This is my competition entry for an official LEGO Ideas summer 2024 building challenge for the category of “The Secret Life Of”. This was a quick weekend project that I scrambled to complete a mere day before the contest deadline, since I was on vacation throughout most of August.

In this unique portrait I’ve depicted a giant LEGO minifigure head with its cranium opening up to reveal a spaceship emerging. Atop the platform is the word IDEAS being accompanied by a group of multicolor brick-head minifigures.

The overall background pattern of blue with abstract shapes was directly inspired by the 1990 LEGO publication “Idea Book”, whose cover artwork contained a blue background of geometric multicolored shapes. In my original version of this model, my shapes mimicked the exact colors of the Idea Book (yellow, black, green, and red) but unfortunately clashed with the giant minifigure head and its spaceship. Hence I retooled them to be various shades of blue to be more subdued. This was a last minute change that I scrambled to complete at the final moment before the entry deadline.

The spaceship emerging from the head was a last-minute idea. Originally I wanted the brick-head minifigures emerging from the head and forming a human chain to reach the word “IDEAS” on the roof. I couldn’t successfully place the little figures climbing out and stacking up, so instead they’re placed across the top whilst the spaceship emerges.

Also, the engineering method of the emerging spaceship was rather difficult as well. The transparent bar is held within Technic pins at an angle, which are connected internally with a series of modified LEGO plates for reinforcement. This allows the spaceship to securely dangle in place without toppling over.

Fun fact: the specific design inspiration for the splitting head concept was directly inspired by the box art for the board game Scattergories.