When Ole Kirk Christiansen founded his workshop in Billund, Denmark in 1932 He made wooden toys and furniture. His business wasn’t very profitable and he struggled through the beginning of the 30s. In 1934, he shifted to concentrate on toys and changed the name to LEGO. This is an abbreviation of “leg godt” which is the Danish word for “play well”.
The company grew into other Nordic countries in the 1960s. The company also created a smaller brick that was perfect for hands with small hands, and named it DUPLO in honor of the Latin word duplex (two-fold). This enabled children to build more detailed models.
In the 1970s, Lego began to introduce new features to help its products stand out from the competition. They added different faces to the miniature figures. This made their characters look more realistic and enabled them to express different expressions and emotions. The Lego Group also added wheels to its bricks, which opened the possibility of making vehicles and other machines that moved.
The next step was to introduce themed themes – systems within systems that let customers create a particular world or situation. This helped the company make its brand more recognizable and helped them draw younger audiences. The company also increased its production by opening factories in South Korea and Malaysia.