You have no idea how excited I am to finally show off this project.
In an indirect way, I have a very long-standing connection with Native Instruments.
Around 2009/2010, I discovered Skrillex from my older brother and went down a rabbit hole. I started getting really into dubstep and DnB, and though I'm back on the metal train now, the electronic music scene has always been an integral part of my progression as an artist, providing me with many friends and my first clients.
And at the heart of the this music was Native Instruments, specifically Massive, FM8 and Kontakt.
It feels fantastic to work with a team that had such a hand in my own progression as an artist and I really wanted to put everything into this project.
So here it is: UTOPIA, the newest addition to Native Instruments Komplete Play series.
Specifically rooted in classic euphoric trance and rave music and designed for building uplifting bangers.
If that sounds fun, you can buy it here.
In an indirect way, I have a very long-standing connection with Native Instruments.
Around 2009/2010, I discovered Skrillex from my older brother and went down a rabbit hole. I started getting really into dubstep and DnB, and though I'm back on the metal train now, the electronic music scene has always been an integral part of my progression as an artist, providing me with many friends and my first clients.
And at the heart of the this music was Native Instruments, specifically Massive, FM8 and Kontakt.
It feels fantastic to work with a team that had such a hand in my own progression as an artist and I really wanted to put everything into this project.
So here it is: UTOPIA, the newest addition to Native Instruments Komplete Play series.
Specifically rooted in classic euphoric trance and rave music and designed for building uplifting bangers.
If that sounds fun, you can buy it here.
Video cut by NI, animation by me.
The process of developing an artwork for a client is a collaborative one. I thought it would be cool to detail the starting point of this project and walk through each major iteration to show how we achieved the end result.
Version 1:
A solid jumping off point. All I was looking to achieve with this version was to take the aesthetics conveyed in the moodboard and marry them with my own style. I feel like there is a lot to like here, but it has some major conflicts with the GUI that made me pull back the composition.
Version 2:
We decided a central and sperical composition was necessary to fill the space in the GUI without obstructing the knobs and buttons. Aesthetically, I think this version was lacking, as the colours were a bit too bland and didn't match the trance/rave vibe we established in Version 1. A promising push in the right direction, but with a long way to go.
Version 1:
A solid jumping off point. All I was looking to achieve with this version was to take the aesthetics conveyed in the moodboard and marry them with my own style. I feel like there is a lot to like here, but it has some major conflicts with the GUI that made me pull back the composition.
Version 2:
We decided a central and sperical composition was necessary to fill the space in the GUI without obstructing the knobs and buttons. Aesthetically, I think this version was lacking, as the colours were a bit too bland and didn't match the trance/rave vibe we established in Version 1. A promising push in the right direction, but with a long way to go.
Version 3:
In all honesty, if I was working on this artwork as personal artwork, this is probably close to the final shape. I was overall satisfied with the form, but in practice it was still obstructing the GUI and cluttering things up. I am overall very satisfied with the shape and placement of the crystals and how the radial lights overlap the edges of the design. Unfortunately, the flower placement was still looking a little robotic and needed a bit of work.
Version 4:
So so so close to being done. The radial lights were finally as vibrant and punchy as I wanted and the overall form was tightened into a proper sphere. We were still unsatisfied with the flower placements and a couple of minor background elements were still clashing with the GUI, but we knew we very close.
Version 5:
And DONE.
2 flowers moved, one lens flare removed, some little details tidied up and we are at the end!
