Alexis Christodoulou is a 40-year-old digital artist from South Africa who has recently moved to Amsterdam to be closer to his European clients. His studio is located in an old red brick building overlooking a canal, and it is not easily identifiable as a workspace for a digital artist in high demand. Nonetheless, Alexis has spent the past few months working on designing digital environments for the MINI Concept Aceman.
Alexis describes his work as not only setting the stage for a product but also designing spaces and worlds. His experience working with smaller products from well-known brands such as Kenzo, Bang & Olufsen, and Grohe has prepared him for the challenges of rendering a car, which requires attention to details such as the roof rack simulation and the complex hinges of the doors. Alexis tried to understand the MINI Concept Aceman as a whole with all its features and characteristics, and he had a lot of fun getting to grips with the finer details.
The end result of Alexis’s creation process is four different digital environments. Three of them interpret the MINI Concept Aceman’s Experience Modes, which are Personal Mode, Pop-up Mode, and Vivid Mode. The fourth piece takes on Colour Burst, which is a burst of color that spreads across the floor of the car upon opening the door before continuing across the interior via projections and the circular OLED display. Alexis worked with flowers for his interpretation of Colour Burst, as he has been integrating natural elements into his work more often since the beginning of the pandemic.
Alexis’s goal was to create a harmonious relationship between the car’s interior and exterior. He aimed to make the environments he designed always in motion, with something happening in the car’s interior. In Vivid Mode, the environment transitions from a simple space to a colorful space that takes the car to new heights. The driver can select a particular experience using the interior display in this mode, and Alexis drew on the movement and game that characterizes this mode to create a scenery that transitions from day to night and back again. He worked with contrasts to create two worlds with different moods and colors, one featuring muted colors and the other playing with neon light.
Alexis faced his biggest challenge in designing the personal mode, as the driver can choose a family photo for the display and personalize the ambiance for the driver. Content matching the picture is then projected across the dashboard and doors, combined with light and sound. Alexis wanted to leave his own personal touch on this piece, so he used some architectural ideas and animation technologies he had recently learned to present the MINI in his very own way.
After completing the work for MINI, Alexis Christodoulou plans to take a break for the summer and then return to his growing studio, which he plans to expand by hiring more staff. He never imagined that his hobby would become his job, but he has always been fascinated by digital worlds and effects. His passion for computer games inspired him to teach himself digital art and post his work online. Today, Alexis is a highly sought-after digital artist whose work has made a significant impact on the design world.
