Jay Simmons

And PixelBlocks creator Jay Simmons, an engineer who wanted to duplicate the way a TV or computer lines up pixels , dots , to form a picture on screen.He decided on making colorful plastic pieces that snap together and can also be joined on their sides, creating hinges and bendable joints for three-dimensional creations.

After sitting on the idea for 18 years, Simmons got the Bunnies involved.

Jay Simmons: engineer at KTTV-FOX by night; by day creative neon artist and inventor.Father of PixelBlocks.

Created by television engineer Jay Simmons, the blocks were licensed last year and redesigned by Aaron Rincover, a former architect who now designs lighting.

We were able to get a great story from Jay Simmons, the inventor of PixelBlocks, a new construction toy that is on the market after twenty years of patient vision.

Jay Simmons was very eager and open about sharing his experience with toy design, so all we did was ask one question, 'What made you want to design this toy?' and stood back as he transported us with his PixelBlocks story.The short answer to the question was that Jay was looking for a new artistic medium.He said that learning disabilities hindered him from creating art in traditional media like painting and drawing.He credits his work as a television engineer and the viewing of a textile exhibition at the Los Angeles County Art Museum as being the inspiration for PixelBlocks.A quote that summed up the toy nicely was on the PixelBlocks web site.

All the limitations and possibilities we discovered in our pursuit of the history of Lite-Brite were explored and solved with this new building toy.Instead of Lite-Brite's 8 colors, PixelBlocks come in 20 colors (and if Jay has his way, they will eventually be available in 256 colors).Instead of relying on a two-dimensional screen placed over a single light source, PixelBlocks are designed to accommodate fiberoptics that can be threaded through 3-dimensional structures.Jay donated a few sets of the toy to LATDA for research purposes...can't wait to play.
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Jay Simmons' PixelBlocks are a perfect illustration of an urge to make physical something that exists as an image on a screen.

PixelBlocks were invented by Los Angeles television engineer, Jay Simmons, and developed for the specialty market by a consortium of five industry veterans.Founded in 2002, PixelBlocks, LLC is located in Glendora, California.