The art of LEGO design : creative ways to build amazing models
(Book)

Ch 1: Inspiration & preparation. The plastic perspective (Colors ; Shapes ; Size and scale) ; Reference and research ; Your work environment ; Fighting builder's block ; Essential elements (318 bars ; Travis bricks ; Pneumatic Ts ; Finger hinges ; Flexible hoses ; Minifigure hands ; 1x1 clips ; Cheese slopes ; Pistols ; Half pins) -- Ch 2: Minifigure & company. Anatomy of a Minifigure ; Skin tones ; Strike a pose ; The extended family (FABULAND figures ; Belville figures ; Technic figures) ; A Minifigure Rogues gallery -- Ch 3: Bricks, slopes, & studs. Bricks (Plates ; SNOT ; Expansive structures ; Scattering bricks) ; Slopes (Roofing ; Rockwork) ; Studs -- Ch 4: Patterns & motifs. Introducing cheese-slopes mosaics ; Measurements and shapes ; Arranging cheese slopes (Squares ; Other shapes ; More complicated mosaics ; Eliminating gaps) ; Planning a mosaic ; Framing a mosaic (Orientation ; Shape ; Special frames) ; Mosaic or frame first? ; Other helpful hints ; Katie Walker on Mosaics -- Ch 5: Texture. Fabric elements (Building with fabric elements ; Creating texture with fabric elements ; Sculpting with fabric elements) ; Rubber elements (Building with rubber tires ; Building with rubber bands) ; Creating texture with plastic elements -- Ch 6: Dynamic sculpting. Organic models (Bows, slopes, and wedges ; Flexible elements) ; Bruce Lowell on the Lowell Sphere ; Stylized models ; Tyler Clites on Creating a style --

Ch 7: Composition. Lighting (Hiding the battery box ; Unofficial lighting solutions) ; Silhouettes ; Perspective ; Color (Basic rules ; Mixing shades ; Advanced designs)

Ch 8: Wildlife & foliage. Animals (Articulation ; Achieving realism ; Creating small animals ; Prefabricated creatures) ; Fantastical creatures ; Ken Ito on Dinosaurs and dragons ; Trees and foliage

Ch 9: Large-scale figures. Scale ; Proportion ; Articulation ; Expression ; Iain Heath on Characters

Ch 10: Cars, wagons, & watercraft. Automobiles (General advice ; Common pitfalls ; The garage) ; Adam Grabowski on Cars ; Wagons (Shaping the cabin ; Wheels and horses) ; Watercraft (Building the hull ; Final details) ; Tom Jacobs on Watercraft

Ch 11: Buildings. A texture medley ; Historical buildings ; Luke Hutchinson on Medieval buildings ; Interiors (Lighting ; Modular buildings ; Viewing from the side ; Furniture and other details) ; Michael Jasper on Furniture

Ch 12: Science fiction. Robots and mechs (Style ; Size ; Articulation) ; Brian Kescenovitz on Mechs ; Spacecraft (Small vessels) ; Peter Morris on Starfighters (Large vessels) ; Pierre E. Fieschi on Freighters ; A universe of possibilities ; Keith Goldman on Dioramas

Ch 13: Final steps. Photography ; Postediting ; Sharing your work ; Critiques

Closing thoughts.