Interview with Brian Lawrence: Amazing Toy Designer!

I recently interviewed Brian Lawrence, he has an amazing laser design here on CNCKing.com which you can buy right now (Collaboration / Laser / Lawrence) and he’s got a tremendous amount of experience in the design field with his studio http://redliondesignstudio.com.

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How did you get into the design industry and what has fueled your creative passions within it?

Star Wars was very inspirational to me seeing the creative vision that George Lucas created, moved me into wanting to draw and build models of my own design. I was also interested in how things work, and would take things apart and try to put them back together again. I began to gain interest in art however I didn’t feel that art by itself was going to keep me interested because it didn’t focus on the mechanical or assembly part of my mind. Then I discovered looking for colleges Industrial Design and a technical drawing of a space ship caught my interest. I then attended Columbus College of Art and Design after graduation high school.

What are some notable projects and/or clients whom you’ve designed projects for?

After graduating College with a degree in Industrial Design. I got hired at Kenner / Hasbro and began working on Batman 3 Batwing toy. Then my wildest dreams came true and I began to work on Star Wars as they were attempting a relaunch during the 1994 time period. Also while working with Hasbro I worked on Jurassic Park, Nascar Racers, Transformers, and several others.

What was the most challenging project you’ve undertaken so far that you can openly discuss and how did those challenges make you a better designer?

Designing and doing all of the art associated with my Children’s book was the most challenging, as I have never writing or illustrated a book before. Designing the characters associated with the book took several months doing research and coming up with a layout that was visually captivating exhausted most of the skill I have learned. I also designed an aircraft that appears in the book in which I built 3 separate models to promote the book at book fairs. An earlier smaller model appears in the book while I created a larger display model Made out of printed cardstock to bring people over to my area. I was forced out of my comfort zone to complete this project that I was lead by God to accomplish. Design all of the elements that appeared in the book and promotional materials opened my understanding in how broad the design world is.

What are the tools you use most often to develop your designs?

Pen and paper sketching, and Adobe Illustrator are my friends when it comes to execution. Illustrator is great for drafting’s, color renderings, and minimal 3D. I also use PhotoShop and Sketchbook to realize some ideas, however Illustrator is what I use most, even in the creation of paper models.

What CNC platforms do you enjoy using the most for your design output and why?

I love the laser cuter for it’s simplicity of use and precision of the cuts it can provide in both acrylic and plywood. CNC routing is good for lager projects and some things I’m currently working on involving furniture.

What aspects of being a freelance designer do you enjoy the most)?

Working with many different clients at the same time and being challenged to come up with innovated solutions. In working with toy companies and also helping to design logo’s and graphics for clients I have grown into understanding many areas of the design industry. Meeting new people is always fun as well.

What advice would you have for anybody thinking of getting into the design industry as you have?

If you have a passion for design find out what works for you and stick to the things that you are interested in. I Love futuristic concepts and movies that lead me to design products form toys to furniture and also some characters. I find your interests drive you forward allowing you to challenge yourself to reach you goals. I find myself constantly learning and growing as I criticize my own work to see where I can improve it. Having an mind to always learn is critical. For example, I saw CNCKing.com’s website and was intrigued by the design I saw in there, and wondered if I could design similar things. And so I tried with no experience in laser cutting finding it a rewarding experience which lead to one of my first designs that appears on this website.

This is the 3D animation I made of Brian’s AirShark – fantastic design! I really wished I had half his talent!

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If you want to find-out more about Brian, you can visit his studio website at http://redliondesignstudio.com and I want to thank him for his time to answer my interview questions – he’s incredibly talented and it’s all the more surprising he does all this within Illustrator!