“and the Faber15 award goes to…:)”

The Faber15 award is taking shape.
A small step for creativity...:)

It is not everyday that you receive an award but it is even more rare to have an award named after yourself. Nevertheless now that has happened to me!

Last year when I decided to leave my perfect job for 28 years as art director and partner at Advance Copenhagen to pursue my wild creative dream. The good people at Advance created a prize that would be given once a year to a person or team for outstanding and courageous creative work at the agency. At the Advance Christmas party last Friday it was given for the first time and before that I had taken the task to do the statuette (oh-oh, what to do?).

The astronaut theme came natural. When doing creative work it often feels like floating in free and unknown space with the hope that you are on the right track and that you will get back to earth at some point. Hopefully you will be able to depict and describe what you have experienced and make it into communication.

I found a box of Super Sculpey and started modeling. I cut up an old IPhone cord for the tubing, then paint and stickers. The statuette ended up as a desktop pencil holder and I placed a Faber-Castell pencil in the small crater so the ultimate creative tool “the pencil” (or apple pencil) would always be close at hand. For the other hand I did a jerry can full of Faber Fuel (New Anti-gravity formula). The box is a reused IPad package and there you have it: The Faber15 award. Handmade, sustainable and made from recycled materials and creative hope for the future.

Super Sculpey before oven

The devil is in the detail

Recycled box and stickers

Hero Factory concept boards

A model match made in heaven

In my street in Frederiksberg/Copenhagen, in a almost hidden basement lies one of the greatest nerd shops. Stoppel Hobby and they have anything a model nerd could wish for.

http://www.stoppel.dk/shop/frontpage.html

Last weekend I found this "unthinkable" product. It is the blend of 3 of my most important childhood influences: Airfix meets LEGO meets Spitfire. Amazing! I haven't seen any advertising for this product but it is so cool.
Of cause it doesn't have the detail level of normal Airfix models but I put it together in 5 minutes, without glue or paint! then it is ready play or display. That would have saved me a lot of poisonous paint/glue time and headaches in my childhood.

Name suggestions from the time before time

Straight from the ancient BIONICLE archives here are two name suggestions that were in the final round of brainstorm just before the BIOlogical chroNICLE name was forged.

Al's Garage teaser poster

"Pimp my Spaceride".
Welcome to Al's Garage. Another rediscovered story concept in my sketch-book of future projects.
Think "Men in Black" meets "Bagdad Cafe" meets "Mad Max".
Hope you are teased:)

COP21, Make a positive footprint, please!

Right now World leaders are gathering in Paris for COP21 where the future of life as we know it is being debated and decided. Talking about an epic challenge. This is our reality and our legend. Forget Star Wars and galaxies far away. This is Earth and it is happening right now. I wish that saving the planet could get as much attention and energy from creative and resourceful people across the globe as a feature fantasy film universe that is soon in theatres worldwide.
Here is my hope for COP21 put into poster form. Please share and/or like and lets take action to make things better. We better fix these environmental problems because nobody will be leaving this planet in the near future and the moon is not an option.

Valerian design challenge

I just uploaded a design suggestion to the Valerian design challenge.

Go and check it out. It is very exciting and it would be crazy to be part of that project. Fingers crossed!!!

https://www.talenthouse.com/i/793/submission/180680/ce6a33b6

Why RebelNature?

The reason for RebelNature literally lies below the surface. This is an epic challenge and the future generations will judge us if we don't start to deal with this global issue.

Friday 13th 2015. The sad day Mona Lisa lost her smile

It is hard to find words for the events in Paris.

When it comes to ways of thinking this almost seems like WW3. The past fighting with the present about the future.

Here is the impact shown on a classic painting form Paris. Now her smile is gone but the dream of freedom and peace is stronger than ever. We have so many common problems on this planet that we could begin to solve, if we could stop fighting and killing each other. 

Get ready to be a rebel - Escape RIG21 teaser

This is a teaser to let you know that we are in the finishing production phase of the app game "Escape RIG21" and that things are looking and sounding (Cryoshell) really good. I hope to be able to post a launch week soon. Get ready to be a rebel! #RebelNature #EscapeRIG21

Back to 21-10-2015. Now we don't have to wait for the future

Just an image from Copenhagen morning traffic to celebrate the fact that now we are living in the future. There is no need to wait anymore. Go and do what you have to do! #RebelNature

Res dives to encounter Whale M

Another sketch for #inktober and #RebelNature.
A graphic version of a playful  encounter between Res and the Whale M.
A humpback whale that will become an important ally for Res.

Res waveborn future concept

#inktober drawing 14 and now it gets futuristic.
this sketch shows Res Waveborn in flygear ready for even greater adventures in #RebelNature.
I wonder what vehicle or craft she will pilot? Need to sketch that soon:)

#RebelNature new species #9

In case you wonder if there are any bad-guys in the RebelNature universe, this mutated brittlestar comes very close to being evil. It is something as scary as condensed greed mixed with tough biology and it is evolving fast...
This is my 12th #inktober sketch.

