The SPOKE editorial team turns the spotlight on David Beach – Web Manager at GFG Alliance whose creatively and talent for LEGO building resulted in winning the LEGO Ideas Test Lab challenge. Take a deeper look at David’s unique build and history with designing unique LEGO creations.

David’s story…

I am a bit of a LEGO fanatic, I have a deep passion for creating educational and fun games that I can play with my two young children. I love spending my spare time building with LEGO bricks and exploring new ways to challenge your children’s creativity and problem-solving skills.

My love for LEGO started at an early age and I enjoy building and customising my own LEGO creations, using my imagination to create unique designs that my kids love.

I love creating educational games that teach your children important skills, such as improving memory, movement, and problem-solving. I believe that LEGO bricks are the perfect tool for fostering creativity and critical thinking, and I enjoy finding new ways to challenge my children’s minds while having fun.

Back in September 2022, LEGO Ideas challenged some of the community’s top designers to design a build that must be customised by the builder with just 200 pieces. This was an invite only process under the LEGO Ideas Test Lab program.

Sounds easy enough… The rules were strict – submissions had to be submitted as digital builds only, minimum 150 and maximum 200 pieces, and designers could only use elements from a specific parts file. The limited colour palette and restrictions on using existing intellectual properties or use of minifigures meant that designers had to get really creative with their builds. But with the challenge came a great opportunity to showcase one’s creativity and skill. Designers could submit as many entries as they wanted. The whole process was a blind process, designers wouldn’t be able to see what anyone else had submitted. Which I liked.

For me, the challenge started out as a daunting task. Four weeks had passed and still no inspiration. It wasn’t until a visit to the local LEGO store and looked at the Pick A Brick (PAB) Wall, to try to get some inspiration. I turned to a member of staff and asked him, what was his favourite piece on the PAB wall? He said on this occasion my favourite is the masonry profile brick.

I decided that my design would incorporate that part, so that now was my constraint to work within.

The original vision was a Hollywood sign, where builders could create their name or initials and customise it. But as gravity proved to be a challenge, a billboard concept emerged. In later versions, the billboard was designed to slide in and out, making customisation a breeze.

Despite the digital nature of the challenge, I do prefer to build with physical bricks to test product viability and playability. After just over a week of tinkering, the final submission was sent in.

Six weeks later, I received an email from LEGO Ideas with exciting news. My submission had been selected as a winner, and I could now share my creation with the world. You can purchase the Billboard design from the Lego Pick a Brick hub and improve the build with your own customisations. I personally recommend adding a few birds to the build. You can read and find out more here.

Below are a few of my other builds. I have a TikTok following of over 130k.

@minibricks You can support this on #legoideas #treasurechest #coinpusher #lego ♬ Material Girl – Kris Bowers