Sam Johnson lands dream job at LEGO
Sam Johnson, a product design graduate who now works at LEGO headquarters, Denmark
My job does involve a lot of LEGO building, which is great. I have also found the skills that I learned at the University of Derby have been useful in aiding me with the design process.
”Sam Johnson
Sam Johnson, who has recently completed the BA (Hons) Product Design course in the summer of 2010 has been offered his dream job as a Junior Designer at LEGO Headquaters in Billund, Denmark. As a LEGO enthusiast since childhood, Sam has completed a lifelong ambition.
The 23-year-old Derby graduate said, "I have had LEGO for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I used to build vehicles such as cars and trucks as well as buildings to go with them."
"I was quite young when I told my parents that I wanted to be a toy designer for LEGO. I even sent a letter to the company asking how I could become a LEGO designer and got a letter back with a list of qualifications I would need."
Sam displayed his final year work at the New Designers exhibition, London which was noticed and highly praised by a senior LEGO employee. Other LEGO company delegates were equally impressed by his product design portfolio that Sam was invited for an interview.
The interview took two days and involved workshops in LEGO design, drawing and building which are used to test the candidate's skills and imagination. Sam was also interviewed by two of LEGO's Creative Directors before being offered the position of Junior Designer at the company's headquarters in Denmark.
Sam is currently working in the department designing future models for LEGO's City Range. In a year, Sam will be a fully fledged designer.
On discussing his new job, Sam said, " It's perfect for me. I always enjoyed building my own town designs when I was younger and now I'm getting to design the next ranges, for a new generation of children."
Sam has found the skills he learned during his time studying for his product design degree to be highly useful in the design process of his new job.
Karl Hurn, the programme leader for both the BA (Hons) Product Design and BSc (Hons) Product Design course said, "I'm so pleased for Sam, as he has always had a passion to work for LEGO. It is great to see our graduates achieving their goals with the help of the knowledge gained studying here at Derby."
