Building blocks structure a career of ingenuity

Lego product designer from China brings creativity to world-renowned toy company, Wang Zhuoqiong reports.

Wen Xiaodong is the only product designer from the Chinese mainland on the 500-strong creative team at the headquarters of the Lego Group, the world renowned toy maker, in Billund, Denmark.

Being part of such an illustrious team would be an accomplishment for any young artist, but Wen stands out for being one of the senior designers behind the beloved Lego Monkie Kid collection, and the four animation series of the same name.

It is the first Lego series inspired by Chinese legends and has proved to be a hit. The Monkie Kid has been turned into more than 70 products so far, and is one of the best-sellers on the Chinese market.

Along with the Monkie Kid, traditional Chinese festival themed toys, which Wen has also had a hand in designing, have also proved popular on the international market.

It was Wen's natural creativity that brought him to the innovative company. He has no professional qualifications in drawing or painting, and graduated with a major in English translation from Xi'an International Studies University in 2010 before working in a gaming company in Beijing as a graphic designer for a year.

In 2012, he was recruited by the Lego Group and was sent to Denmark in 2016. At the headquarters, he met the design team, which is composed of people with different expertise and of various backgrounds and nationalities. Some were architects, engineers, painters and even circus performers.

The fact that Wen speaks fluent English and works with a multicultural perspective has helped him get along with his international peers.

His British partner, Justin Ramsden, speaks of their collaboration with praise and laughter. "We haven't had a fight in eight years," says Ramsden, who is a senior designer, the implication that the pair having been working hard and continuously is implicit.

The candid and soft-spoken Wen has a sense of pride in his job, and in bringing one of the most renowned Chinese fictional characters to life. There are so many Western superhero Lego products, he says. The Monkie Kid, released in 2020, is about a Chinese superhero and is based on the Journey to the West.

The lead character of the series, MK, is a teenager on the mission to save the world with his friends.

The shared values and cultural relevance linking the 500-year-old legend and the brand have inspired their designs.

"Both are child-friendly. Both are valued across generations," he says. "Much like how families in the West talk about Star Wars or grow up playing with building bricks, Monkie Kid is a great excuse for Chinese families to talk about the Chinese superheroes they are all familiar with. The tale about facing life's challenges and obstacles with courage and resilience never gets old," Wen says.