was thinking Tonka... To go in a totally different direction. Tonka also has a good strong imagine, because when we hear "Tonka" what do we instantly think of (if we're not being a smart MegaBlok)?

[Mister Phes]

i would have to disagree with you on the sw-box/design, yoda. when i visited the tru in paris, i saw these star wars toys that used exactly the same sw-logo as the lego sw-boxes. in fact, i was thinking about this as an example to illustrate the star wars logo for SW...

This is an interesting point but licencing is a slightly different kettle of fish as its an almagamation of two corporate identies I.e. LEGO and LucasFilms. As I've only got 1250 words I probably won't touch on this aspect.

1) about the minifig: i would refer to the original smiling minifig as the basis for the concept of the fig. later on, the fig diversified, without jepordising the identity... but this may be a question of generations, i mean, some of my friends are just a little older than me and they mostly identify lego with the older lego family of, i guess, the mid seventies...

Yes, this is a very good point. For many years the mini-figure was a simple face consisting of a curve for the mouth and two eyes. Then gradually they began to evolve to have hair and glasses, till the point where they can have any face thinkable.

2) you should elaborate on the logo, because it did change over the years. however, i think the word "lego" has always been written the same way...

Yes, I've seen the text change slightly, but the basic design has always been the same. I guess I'd need to elaborate upon why it has been altered and whether it has been benefitial.

3) shouldn't you link lego with the image of Scandinavia? i mean: lego is a quality product, lego refuses to produce in low cost countries, refuses to use children there to produce sets,... scandinavia has a reputation for quality, humanity, decent government (that was also the case for TLC untill a few years ago)

I'm not sure about this one. I wouldn't have thought of it myself. Does LEGO promote itself as a Scandinavian company? Quality is obviously a very important aspect of LEGO products but I'm not sure if the rest of the word associates Scandinavia with the attributes you've listed. Certainly when we hear of products mass produced in Asian countries we know to be sceptical of the their quality but i'm not sure if high quality can be associate with Scandinavian countires. Not in this part of the world anyway. But it is important to note that LEGO wants to portray itself as a "luxury" toy.

4) i'm not sure about 4, 5. sure, tlc has a website, but it's not really unique or pioneering, if you're asking me... they also missed out on the bricklink and brickshelf success;  in fact, i find tlc a bit old fashioned in this regard. i feel they're quite slow when internet and digital revolution are concerned... you can add to this a rather weak marketing instrument with very poor communications channels to the market/community.

It doesn't have to be unique or pioneering to be discussed. The point is its a global resource centre for LEGO enthusiasts to interact, research the product and potentially purchase them. But that fact that it can be considered "a rather weak marketing instrument with very poor communications channels to the market/community" is something that is noteworthy. LEGO is trying to keep up with the latest technology but perhaps it isn't working as well as it could.

5) i would add: lego is a toy for kids. they're constantly repeating that, even tho they are now producing weapons in a US dino line, but not in europe. surely you can link that also to the scandinavian image...

Yes this is important, but as before I'm not sure how the "Scandinavian image" links to being a children's toy. Is Scandinavia reknown for producing childrens toy? I think all I could say is something along the lines of: Unlike other toy manufacturers, LEGO maintains a higher quality product by produing toys in Scandinavian countries, rather than outsourcing in south east Asian countries. I don't think it would be really relevant to the question to go into much more detail than that since knowledge of Scandinavian production is rather lacking here.

I think its important to metion that LEGO is a children's toy because it reflects the actions of the company. I.e. They are producing reasonably non violent and offensive toys devised into a number of age group.

[snefroe]

I'm not sure about this one. I wouldn't have thought of it myself. Does LEGO promote itself as a Scandinavian company? Quality is obviously a very important aspect of LEGO products but I'm not sure if the rest of the word associates Scandinavia with the attributes you've listed. Certainly when we hear of products mass produced in Asian countries we know to be sceptical of the their quality but i'm not sure if high quality can be associate with Scandinavian countires. Not in this part of the world anyway. But it is important to note that LEGO wants to portray itself as a "luxury" toy.

hm... that's weird... so you've never heard of the "scandinavian model" as to be the future for the European social models? to me the link between scandinavia and lego was the most obvious of all... many people in belgium, but probably also in the rest of europe associate scandinavia with quality, humanity,... to most, it's only natural that lego also has high quality,...

we also say that about Volvo, for instance... besides, identity of a product/company doesn't have to be the same all over the world. Regional differences in identities are quite natural.

