As a chief information officer in the corporate world, Ryan McNaught often found his creativity constrained by the 9to5 nature of his work.
A LEGO® fan as a child – winning awards for his building at the age of five – he returned to his hobby when he became a father, and his mother gave him back his childhood LEGO® collection.
When LEGO® MINDSTORMS was released, a hardware and software platform for programmable robots based on LEGO® bricks, Ryan began to combine his IT know-how and LEGO® building skills.
Relishing the chance to express and create, in 2009 he made a model of an Airbus A380 incorporating the LEGO® MINDSTORMS robotics, which enabled the cockpit controls to be activated remotely by a touchscreen computer for the aircraft’s wing flaps, landing gear and cargo doors. It won Best in Show at Melbourne’s Brickvention, before he displayed it at the Brickworld event in Chicago. There it caught the eye of a member of the team responsible for LEGO MINDSTORMS who was highly impressed, and Ryan was asked to consider becoming a LEGO® Certified Professional.
Six months and many interviews later, Ryan became the only person in the Southern Hemisphere to hold this role. Whilst not a LEGO® employee, he does a lot of work for the LEGO® company, even building LEGO® models for its offices around the world.
After launching his Brickman business in 2010, Ryan now has a team of passionate craftsmen and women who have built some of the world’s largest and most detailed LEGO® models. Most recently, Brickman launched ‘Jurassic World’, the biggest LEGO® brick exhibition in Australia with over 50 large-scale dinosaurs, props, scenes, and activities made from over 6 million LEGO® bricks.
Specialising in interactive models and cutaways as well as record-breaking LEGO® creations like life-sized cars, motorcycles and the tallest LEGO® model in the Southern Hemisphere, Ryan and his team take great pleasure in sharing their work with others.
Having produced five global touring exhibitions and hundreds of models for museums, galleries and shopping centres around the world, the Brickman team have proven that there really isn’t anything they cannot make out of LEGO® bricks.
2022 saw the launch of ‘Brickfit’, a revolutionary new product that helps kids build their fitness – and rewards them with the epic creativity of LEGO® bricks along the way. Created by Brickman, Brickfit brings fun and fitness together, with over 180 solo, special and group fitness challenges, and 150+ rare LEGO® builds to unlock.
Adding ‘author’ to his list of achievements, Ryan released ‘Brickman’s Family Challenge Book’ containing “30 amazing LEGO® brick challenges for all ages and abilities”. This was followed by ‘The Brick-tionary’, the ultimate LEGO® A-Z of creative builds and insider tips, and November 2022 will see the launch of ‘Brickman’s Big Book of Better Builds’- all the skills you need to become a LEGO® Master.
Father to 15-year-old twin sons (who also love LEGO®), in his downtime Ryan enjoys running marathons in places around the world (the Berlin Marathon is next!) and is always dreaming up his next latest and greatest LEGO® creation.
