Jens Nygaard Knudsen (25 January 1942 – 19 February 2020) was a Danish toy designer. He was a longtime chief designer at

Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

, best known as the inventor of the iconic yellow

Lego minifigure A Lego minifigure, often simply referred to as a Lego figure or a minifig, is a small plastic Joint, articulated figurine made of special Lego bricks produced by Denmark, Danish building toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced ...

(also known as "minifigs"). He is credited as one of the Lego people who made the biggest impact.

Biography

Knudsen applied for a job at Lego in Billund in 1968. Initially, he built hundreds of Lego model cars, some of which were later sold as commercial sets. During the 1970s, Lego underwent significant expansion and introduced various themed sets many of which designed by Knudsen, including themes of the early

Legoland Legoland (, trademarked in uppercase as LEGOLAND) is a chain of family amusement parks focusing on the Lego building toy brand. They are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainments, which shares a common owner ...

and sets like

Lego Castle The Lego Castle theme is a segment of the broader Lego product line that encapsulates a Middle Ages, medieval world concept, prominently featuring Knight, knights and Castle, castles. Launched initially in Europe in 1979 and later introduced to ...

and

Lego Space Lego Space is a science fiction-oriented Lego theme which focuses on astronauts, space colonization, spaceships, and extraterrestrial life. Introduced in 1978, along with Castle and Lego City, Town with each theme representing the past (Castle ...

. As Lego's design team grew and was split into specialized subgroups, Knudsen objected, preferring to design independently. It was during this period that he began developing the Lego minifigure with movable arms and legs, which was patented in 1978. In 1979, a space-themed set featuring the new figures was named "European Toy of the Year" at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair. The minifigures became a major commercial success. By 2020, more than eight billion had been produced. Due to their popularity, Lego hired an additional 500 employees, and Knudsen was promoted to chief designer. He retired in 2000 but continued working with Lego figures, sometimes as a freelancer, mostly for personal enjoyment. Knudsen was married and had three children. He died on 19 February 2020 at the in Hvide Sande at the age of 78 from the nerve cell disease

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Jens Nygaard Lego people Toy designers Danish designers 1942 births 2020 deaths People from Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality

Biography

Further reading

References