LEGO Art designer Samuel Johnson chats with Brickset about the new sets that have been recently announced, including the ominous LEGO Art Star Wars The Sith set.
Why do the Star Wars and Marvel mosaics feature studs while the Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles mosaics are assembled using tiles?
Star Wars and Marvel have an existing relationship with LEGO so combining those with traditional studs felt the most natural. Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, on the other hand, seemed more suited to smooth tiles. Additionally, using both alternatives allows a degree of experimentation as we can learn which format is more popular and perhaps consider using different pieces in the future.
Could combining 1×1 round plates and 1×1 round tiles on the same mosaic achieve unique shading effects?
Absolutely. That is something that was considered during development and we cannot exclude the possibility of combining them in the future. However, that can cause challenges when developing the building instructions because differentiating between 1×1 round plates and 1×1 round tiles of the same colour may be difficult. The issue becomes even more prevalent within these sets because their instructions feature an unusual top-down view, showing the mosaic in two dimensions.
Soundtracks accompany each model. What information can you share about those?
Each set features its own soundtrack which has been developed exclusively for these products. The building instructions feature a QR code to access the soundtrack and they are about ninety minutes in length. They discuss the background behind the subjects being constructed. 31200 Star Wars The Sith, for instance, features commentary from Lucasfilm employees about the design of each character and their original development.
