Organic Inspiration: Where the Wild Things Are
/Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published April 19, 2022.
In a hidden laboratory, located deep in Eastern Europe, there's a mad scientist who breathes life into LEGO beasts and robots. His creations are beautiful, organic, and sometimes scary, but they all share great part usages.
Dan: Hey man, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. To be honest it's very exciting to learn more about you and your beautiful creations. Can you tell us who is the man behind the menacing yellow eye, which is the first thing everyone sees when they open your accounts on social media?
Djordje: Thanks for having me! My name is Djordje and I’m a 20-something living in Serbia. Building robots and monsters out of LEGO is my main hobby but I also enjoy animation, video games and finding obscure music, all of which I wish I had more time for.
Funny you should mention my avatar, the guy in the profile picture is a pretty old creation (2013!) but I’ve always enjoyed how expressive the head design turned out for how simple it is. The build itself is pretty unremarkable and I don’t really have much to say about it but it’s still very dear to me, most of that is probably just nostalgia. Plus, I think the blue/yellow contrast is pretty eye-catching!
Dan: And what do you do for a living? I feel like the perfect job would be in character/game design.
Djordje: Currently I’m holding down two jobs—they’re not very interesting to talk about though. Sadly, they aren’t in creative fields, but I’d like to change that someday.
Dan: I'm sure you will—with all this creativity going on, it's only a matter of time. Now a question that is always interesting to me about other builders, how did you get started with LEGO?
Djordje: My first set was Tahu (8534) way back in 2001. I’d never actually owned any regular LEGO bricks before then. I remember seeing an ad for Bionicle, and the mysterious vibe combining robots with mystical elements instantly appealed to me and I was hooked.
Dan: Before this interview, the only thing I knew about you is that you are from Serbia, a country well known to me and every other Bulgarian as we are neighbors. The problem coming from an Eastern European country is that we don't have official LEGO stores and we can not make orders from LEGO.com (except in Greece I think). How do you get your supply of bricks and how does this affect your building?
Djordje: The bulk of my collection consists of cheap used lots of random parts bought locally. You can find some pretty good deals online if you look hard enough, especially on Bionicle parts. Sometimes I’ll also make an order on BrickLink if I need a super-specific piece to complete a build. I don’t buy new sets very often unless they’re on deep discount.
Dan: Are you part of a LUG (LEGO Users Group)?
Djordje: Currently I’m part of BIONILUG and EPLUG, both international clubs focusing on Bionicle and character builds.
Dan: I’m curious, how do you sort and store your bricks?
Djordje: Very chaotically, but I keep convincing myself that there’s a system to it.
Dan: Hahaha, I know what you mean. Now let's get to the most exciting part - your MOCs. I wanted to say that each of them is a detailed study of how one can use LEGO elements, but most of the time, your builds don't even look like LEGO. Each character is amazing and looks like it's taken straight from a game, a movie or a comic. How do you come up with your ideas? Do you sketch first and have some kind of design in your mind or do you start with seed parts?
Djordje: Thank you, I appreciate the kind words! My process varies from build to build. Sometimes I’ll get a specific idea and try to sketch it down first. Other times a specific part usage will inform the direction the build takes. Both are fun and I switch between them often.
Dan: In the last year, I have built a few characters and before I start building, I like to browse your creations and get in the mood. What inspires you or gets you to that special place?
Djordje: I’m happy to hear that my stuff inspired you—hearing folks say that means a lot to me! I can’t say I get my inspiration from a singular specific source. I like to steal ideas from all sorts of places - nature, games animation, movies, other builders and artists. With some builds, it’s more blatant what I ripped off than others.
Dan: One thing that's very interesting to me, probably to our readers too, roughly how long does it take you to build a character? Do you ask for feedback from fellow builders during your WIPs (work in progress)?