lego does not see itself as a luxury toy, i think, in fact, quite the opposite... lego is for every kid... they don't distinguish between rich and poor... if 8/10 boys buy lego, it's rather difficult to say that lego is a luxurious toy. this might be different in the us, but that's not tlc's main market anyway....

yes, lego refers to denmark and scandinavia. for instance, they have a Hans Christian Anderson line to celebrate his ... whatever... they also had a set a while back in the belville line i think, celebrating a marriage in the royal family (in fact, you were the first to refer to this set on eb, i believe)... they also have had this deal with another danish company called Maersk...

in any case, many fans seem to link lego with denmark. quite a few people felt tlc is "going back to her own roots", so to speak, with the viking line...

[Mister Phes]

The common image of Scandinavian people in this partof the world is some myth about them liking to dive naked into snow. Not sure how that came about but nothing about quality products whatsoever! Going into detail about Scandinavian quality doesn't really answer the question the way it needs to be answered. It does matter where its from really, the only relevant thing to note is its of a high quality.

The only thing about Denmark people here are informed about is how pregnant Princess Mary is. And that's it... The media here doesn't care about ecconomy or the quality of products from Denmark, all they want is gossip about the Australian girl who became a princess. They don't even associate Denmark as a Scandinavian country. In fact its like they've completely forgotten.

[snefroe]

true, but then, Australia isn't really Lego's main market either... or perhaps it's because lego's identity hasn't established itself there... for how many years has lego been around there? perhaps the australians or americans, for that matter, just don't see the link with scandinavia, because it's too far off. how many aussies see any swedish in Saab, Abba or Volvo?

you're assuming that people all over the world approach lego in the same way and recognise the same "identity". You don't know that...

[Mister Phes]

It doesn't matter how people see LEGO all over the world. The essay is being marked by a middle age Australian male and the only thing that matters is the way he sees LEGO within the context of the question. Regardless of accuracy other than making a passing note that LEGO is being manufactured in a Scandinavian company its not going to really help answer the question.

LEGO has been sold in Australia since 1960's (as far as I know, my granny has some of the real old stuff) and everyone born after 1960 seems to know what LEGO is, or has owned some in their life time. It is a highly popular toy thats sold well for the past 40 years here, however Scandinavian origins don't seem to be included in the marketing. It does say its made in Denmark in very small print on the boxes, but that's as far as it goes.

[gylman]

Actually, and totally off topic, from my perspective in Canada the impression of Scandinavia here is of a racially and religiously homogenous somewhat xenophobic and socially insulated part of the world that is good at talking up its "social justice" and 'progressive" values (which are easy to apply in that setting).

However, the view from here in Canada, one of the most diverse countries in the world, is that other than token financial support, Scandinavian countries don't actually get hands dirty in helping solve some of the world's more serious problems by taking in refugees,or providing tangible human assistance (i.e. more than just money) in the world's many trouble spots.

The other scandianvian connection of course is Ikea, famous for its cheap furniture that falls apart very easily.

Hence, I would not consider "Made in Scandinavia" a selling point. "Made in England" would be much more meaningful here, in the US, and probably in Australia.

Of course, since in about 20 years the world's dominant country and consumer market is likely to be China, "Made in China" is going to be become an asset, not a liability.

$0.02

[Mister Phes]

Can't say "made in England" is very meaningful here, but "made in China" (or Macau or Tiawan) is quite popular.

But this is most significant of all.

www.australianmade.com.au

Can't imagine its significant elsewhere though, but according to the website its used in over 30 countries - so I dunno...

If anyone else wants to continue the discussion of Scandinavian quality of manufacturing, then creating a new thread would be an excellent idea!

[SuvieD]

LEGO is instantly recognized by the red, blue, yellow, white and black 2x2, 2x3 and 2x4 plastic building bricks. The logo is a constant and easily recognizable with or with out the bricks present. The very word LEGO is plastic building blocks to most people. Much like Band Aid instead of bandage or Kleenex instead of facial tissue (in the US at least) LEGO or legos is the name used for the bricks, clone bricks, or even competitors building bricks.

Slogans/mottos may have something to do with it. Where it is made may have something to do with it (though I doubt it outside of Europe). The core identity is bound up with the bricks in colorful plastic.

Minifigures are also an integral part of LEGO. Both Duplo and System sizes are easy to identify as LEGO. The names Duplo and System also mean something. Fortunately, after a poor name change Duplo is back to stay. Perhaps System will return someday also.

Have fun and let us know what your teacher thinks.