Since the "Automatic Binding Bricks" that LEGO produced in 1949, and the LEGO "System of Play" that began with the release of Town Plan No. 1 (1955), LEGO bricks have gone on to become a global phenomenon, and the favorite building toy of children, as well as many an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO). LEGO has also become a medium into which a wide number of media franchises, including Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman, Superman, Lord of the Rings, and others, have adapted their characters, vehicles, props, and settings. The LEGO Group itself has become a multimedia empire, including LEGO books, movies, television shows, video games, board games, comic books, theme parks, magazines, and even MMORPGs. LEGO Studies: Examining the Building Blocks of a Transmedial Phenomenon is the first collection to examine LEGO as both a medium into which other franchises can be adapted and a transmedial franchise of its own. Although each essay looks at a particular aspect of the LEGO phenomenon, topics such as adaptation, representation, paratexts, franchises, and interactivity intersect throughout these essays, proposing that the study of LEGO as a medium and a media empire is a rich vein barely touched upon in Media Studies.

This book investigates a paradox of creative yet scripted play—how LEGO invites players to build ‘freely’ with and within its highly structured, ideologically-laden toy system. First, this book considers theories and methods for deconstructing LEGO as a medium of bricolage, the creative reassembly of already-significant elements. Then, it pieces together readings of numerous LEGO sets, advertisements, videogames, films, and other media that show how LEGO constructs five ideologies of play: construction play, dramatic play, digital play, transmedia play, and attachment play. From suburban traffic patterns to architectural croissants, from feminized mini-doll bodies to toys-to-life stories, from virtual construction to playful fan creations, this book explores how the LEGO medium conveys ideological messages—not by transmitting clear statements but by providing implicit instructions for how to reassemble meanings it had all along.

LEGOfied: Building Blocks as Media provides a multi-faceted exploration of LEGO fandom, addressing a blindspot in current accounts of LEGO and an emerging area of interest to media scholars: namely, the role of hobbyist enthusiasts and content producers in LEGO's emergence as a ubiquitous transmedia franchise. This book examines a range of LEGO hobbyism and their attendant forms of mediated self-expression and identity (their “technicities”): artists, aspiring Master Builders, collectors, and entrepreneurs who refashion LEGO bricks into new commodities (sets, tchotchkes, and minifigures). The practices and perspectives that constitute this diverse scene lie at the intersection of multiple transformations in contemporary culture, including the shifting relationships between culture industries and the audiences that form their most ardent consumer base, but also the emerging forms of entrepreneurialism, professionalization, and globalization that characterize the burgeoning DIY movement. What makes this a compelling project for media scholars is its mutli-dimensional articulation of how LEGO functions not just as a toy, cultural icon, or as transmedia franchise, but as a media platform. LEGOfied is centered around their shared experiences, qualitative observations, and semi-structured interviews at a number of LEGO hobbyist conventions. Working outwards from these conventions, each chapter engages additional modes of inquiry-media archaeology, aesthetics, posthumanist philosophy, feminist media studies, and science and technology studies-to explore the origins, permutations and implications of different aspects of the contemporary LEGO fandom scene.

How profound is a little plastic building block? It turns out the answer is “very”! 22 chapters explore philosophy through the world of LEGO which encompasses the iconic brick itself as well as the animated televisions shows, feature films, a vibrant adult fan base with over a dozen yearly conventions, an educational robotics program, an award winning series of videogames, hundreds of books, magazines, and comics, a team-building workshop program for businesses and much, much more. Dives into the many philosophical ideas raised by LEGO bricks and the global multimedia phenomenon they have created Tackles metaphysical, logical, moral, and conceptual issues in a series of fascinating and stimulating essays Introduces key areas of philosophy through topics such as creativity and play, conformity and autonomy, consumption and culture, authenticity and identity, architecture, mathematics, intellectual property, business and environmental ethics Written by a global group of esteemed philosophers and LEGO fans A lively philosophical discussion of bricks, minifigures, and the LEGO world that will appeal to LEGO fans and armchair philosophers alike

