Lego Design by Me is a service connected with the construction toy Lego

Lego

Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

. Launched in 2005 under the name Lego Factory, the service allows people to design their own Lego models using a computer program, then upload them to the Lego website, design their own box design, and order them for actual delivery. The brand also covers a small selection of products that have been designed by Lego fans, and which are available to purchase as a set.

System

Lego Design by Me was created for people to use their imagination and have fun building and experimenting with virtual Lego bricks. This is done on a program called Lego Digital Designer

Lego Digital Designer

LEGO Digital Designer, or LDD, is a free computer program produced by the LEGO Group as a part of LEGO Design byME. It is available for Mac and Windows platforms. The program allows users to build models using virtual LEGO bricks, in a computer-aided design like manner...

. Then they upload them to Design by Me on the Lego website, and have the ability to share their creations with the world in the gallery, or to purchase their models. The entire DesignByMe program is scheduled to be shut down on January 16, 2012

Pricing

When purchasing models from Lego Design By Me, the price is significantly high compared to store-bought Lego sets. It would be easy for consumers to believe that the prices are unreasonable. However, the price is divided into a few different parts. These are listed below:

• A service fee, which includes the handpicking of bricks and producing a custom made box.
• The cost of the bricks, which is based on the amount as well as the types of bricks in the model.
• Standard Shipping fees.
• The optional building guide does not produce any additional fee.

Design by Me does not accept returns, because this is considered a custom service, and they produce personally customized sets.

Lego Digital Designer

As part of the Design By Me service, Lego has produced a computer program called Lego Digital Designer

Lego Digital Designer

LEGO Digital Designer, or LDD, is a free computer program produced by the LEGO Group as a part of LEGO Design byME. It is available for Mac and Windows platforms. The program allows users to build models using virtual LEGO bricks, in a computer-aided design like manner...

, which allows people to design a virtual Lego model using a selection of virtual Lego bricks. These models can be saved locally, as well as uploaded to the Lego website for sharing and ordering as a physical product.

Discontinuation of Service

In late 2011, Lego has announced that it will discontinue its Design By ME service in its current form. From January 16, 2012, models created in Lego Digital Designer can no longer be purchased directly as Lego Design By ME sets. This does not affect the HERO Recon Team Hero Creator range of products. Lego has confirmed that it will continue Lego Digital Designer as a free design software, and it will also keep its Pick-a-Brick service operational. Lego claims that Design By ME has proven to be "too complex for children", and that despite its successs, "the overall Design by Me experience has struggled to live up to the quality standards for a LEGO service".

List of Sets

• 5524 Airport - Location: Super Airport, Hotel
• 5525 Amusement Park - Location: Pirate Ship, Car Race, Ski Slope, Robo Destroyer
• 5526 Skyline - Location: Hot Pursuit, Sears Tower, Liberty, LEGO Corp
• 10183 Hobby Train
• 10190 Market Street - Minifigs: Townspeople (3x)
• 10191 Star Justice - Minifigs: Astronauts (4x), Space Robots (x3)
• 10192 Space Skulls - Minifigs: Space Skulls (4x)
• 10200 Custom Car Garage - Minifigures: Repairman (1x), Flagman (1x), Drivers (2x)

Lego Builders

• Neal McClatchey
• Nathanaël Kuipers
• Joseph Martin
• Michael Cozine
• Philip Hedlesky
• Glenn Nissen
• Nathan Sawaya
• Joseph Zekich
• Eric Brok
• Phil Collins
• AAB
• Elric Atchison
• leon davies