Physical Product Designer | Designer for Play
A
LANCELOTCHEN
DESIGN.
'I design for people who find meaning in play. In my junior year of college, I created my first original toy, Joe, an action figure with 55 movable joints and custom accessories, and realized how much joy I found in both the storytelling and the engineering details. That project showed me that design is most powerful when precise mechanisms and thoughtful aesthetics come together to spark imagination. Today I rely on my self-taught CAD skills and hands-on prototyping to merge function with beauty, creating toys that bring joy while helping people learn, connect, and rediscover wonder.'
Lance is a designer who creates purely for joy. With a BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an M.S. in Engineering Design Innovation at Northwestern University, he believes that delight itself is a powerful function—an emotional purpose that design can fulfill. Curious and ever learning, Lance began by teaching himself CAD and now integrates mechatronics into his projects to bring imagination to life.
He started his journey exploring practical forms of design through furniture and accessibility projects, learning how physical products can shape daily experience. Over time, he shifted toward creating playful, expressive objects that evoke curiosity and emotion. Inspired by his favorite toy, Coal Dog, Lance crafts detailed and artistic pieces that reflect his imagination and invite others to share in his sense of joy. During his internship as a Game Interaction Design Intern at NetEase Games, he learned valuable lessons about user engagement and digital play—but also realized that his passion lies in the tangible world of physical product design.
Lancelot
Chen
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