O'Reilly Media, Inc. - Press Releases

San Francisco, CA, September 19, 2013—Some artists build with stone. Some create with canvas and paint. But a growing number are creating breathtaking works of art using an unexpected medium: plastic LEGO bricks. And the results are impressive as demonstrated in a new, full-color, coffee table book, Beautiful LEGO by Mike Doyle (No Starch Press, $29.95, 280 pp., October 2013, ISBN 9781593275082).

The book’s cover draws in readers with a stunning photo of Doyle’s city of Odan: a 6 foot tall model that took over 600 hours to build and uses over 200,000 LEGO bricks. Inside, readers will find the work of 77 artists and nearly 400 LEGO models. Creations span the full range of LEGO artistry, from the silly to the sublime, from portraiture to sculpture to architecture. There are pop culture portraits like Freddie Mercury and Monty Python, models of dissected frogs, a dilapidated Victorian house, monsters and aliens, cube shaped people, famous and fantastical buildings, and complex mosaics. According to an early review in Publishers Weekly, readers “will be mesmerized by this astonishing collection.”

“When I first discovered the kinds of LEGO artwork that people were creating, I was amazed,” said Doyle. “I had no idea that a little toy could go so far. And it keeps getting better as builders share their creations and techniques online, which inspires others and pushes them to do even more incredible things with LEGO. I hope this book inspires readers to new levels of creativity.”

Beautiful LEGO will be making its way into bookstores worldwide this October, where it will surely impress and inspire artists, builders, and pop culture fans of all ages.

About the Author

Mike Doyle is an internationally acclaimed LEGO artist known for his stunningly realistic, grand-scale designs. Contact, the majestic fantasy cityscape featured on this book’s cover, uses more than 200,000 bricks. His award-winning Abandoned House series has been showcased at Gallery1988 in LA and now has a home in Boston’s Museum of Realist Art. When not constructing unique LEGO art, Doyle works as a graphic designer. He lives with his wife and two children in New Jersey.

About No Starch Press
Founded in 1994, No Starch Press publishes the finest in geek entertainment. Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books tackle topics that people care about. No Starch Press titles have won the Grand Prize at the San Francisco Book Festival and the Independent Publisher Book Award (the “IPPY”) from Independent Publisher.

About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

O'Reilly is a registered trademark of O'Reilly Media, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.