Everything Is Awesome When It's Bricksized
/I started using Instagram in the few years or so, mostly to browse LEGO builds and occasionally post some of mine. This is how I found some fantastic builders—and they were one of the reasons that encouraged me to start building more. One of those builders is Jannis Mavrostomos, aka Bricksized. I fell in love with his creations immediately—and now as a BrickNerd contributor, I have an excuse to ask all kinds of questions about him and his LEGO passions.
Dan: Hey Jannis! Can you start by saying few words about yourself and how your LEGO building journey began?
Jannis: I’m a soon-to-be forty LEGO-loving guy from Finland. During the days I work as an art director and co-owner in an ad agency. And during the night I build LEGO.
My journey began five years ago. A classic story: When we had our first kid we bought him a bunch of DUPLO. I was the one playing and building with him. And every time we played he got bored before me and suddenly I was building DUPLO builds on my own. My wife noticed this and, as super smart and big-hearted as she is, realized that building LEGO makes me happy. So as a 34th birthday gift from her I got the LEGO Architecture Studio set with 1,200 white and trans clear pieces. I was so happy! I started building this and that and was quite proud of the builds back then. In addition, I had to take the builds apart because I only had a limited amount of pieces. This led to photographing every build and that led to me sharing them on Instagram. First on my personal account but pretty soon I created Bricksized.
Dan: Did you had a so-called "Dark Age"?
Jannis: You could say that from the age of 15 or 16 to 34 was my Dark Age because during that period I had no interest in LEGO.
Dan: Your first creations are all in white, or white and blue. Is there any specific reason why you chose these colors, is there any symbolism behind them?
Jannis: The LEGO Architecture Studio was the reason for building all white builds. I also found it to be more artistic and in that sense more acceptable to publicly “play” with LEGO. It felt more adult. Of course I don’t feel that way anymore. I started buying used pieces from the local LEGO (not official) store and did it color by color. I don’t even remember why I started with blue. Maybe I wanted to build something more graphical. Or maybe just a tiny Greek village.
Dan: Even in your early builds, I can see a certain cartoonish style peeking through. How did you come up with this style?
Jannis: It just came naturally. I think it has something to do with the fact that I draw a lot. It was something I did every day to the age of 18 or something. And my illustration style has always been more on the cartoonish side. Never too photorealistic. For me, LEGO is a way of making 3D illustrations. A way of turning my creativity and ideas into something concrete.
Dan: Are you still watching cartoons and if yes, which are your favorites?
Jannis: I only watch cartoons sometimes with my kids. I really like Peppa Pig! I’m more into Pixar movies. Those I watch even without the kids.
Dan: Let's talk about your micro Star Wars builds. You're obviously "not" a fan at all :) Is this one of the most inspiring themes for you?
Jannis: Ah, Star Wars. I’m a late bloomer when it comes to being a Star Wars fan. I’ve always liked the movies but it was actually the Mandalorian series that sucked me into the Star Wars universe. After that, there has been no turning back. And as the world of Star Wars is so vast and ever-growing, it keeps on inspiring. I actually occasionally have to push the brakes so that not all my builds become Star Wars-related.
Dan: And why micro? It seems that you often build in this scale.
Jannis: I think the micro thing started because I had (and still have) a very limited amount of pieces. And also I don’t have the interest or patience to build one thing for many days—my mind is always wandering to the next build. I also see building small things with a lot of details as a bigger challenge creatively than building big builds. I always try to come up with new and innovative ways of using different bricks. NPU is the way for me. I still remember the first time I saw the headlight brick used as a window in a microscale house on Pinterest. My mind was blown.
Dan: I love your cars, again in the same signature style. What inspired you to create them?
Jannis: When you build LEGO almost every day you start seeing the world around you as a source of inspiration. “How would I build that thing out of LEGO?” "Hey, that looks just like this and that LEGO brick.” I was watching the Minions movie with my kids and really liked the cartoonish style of houses and vehicles. The Chevrolet Corvair Lakewood the villain family was driving in the movie just started to turn into a LEGO version in my head and of course, I had to build it immediately. It turned out perfect (in my opinion) and I started to give that same cartoonish treatment to other vehicles as well.
Dan: How do you come up with ideas for your builds? Do you use a "seed" part to start everything, or do you have a general idea and then you build on top of that?
Jannis: The inspiration can come from anywhere: a movie I just saw, a trip to the summer cottage or a building I saw on the way to work. But mostly the ideas start from one brick. A green sausage looks like the eyelid of Yoda, the magic wands look like perfect furniture legs, the Battle Droid head makes for a great nose etc. So yes, I mostly have a seed part
My process from there is all “build-as-I-go”. Very organic and always changing. I never do planning beforehand. I usually solve the trickiest part, build the most detailed section or build the part that is the soul of the build first. For example, if I build cars I start with the front end and not the base. Or if I build a bust or a character I start with the eyes. My approach is more of an illustrator or an artist than an engineer.
Dan: Is there something that you have always wanted to build, but never dared to? And if yes, what's stopping you?
Jannis: I sometimes fantasize about building something big and detailed in minifig scale. Something Star Wars related for example. But the lack of pieces, time, space and understanding of my wife are all standing in my way. But that’s OK. I am very happy with where I am with my hobby. I don’t want to give it a too big part of my life. I have so many other interests as well.
Dan: If you could design one official LEGO set what would it be?
Jannis: This is another fantasy of mine. And the idea is always changing. Right now it would probably be a whole series of Anatomy learning sets for kids like small animals, the human eye and ear etc. Tomorrow it’s something else.
Dan: Do you build any official sets or do you prefer building your own creations?
Jannis: I very rarely build official sets. Of course I build them with my kids when they get a new set. I’ve bought maybe four sets just for myself and for my own building pleasure. I just prefer building my own creations too much.
Dan: Building so few sets, do you have a favorite one?
Jannis: Hmm… I prefer the bigger and more challenging sets. I really enjoyed building the LEGO Ideas Pirates of Barracuda Bay set. But maybe of all the sets in our home right now (my kid’s LEGO included) the 75300 Imperial TIE Fighter is my favourite at the moment. It’s simple, beautiful and the playability is perfect. It doesn’t break easily compared to the X-wing for example. Of all the sets out there that I can only dream of, the 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina and the new Titanic are my favourites.
Dan: Can you share something that you consider nerdy about your LEGO passion? For example, when I build something cool, at least for me, I like to look at it for few days and admire it. Then I build a new thing and I forget about the previous one.
Jannis: I guess the whole LEGO hobby could be considered nerdy! :D Okay, maybe these days it can even be cool in the eyes of the greater public. At least that’s how I like to see it. Instagram is perfect for storing all my builds because I never save any of them. I need the pieces for the next build. I sometimes scroll through all my older builds and feel quite proud and occasionally think “wow, I’m pretty good”. And maybe if LEGO has shared my builds, I have felt true “the-highlight-of-my-AFOL-life” feelings. Those moments have meant a lot to me. And also when I see other people being inspired by my builds. I get a lot of DMs from moms and dads around the world where they have built something inspired by me with their kids. That’s the good power of social media.
Dan: Thank you for taking the time to answer all these questions! It was great to get to know more about you and your process. I can’t wait to see where your imagination will take you next!
You can check more of Jannis’ LEGO creations on his Instagram.
Best of BrickNerd - Article originally published October 27, 2021.
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