The Routledge Companion to Marketing and Society focuses on marketing for social impact as the use of marketing strategies, tools and techniques to improve the well-being of society. As such it does not exclude the use of marketing to increase profit and shareholder value but rather prioritises the social impact of marketing, both positive and negative (even if largely unintended). This companion is a scholarly reference providing an overview of marketing for social impact in terms of its current and emergent themes, debates and developments, as well as reflections on the future of the field. Using marketing tools and techniques for social impact is commonly accepted as an effective commercial strategy (e.g. corporate social responsibility, cause-related marketing) and increasingly accepted as an approach to planned social transformation that can be used to influence positive social change in behaviours such as recycling, healthy eating, domestic violence and human trafficking. This reference volume serves as an authoritative and comprehensive statement on the state of contemporary scholarship focusing on the diverse subject of the social impact of marketing. It features 25 chapters written by international subject specialists within six themed sections, including consumer issues, marketing tools, commercial marketing and non-profit marketing. It will find a global audience of scholars and researchers within marketing and cognate fields, interested in using marketing tools and techniques to create social impact in areas such as public health, social and behaviour change communication, sociology and cultural studies.

The chapters in this volume are selected from the best papers presented at the 10th Annual Consumer Culture Theory Conference held at the University of Arkansas, USA in June 2015. They represent the cutting edge in qualitative consumer research.

Product longevity is one of the cornerstones in the transition towards a more sustainable society and a key driver for the circular economy model. This book provides designers, developers, and creators with five distinctive expert strategies, detailed case studies, action guides and worksheets that support both beginning and advanced design practitioners in creating new product concepts with long-lasting strategic fits. Designing for Longevity shows how expert design teams create original and long-lasting product concepts from the early development phase. It focuses on integrating business knowledge, market conditions, company capabilities, technical possibilities and user needs into product concepts to make better strategic decisions. It demonstrates how, for products to be durable, designers must create a long-lasting strategic fit for the customer, company, and market. Key case studies of products such as Bang & Olufsen’s A9, LEGO Ninjago and Friends and Coloplasts’ Sensura Mio, among others, offer readers inspiration, guidance and real-world insights from design teams showing how the strategies can be applied in practice. Action guidelines and worksheets encourage broad, analytical problem-solving to identify and think through challenges at the early concept stage. Beautifully designed and illustrated in full colour throughout, this book combines original research and the hands-on tools and strategies that design practitioners need to create useful, sustainable products.

This book offers rich critical perspectives on the marketing of a variety of toys, brands, and product categories. Topics include marketing undertaken by specific children’s toy brands such as American Girl, Barbie, Disney, GoldieBlox, Fisher-Price, and LEGO, and marketing trends characterizing broader toy categories such as on-trend grotesque toys; toy firearms; minimalist toys; toyetics; toys meant to offer diverse representation; STEM toys; and unboxing videos. Toy marketing warrants a sustained scholarly critique because of toys’ cultural significance and their roles in children’s lives, as well as the industry’s economic importance. Discourses surrounding toys—including who certain toys are meant for and what various toys and brands can signify about their owners’ identities—have implications for our understandings of adults’ expectations of children and of broader societal norms into which children are being socialized.

From building blocks to city blocks, an eye-opening exploration of how children's playthings and physical surroundings affect their development. Parents obsess over their children's playdates, kindergarten curriculum, and every bump and bruise, but the toys, classrooms, playgrounds, and neighborhoods little ones engage with are just as important. These objects and spaces encode decades, even centuries of changing ideas about what makes for good child-rearing--and what does not. Do you choose wooden toys, or plastic, or, increasingly, digital? What do youngsters lose when seesaws are deemed too dangerous and slides are designed primarily for safety? How can the built environment help children cultivate self-reliance? In these debates, parents, educators, and kids themselves are often caught in the middle. Now, prominent design critic Alexandra Lange reveals the surprising histories behind the human-made elements of our children's pint-size landscape. Her fascinating investigation shows how the seemingly innocuous universe of stuff affects kids' behavior, values, and health, often in subtle ways. And she reveals how years of decisions by toymakers, architects, and urban planners have helped--and hindered--American youngsters' journeys toward independence. Seen through Lange's eyes, everything from the sandbox to the street becomes vibrant with buried meaning. The Design of Childhood will change the way you view your children's world--and your own.

How can parents motivate their children to study hard, without becoming “tiger parents”? How can students prepare well for exams? How can bullying be minimized? Why doesn’t multitasking work? What are the ways to manage plagiarism, cheating, and other shortcuts to learning? Bestselling author Queena N. Lee-Chua addresses these questions and other topics chosen from her popular column “Eureka!” in the Learning section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Part of Anvil’s Learning series, this volume includes more than thirty learning issues for parents, students, and teachers.