Ole Kirk Christiansen, who established his workshop in Billund in Denmark in 1932, produced wooden furniture and toys. The business was not very profitable and he struggled to make ends meet in the early 30s. In 1934, he shifted to focus on toys, and changed the name to LEGO. This is a contraction of “leg godt” which is the Danish word for “play well”.
The company expanded into other Nordic countries in the 1960s. The company created smaller bricks that were suitable for children with small hands. It was named DUPLO (after the Latin word duplex, which is a reference to a twofold). This allowed children to build more elaborate models.
In the 1970s, Lego began to introduce new features to make its products stand apart from the competition. For example, they added an array of faces to their minifigures. This made the characters appear more real and allowed them to show different expressions and emotions. The Lego Group also added wheels to its bricks, opening the possibility of making vehicles as well as other machines that move.
The company’s next big step was when it introduced specific themes — a system within the systems that let customers to design their own world or situation. This helped the company make its brand more well-known and helped them appeal to an increasingly younger audience. The company also increased production by opening factories in South Korea and Malaysia.