Secrets of the Toa Mahri!
| Secrets of the Toa Mahri! | |
| |
| Magazine Article | |
| Issue | July-August 2007 |
Secrets of the Toa Mahri! was an article in the July-August edition of the LEGO Magazine. The article featured an interview with design manager and BIONICLE team member Christoffer Raundahl about the Toa Mahri sets.
Contents
BIONICLE heroes go underwater in 2007, with the new Toa Mahri! But how were these exciting sets designed? Where do the designers get their ideas and how do they bring them to life? We asked Design Manager and long-time BIONICLE team member Christoffer Raundahl to share some secrets of set design!
Q: The Toa Mahri look very different from other Toa you have designed, and they're obviously ready for underwater action. What were some of the challenges you faced designing these sets?
CR: The biggest challenge was to make the Toa live underwater and to make a design that wouldn't be too close to real diver's equipment, but still be believable and BIONICLE.
Q: Can you tell us something about how sets are designed? What different steps do you go through?
CR: We start by making a physical mock-up of the characters. Then we test the figures. We get groups of kids we show to models to, and then we use their feedback to make the models better or terminate them if they aren't good enough. After that, we start designing the different elements and models for production.
Q: How much does the BIONICLE story affect your designs for sets?
CR: We have a story team we work together with at the same time we are designing the products. This way, we can take inspiration from the sets and use that in the story, and take inspiration from the story and use it in the sets.
Q: How did you make the Toa Mahri look different from each other?
CR: We tried to add different details to each of them, like Jaller has a "pet", Kongu has two Cordak blasters, others have lots of blades, etc.
Q: Is it hard coming up with ideas for new BIONICLE sets every year?
CR: We always think so, but as soon as we get started there are always lots of ideas. And everyone on the team loves that part of the process.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
CR: When I see the kids react to the BIONICLE sets - it's very rewarding to see all the hard work we put into the sets is appreciated.
Q: Last question - who are your favorite Toa Mahri?
CR: Toa Mahri Kongu or Toa Mahri Hewkii!
External Links
- Secrets of the Toa Mahri! LEGO Magazine July-August 2007 (archived on www.biomediaproject.com)
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