A re-introduction to the Community,

[WesternOutlaw]

Hey BM - I just stumbled upon this message. Welcome back, and it's great to see you pursing your true interest. I always knew you had real talent. I was just thinking about you the other day, wondering how you were doing. Sounds like you're doing well, so that's great to hear.

Have a wonderful holiday season and it's great to have you back on the forums. I haven't done any WW in a long time.

[Brick Miner]

Even if your new mocs are not as well presented as your Wild West are, I’m very curious to see what you come with during all this time…

Hi Alex, its great to be in contact with you again! And yes, those mock-up box designs take a long time to create. I was lucky to even get photos taken of my LEGO City, as well as, the piece counts done, and the Ldraw images rendered. With planing a move overseas and my job with LEGO, creating fully rendered box art for my MOCs was not possible.

I hope I have not ruined my reputation for great graphical presentations. And I hope I did not let you down!

Have a wonderful holiday season and it's great to have you back on the forums.

It's great to have your blessings Brickster! I am enjoying your reviews of the Pharaoh's Quest sets very much!

- BrickMiner

[Rick]

I hope I have not ruined my reputation for great graphical presentations.

I really enjoyed your Western series, but the graphical presentation of this is nearly as good, if not as good. I really like the completely new town style you've created for LEGOpolis.

[spaced_out]

I really enjoyed your Western series, but the graphical presentation of this is nearly as good, if not as good. I really like the completely new town style you've created for LEGOpolis.

I compleately agree.

MATT

PS: and a merry post November 2010-2011 season to you sir!

[Cinderbike]

I hope I'm not hijacking the thread or rehashing an old subject, but where were you before as a designer for TLG before this current workshop/new position? Also, any tips/suggestions for someone else who is looking at getting a similar position?

EDIT: A PM is fine if you'd rather not discuss this publicly. Thanks!

Edited December 2, 2010 by Cinderbike

[Brick Miner]

...where were you before as a designer for TLG before this current workshop/new position? Also, any tips/suggestions for someone else who is looking at getting a similar position?

Hello, Cinderbike.

My background is in hand illustration first, and Adobe software (Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign) second. For the past few years I had been promoting myself as a comic book illustrator. The importance of free hand drawing was stressed at the recruitment workshop in Billund. Because of my experience, I believe I was chosen for the position.

You can see some of my comic book work in the first portion of my portfolio: http://justinbleep.com/dropbox/LEGO_app/justin_carmien_PORTFOLIO_01.pdf

My advice comes in the form of a recommendation only, which would be a highly developed illustration ability and style - as well as persistence. I applied 3 or 4 times (over a 2 year period) before being asked to attend a recruitment workshop.

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As well, I promised all of EB that I would share the homework which I produced for the recruitment workshop. However, since I interpreted the assignments as a conceptual presentation, first I feel a little explanation is required.

For each of the three homework assignments, I choose to interpret one of my comic books projects into the LEGO medium. The comic book series Brick City Bunch was my first realized comic book publication with national distribution within the United States. This series was a personal project in which I hired and managed the entire creative team, while I produced the illustrations and branding imagery.

My creative name is Justin Bleep (a signature name acquired first from the "bleepy" sounds of techno music which I had played as a DJ, until 2003.) Since the aim of the comic book Brick City Bunch was to combined my two interests at the time (comic books and electronic music) I saw it fit that I appeared in the series. So, I had the writers work into the story a personal avatar for me, and his name was "Eddy Boom."

I say all of this because when I received information that the very first homework assignment for the recruitment workshop was to create yourself as a minifigure, I thought it an obvious choice to interpret the archetypal Eddy Boom (an electronic music DJ) as my minifigure.

From there on, during my presentation for LEGO I had to explain that the "Brick" in Brick City Bunch was not inspired from LEGO Bricks, but was instead inspired by the actual "brick and mortar" building material. The Brick City Bunch was a tribute to the inner cities of the American Midwest, where creative individuals have turned a negative dilapidation into a positive identification (as seen in Hip Hope and US Rave culture).

Finally, here is my work on the three assignments which won me the job at LEGO:

Here is the original page from the Brick City Bunch comic book which was used in the second assignment (I reinterpreted the characters and story into the LEGO medium.)

- BrickMiner

[drdavewatford]

Love it, Justin - really excellent work !

I really do hope that you can contribute periodically to EB once you start work in Billund - you will in essence be 'living the dream' of many LEGO fanatics, and while most of us will never get to make a living from our LEGO passion, we can perhaps at least get a flavour of the experience from you.

Best of luck with the new job, and I'm hugely looking forward to seeing some of your designs come to life and appearing at retail !

Dr. D.

[Big Cam]

That's some really nice work Brickminer, you have quite a talent, and being put to good use at LEGO.

Don't be a stranger!

[RoryoCox]

You are very good at graphics. I would think that those comics are good enough to be published. I wish you luck in the future at your job and hope you get some nice projects.

[Piranha]

Hey Welcome back BrickMiner!( I missed this topic for some reason. but better late than never ) I lost the link for my avatar you did for me, if you remember

It is nice to see you got hired at TLG!