Djordje: Usually I’ll try to build very quickly—most of my builds have taken a couple of evenings at most to complete. Of course, sometimes a project will take a bit longer, but I find it more satisfying to wrap up the build while the idea is still fresh. I’ll often consult with my friends, both online and in-person, if I’m stuck with a particular build. Constructive criticism is definitely an invaluable tool and a lot of my own works have turned out way better after receiving it!
Dan: Can you tell me more about this little guy, called Sir Albrecht III of Groenhem? How do you even start building something like this? I just had to ask, as this is one of my favorite builds of yours.
Djordje: I’m glad to hear you like him—this is one of my personal favorites as well. The build started with the Chima wolf minifig head eye socket idea and grew from there until the sort of bug/mouse hybrid creature was formed. There’s definitely a lot of Hollow Knight influence in there. When the figure was done I felt it was a bit underwhelming on its own, so I built his “trophy” too. I’ve always found big expressive faces one of the most fun things to make so the whole thing was very fun to build and came together relatively quickly!
Dan: Is there a design that you have started but never finished because of lack of inspiration?
Djordje: Oh, for sure. There have been plenty of ideas that never got off the ground or only made it halfway there. I think it’s just a normal part of the creative process—not every project is going to be a winner and sometimes it’s better to go back to the drawing board than to force it. A lot of the time I’ll go back and try to reuse an interesting technique or design element from an unfinished build though.
Dan: Do you have any favorite LEGO themes besides Bionicle?
Djordje: I greatly enjoy the weird early 2000s themes from back when LEGO was seemingly just seeing what’ll stick. Stuff like Racers (especially the Xalax subtheme), Clikits, Znap and Galidor. These themes introduced a lot of the weird molds and colors I like to use in my builds. I’m also a big fan of the newer Mixels and Dots lines too.
Dan: Do you also build any official sets or do you prefer MOCs only?
Djordje: I definitely prefer to build my own stuff. Of course, on the rare occasion I do happen to get my hands on a new set, I’ll build it at least once to get an appreciation for the clever techniques the designers used and hopefully pick up a few new tricks.
Dan: Contests are always a great place to find inspiration and challenge oneself. Speaking of contests, congratulations on winning last year's Bio-Cup 2021! There were a lot of fantastic builds, some of which, of course, were yours! Do you often participate in contests and what motivates you?
Djordje: Thank you, Bio-Cup is always a blast, the organizers and contestants put on a great show every time! I do enjoy participating in contests quite a lot! I’m drawn to the challenge of building on a specific prompt, especially when it’s a fun and creative one. I think a bit of competition and rivalry between builders brings out creativity and resourcefulness.
Dan: Ted Andes mentioned the Robo Rumble contest in one of his articles here on BrickNerd. Can you share more about it? How did you decide to run a contest, and how did you come up with the idea?
Djordje: I’ve entered a lot of contests over the years and RoboRumble 3000 was my attempt to give a bit back to the community. It was surprisingly fun to host!
I’ve always been sort of weirdly fascinated by the idea of robots punching the crap out of each other. Think stuff like Rock’em Sock’em Robots, old super robot mecha anime or the movie Real Steal. Something about the idea has always been amusing to me and it’s definitely inspired a lot of my own builds over the years, so I thought it would be a fun prompt for other people to take on too.
I was very happy with the number of very creative and characterful takes folks had on the concept, there was a lot more entries than I expected!
Dan: Finally, do you have any advice for everyone out there looking to improve their character building or even pluck up the courage to start?
Djordje: I’d definitely encourage anybody who’s considered doing a character build to give it a shot—it can be great fun! My personal advice would be to build things inspired by the stuff you like and enjoy, and make the stuff you want to see more of. With characters in particular, I find it useful to start with the head because its personality and expression will help inform the direction of the rest. Don’t be afraid to tear stuff down and iterate on ideas. Happy building!
Dan: Thank you again! It was very nice to get to know you. Can't wait to see your next build!
Do you feel inspired to build some LEGO characters after seeing all those beauties? Let us know in the comments below.
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