Competition: make a LEGO font

Entry is now closed. View the amazing entries we received!

It's high time we ran a competition. In the last year or so the LEGO® Group have released several new tiles, and they are very cool pieces. I want you to use them to create lettering, such as this example I designed digitally. You could win 250 new LEGO tiles!

This is of course inspired by Elspeth De Montes who created this rendition of "New Elementary" for us a while back using Medium Azure quarter-circle tiles, and it seems that others were inspired too.

Making a good typeface is actually pretty difficult. To simplify matters I only need you to create the phrase LEGO DNA, which ironically is a phrase that irritates me, but it does include a good spread of letterforms. Your rendition can be uppercase, lowercase or a mix.

You can use whichever LEGO elements you like in your design, the only rule is that you must utilise at least one of the following new pieces pictured here. They are:

• 24246 - see BrickLink or Brickset
• 25269 - see BrickLink or Brickset
• 27263 - see BrickLink or Brickset
• 27925 - see BrickLink or Brickset
• 27507 - see BrickLink or Brickset

That's it for constraints. Colours don't matter, use whichever you like whether or not the pieces exist in those colours in reality. I don't even need the pieces in your design to connect in reality - this task is more about design than modelling.

Digital entries are welcome - in fact, I would recommend this, given that you will need these new pieces in bulk to create your typeface, and that it's easier to duplicate designs digitally than in plastic! There are many options for digital LEGO building but I am not certain that these all contain all of these new elements.

• Mecabricks works in your browser (i.e. no download is required), is easy to grasp and it has all these new parts - in fact here is my file with them all selected for you to get started.
• LDraw is the longest-running community for digital LEGO building, consequently some may not find installation or operation to be as user-friendly as other software. However I think they have all these new parts (can someone confirm?)
• Stud.io is the new software from BrickLink. It doesn't have all of my chosen new parts but can import LDD and LDraw format files.
• LDD (LEGO Digital Designer) is the official software from the LEGO Group but it is no longer updated.

What am I looking for when judging? Beyond "things that look great", I'm not sure, it could be any number of things, so do what inspires you and maybe surprise me. I will certainly appreciate typefaces that are pleasing, well-proportioned letterforms that could actually work as a real typeface. But then something like graffiti-style writing would also be really cool. Something that embraces the... um, for want of a better phrase... "LEGO DNA" aspect to this task might also score points.

Competition details

There will be three 1st prizes in this competition (and no other prizes). The three winners will each receive a package consisting of 50 of each of these new tiles meaning there will be 250 LEGO elements per winner, courtesy of the kind support of the LEGO Group. A magnificent prize I'm sure you'll agree!

Entries close at the end of 31 May 2017 (in your local timezone).

To enter, use the form below to send your image of the phrase "LEGO DNA", written using LEGO elements including some or all of the five tiles listed above. (You can send up to four images of your typeface if you wish but it is not necessary. You're welcome to create a complete alphabet but that will not impact on the judging.)

Entries will be published on the blog. Winners will be contacted by email on 7 June to request address details. If no response has been received by 14 June, another winner will be selected.

Entry form

The competition is now closed. View the amazing entries we received!

READ MORE: See what else Elspeth created with the Medium Azure quarter tiles

	Donate an amount of your choosing to help keep New Elementary publishing great articles about LEGO pieces. Why am I asking for money? Read more here.
	BrickLink, the world's biggest LEGO marketplace has all the parts and sets you need. Please follow any link from New Elementary to BrickLink before you buy!

Amazon USA: Amazon.com Canada: Amazon.ca UK: Amazon.co.uk Deutschland: Amazon.de

---

Prizes mentioned in this post are kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group.