Special Interview with Djordje Dobrosavljevic a.k.a. Djokson

This week we continue our series of Special Interviews with another very talented guest of honor is Djordje Dobrosavljevic a.k.a. Djokson. He is known for his colorful and amazingly shaped character figures, robots and creatures of various kinds. Photos from the work of our guest will be presented between the questions but you should check the builders Flickr photo-stream for tons of amazing creations.

Kaplan: We already know you are one of the best LEGO MOC'ers in the world. What can you tell us about yourself other than that?

Djordje: Thank you, I’m very flattered! My name is Djordje Dobrosavljevic, I’m 25 and I work as a translator. My main hobby is Lego but I’ve also got an interest in music and animation. Djokson is just a nickname I picked up over the years and it kind of stuck, so I ended up using it as an online handle too.

K:  Do you remember the day when you got your first LEGO set? Which set was it? And How old were you when you started playing with LEGO bricks?

D:  My first Lego set was 8534 Tahu from the original Bionicle line, I got it on release in 2001. I was seven back then.

K:  What is your best/unforgettable memory involving LEGO?

D: I’ve had plenty of amazing experiences owing to the hobby over the years but I think having my builds featured in the Masterpiece gallery at the Lego House probably takes the cake!

K: If you have to choose, what is your all-time favorite LEGO set?

D: That’s a tough one. I think I’m going to have to say 8563Tahnok, the Bohrok were an amazing set of figures.

K: What is/are your favorite LEGO theme/s?

D: Bionicle is obviously one of them, I’ve talked your ear off about it already, haha. I’m also partial to the discontinued Mixels and Clikits lines, both are very weird and quirky in their own ways but I think that’s why I enjoyed them. Hero Factory is up there too.

K: Did you have a "dark-age"? If you had one when did you return from your dark age and how?

D: I did have a few years where I wasn’t really interested in Lego but I did come back to it around 2012 with the introduction of the new CCBS figures in Hero Factory, the new building system was very interesting and seemed full of potential.

K: How many LEGO bricks/sets do you own approximately?

D: Too many.

K: Alright :) Your all creations are amazing but we would like to now what are your favorite top three of your MOCs?

D: - Another tough one. I think I’d have to go with Debumoto, the Chulkaa Spinebeast and Clarissa.

K: Do you scrap your MOC's after taking photos or displaying or do you keep them? How do you decide which ones you keep?

D: I try to keep as many of my builds together for as long as possible, but I’ll often scrap them too when I need the parts.

K: What do you think about custom or third party pieces in MOC's?

D: Completely fine with them, I think they can add a fun flair or nice finishing touch to builds. I’m no stranger to using custom stickers and 3rd party pieces myself.

K: You are especially great at building brick-built figures/robots. Can you give tips about building techniques?

D: Thank you! A thing I’ve noticed really helps with building characters is to start with the head, it helps with establishing both the scale and personality of the whole build.

K: We especially like the facial and body expressions of creations . How do you catch the posing and shaping for your figure MOC’s? Do you scatch drawings prior building the actual MOC or do you start building an decide shaping and posing afterwards?

D:  Depends on the build and what sparks the inspiration for it really. Sometimes I’ll make a little thumbnail sketch just to get the general idea down and sometimes I’ll let the parts themselves dictate the shape of the final product.

K: You have built many great LEGO Bionicle/Hero Factory based MOC’s. Dispite it is a discontinued line there are many great MOC’s built in the community in recent years. Why do you think it is still a popular theme to build for?

D: I think the main appeal of Bionicle and CCBS is how unlike most of the other stuff that Lego makes it is. It allows for achieving some very cool and unique “un-Lego” aesthetics.

K: One of your latest MOC’s: “The Seven: Shichirōji” is really amazing. The facial details of the figure is really outstanding. What can you tell us about that creation?

D: Shichirōji was part of collaboration with 5 other fantastic builders, inspired by The Seven Samurai. The face on it was based on a Kabuki mask, I’m glad to hear you like it! I’m not sure about the part count but it took me a few hours over the course of a couple of evenings to complete.

K: Do you have any suggestions for the new MOC'ers?

D: My advice would be to make the things that _you_ want to see, let limitations work for you and fuel your creativity instead of struggling against them, and lastly, having friends who can offer you feedback on your build while it’s still in progress is absolutely invaluable.

K: Are you currently working on some MOC's or other LEGO related projects?

D: Nothing currently, but I might or might not still have a couple of yet to be posted builds in the backlog...

K: Do you member of a local LUG? Do you participate in collaborative builds?

D: I’m a member of the newly formed EPLUG with a bunch of my friends, we had our first show in Hungary last year and it was a blast! I love taking part in collabs and have participated in many over the years.

K: Our classic last question. Tiles or studs?

D: The vast majority of the parts I like to use don’t even have studs so I think the answer is kind of obvious, haha.

K: Thank you very much for being a Guest of Honor and participating in this interview!

D: Thanks for having me, It’s been a pleasure!