There’s nothing like the collaborative power of teamwork, which of course is what this industry is all about, and our latest discovery is the pairing of illustrator Emilski with motion graphics animator Nick Duggins who have formed UTILE Creative. Their first video project for Astrophonica’s Customtone by Fracture and Neptune has just been launched and although it may be early days, these guys are on a roll.
Was Customtone a labour of love? Tell us about the process of making it and how it came about.
It most definitely was! Once we heard Customtone we knew we had to create something rich in detail and specific to the Astrophonica look. The track has a very psychedelic dream like feel to it so we just fed in to that and vibed out. Each frame was hand-drawn using pencil, pen and ink, fine liners, Posca pen and magic markers, which was then scanned in and animated using Photoshop and After Effects. This was an incredibly time consuming process, but we were very pleased with the end result.
What was the inspiration for the piece?
Our main inspiration came from the films of Hans Richter and Marcel Duchamp, which are totally amazing – simple yet so effective. I love the way they have an old crusty feel to them while at the same time seem really futuristic, which is certainly something we tried to incorporate. There is also a nod to old sci-fi comic book art like Marvel’s Silver Surfer and the graphic novels of Philippe Druillet. And not to forget M.C. Esher – the master of impossible worlds!
Tell us a bit about your background – did you work as a traditional graphics artist?
I’m from a fine art background and use traditional approaches to making work. My practice is mainly centred around painting and image making inspired by comics, hand painted signage and typography. Computers are definitely not my thing so it’s great to be able to work with the talents of Nick who is spot on when it come to the technicals!
What’s the plan now?
This is the first major project we’ve worked on together and we’re really happy with the way things have turned out, we plan to collaborate on loads more stuff for Astrophonica and for other people who we really respect. We have recently teamed up with Utile who are an exciting new clothing company so expect some collabs with them too.
