LEGO x Pharrell Williams: Pinball Experience

The background

To celebrate their exclusive collaboration with Pharrell Williams, LEGO wanted to host an event that explored the star’s creative influences and inspired audiences to discover their own creativity. We came on board to create a connected experience that extended the design concept of the LEGO x Pharrell kit out into digital, product design and experiential avenues, appealing to guests’ playfulness, imagination and curiosity. 

The execution

Inspired by Pharrell’s Over The Moon kit, we designed and built a space-themed pinball machine to serve as a jaw-dropping centrepiece for the event. Taking 1,500 hours to make and over 25,000 LEGO bricks, the fully functional retro arcade game was a super fun way to draw in the crowds and allow them to embrace their creativity.

Accessing a web tool via WeChat, guests could customise their own digital LEGO minifigures and upload them to the pinball machine by scanning a QR code, enabling them to customise their experience. Next, they could step up and attempt to hit the top pinball score, navigating spinners, ramps and other obstacles along the way.

Narrated by Pharrell himself, the arcade game featured four different zones, each representing the singer & producer’s key influences – music, fashion, street culture and cosmic inspiration. Each time players hit sensors in the different zones, kinetic LEGO components came to life, transforming the pinball experience into a LEGO-filled cosmic celebration. These included a spinning Neptune record to symbolise Pharrell’s music, an anti-gravity skate park where a roller coaster runs on the track, and a space-themed fashion show featuring astronauts floating up and down in outfits designed by Pharrell.

At the end of their game, players could scan a QR code on the screen to receive their personalised anti-gravity certificate before heading off to choose their favourite minifigure, build their own physical LEGO figure, and add it to the display wall at the event. They could also visit the “Cosmic Inspiration Archive” to explore LEGO’s space-themed stories and purchase products from the event collection.

The results

The LEGO x Pharrell Williams pinball experience was a hit. We navigated multiple work streams across digital, experiential and product design, as well as timeline management and coordination across time zones to successfully deliver an epic interactive installation that embodied LEGO’s innovative spirit. As a group of creatively-inspired makers ourselves, this one definitely hit dream project status.