LEGO Mosaics from Bright Bricks
Posted by Huw,_jpg.jpg)
If you've ever wanted to make a LEGO mosaic from a photograph you've probably found that sourcing the bricks, particularly 1x1s in esoteric colours, often makes them prohibitively expensive.
To help with this problem Bright Bricks has launched a mosaic service on its online shop. Here's how it works:
- Specify the size you want, from 48x48 to 128x128 studs and whether you want it monochrome or colour
- Upload a photograph and place your order
- A digital proof of your image will be sent to you by email in a day or so to confirm it looks OK. Once you're happy with it...
- Sit back, relax and await the arrival of the baseplates, 1x1 bricks and instructions.
So, what about the price? Pretty reasonable, actually...
Two options are available:
If you opt for an unframed mosaic they cost £99 for 48x48, £149 for 64x64 and £299 for 96x96. That may sound a lot for the largest size but you're getting 4 baseplates and 92161x1 bricks, which works out at less than 3p a brick.
The price is the same whether it's monochrome or colour.
You can also have it supplied with a frame, in a choice of five colours, mounted on wood to make hanging it on the wall more practical. Framed mosaics are available in a wider range of sizes right up to a whopping 128x128 studs, which is about 1m square. That's 16384 1x1s!
The frame adds £50 to the price of a 48x48 and £200 to the 96x96. The largest, 128x128, costs £750, still only about 4.5p a brick.
So, not only is this a cost effective way of making mosaics, it also takes all the hassle out of sourcing the bricks.
Head on over to the Bright Bricks website to find out more and to place your order for a unframed or framed mosaic. Check out the range of glued models while you're there.
Postage and packaging is free in the UK with supplements for Europe and North American delivery.
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18 comments on this article
Very cute doge
I had not realized that it was a mosaic made out of bricks instead of plates. The price is quite fair indeed...
I keep looking at doing this.. perfect.
I'll have to at least make a test to see the quality of the image reproduction. The price per piece is interesting but let me be honest - that framing price is a theft (unless the frame is made of gold). I can get a 128x128 Mosaic framed for like 60£. Also I have my doubts a Mosaic like that is going to survive the trip if its shipped as a one piece thing.
I know I build it. But still the frame comes as a one piece thing and I have my sincere doubts it can survive a trip with the crappy handling the post companies usually do.
A 2-wide coloured brick border like that dog mosaic appears to have would be a neat and more cost-effective option for framing.
Lego themselves offered this service many years ago.
Neat!
I really like the idea of it and I imagine that they turn out brilliant but I just can’t get past the idea of submitting an image and entering my card details and payment information before actually being able to see the final product.
I know there would be no commitment to pay but I just can’t bring myself to do it.
@CCC diabolical! you're the reason we can't have nice things ;)
This is actually a pretty decent price for the service. 3p/brick is pretty pricey for a pile of 1x1's, but adding the service aspect to it makes it worth it. I'm betting this scales really well as a business. I'm assuming it's all automated. Good on them for making this viable.
How do you get to 8219? 96x96=9216
I guess there is a border around the mosaic part but 8219 is not a square number so the border must be an uneven width?
Interesting idea, good luck to them.
Has anyone looked at the pros and cons of using 1x1 versus 1xmany or even 2xmany?
I would have thought using larger bricks where possible would help keep price down. Or would that just make it harder in terms of inventory/logistics?
^^ More like a typo than any complicated equation :)
Can I order a whole mosaic made of sand green pieces? xD
That would cost me less than on bricklink lol.
What would be the weight of the resulting mosaic? Might be awkward to hang on the wall...
Atbricks - I started doing my Mosaics with 1x1 plates only. After a few I decided I was wasting a lot of money and did some with bigger pieces. The savings are around 60%. Problem is I have to do the division of the instructions according to those pieces by eye and it's a nightmare, not to mention it's much more complicated to buy the parts. If they want to do an automated and speedy thing, then this is the best way.
Maffyd - My Mosaics are done with plates, with a very strong wood base to put the baseplates on plus wood frame and I'd say they get close to like 5kg. I assume the weight of bricks is bigger than the weight of plates so it should be more. But I don't think they use such a strong base like I do so that's less. But taking a guess I'd say 3-4kg easily (for a 128x128)
I'm even less impressed than that dog.
mosaic in lego form, cool!