"A rebel meets an ally"

#inktober2015 sketch number 11 was a fast one just before midnight. A bit more graphic showing one of the first encounters between #
Res and the humpback whale mother. This is an alliance that will grow in importance in the next phase of #RebelNature

"My father is a robot"

Here is another sketch for #inktober2015 and #RebelNature showing Res as a small child holding Scrapers hand as she learns to walk using the small power suit he has constructed for her.
The statement "My father is a robot" is not the whole truth but it pretty much sums up her situation as a 4 years old on #RIG21

First sketch of the abandoned RIG20 of #RebelNature

Another sketch submitted to #inktober and this time it shows a new species of armoured whale that has evolved in the #RebelNature ocean. It is circling the abandoned #RIG20 that has been taken over by wild nature and all kind of vegetation is now creating this mammoth metallic "tree" in the middle of the ocean with the strangest mutated creatures living on and around it.

RebelNature sketching for #Inktober 2015

The whole month of October there is an event running on social media called #inktober where people who loves to draw upload 1 handmade ink drawing every day of the month. I'm trying to do a #RebelNature related drawing every day and upload it. I have a theme called "New species" and I will depict some of the new marine animals that are evolving in the ocean around #Rig21

Instagram link

BREAKING! Cryoshell now in RebelNature-session

Testing the Cryoshell icon in RebelNature settings

This update just to let you know that at this moment Cryoshell is in session, creating new tunes for #RebelNature and the app #EscapeRIG21. This is so cool and exciting and it is going to be epic, industrial and mesmerizing. Stay tuned!

Kasper Søderlund and Mikkel Maltha in Cryoshell RebelNature session

Flashback - The LEGO and Star Wars collaboration - part 4

Here you see the final result of the first SW assignment I worked on at Advance back in '98. 

The 5 first packages of the LEGO Star Wars line. 

We ended up with a simple new design that has been repeated many times since. Inspired by the widescreen format of the featurefilm we put a black border top and bottom and this worked as framing of the illustration as well as the background of the logos with star pattern on. On the top panel the LEGO System logo and the Star Wars mining logo were connected by a blue/white laser line to mark this important collaboration.

The LEGO Star Wars models would be placed in the real movie sets to get as much realism to the play scenario. So we got to make background paintings made directly from the mattepaintings of the real movie. A mix of real painting and photoshop (a very early version) was used to make the box art as true to the movie as possible.

Copenhagen based master photographer Jesper Jørgen (http://jesperjorgen.com) that we have used for numerous LEGO shoots, was put in charge of photo and he created the perfect match of the light of the illustrated background.

Below you see the full box illustrations of the 5 boxes.

On the backside and sidepanels we chose to create the special hangar setting that appears in many Star Wars movies. We wanted to give the feeling that this was the place where you would build or rebuild your model.
A fantastic set piece was build by model and prop building, Joachim Zacho Weylandt (http://www.jzw-model.dk)
It was more than 2X2 meter and rigged with lights and platforms with the right amount of runway tracks and ware painted on. A lot of LEGO parts was used for detailing the set piece.  It was the perfect packdrop for any Star Wars model and if I knew where it was now I would put it on the wall as decoration.

 

Some very early RebelNature inspiration from a surprising well

One of my childhood heroes was the legendary Jacques Cousteau and his TV programs about the adventures on Calypso around the globe (more about him later)

Another hero was the author of this sticker collection book that my father got for me at the local gas-station back in 1972. 

I was 6 years old and started my collection right away. This was my introduction to 2 very important elements of my future life. The magic world under the waves and the magic world of advertising. Of cause I got my dad to use the same brand every time we needed gas and advertising became part of my childhood. The book was filled with info and great pictures in a time where there was no digital or internet and great professional color photos were rare. It also had futuristic underwater equipment and a concept painting of the future under water. This was the first concept painting I ever saw and it blew my mind. I wanted to be able to draw stuff like that.

I believe that creativity is connecting the dots (thank you Steve) so it is no coincidence that #RebelNature makes a connection between underwater natural life and evolution and technologic progress and the hunt for resources.
I find it a bit ironic that this piece of inspiration for #RebelNature came from a petrol company.

Flashback - The LEGO and Star Wars collaboration - part 3

Preparing the launch of the new LEGO Star Wars line back in '98 was a massive job. This was the first time LEGO worked with a mayor franchise so a totally new process had to be developed. At Advance one of the first tasks we got was to design the package.

This is the first design test. It had a massive golden Star Wars logo at the top of the box with the mini figure lineup on the right and the LEGO System logo down at the bottom left. At that point in time we didn't know what the logo hierarchy would be so I tried with the movie logo on top.
In the meeting room in Billund, I took a low res snapshot on my old digital Sony camera and used that photo to mock up a box with the prototype Millennium Falcon in the middle of the asteroid field. One of the most iconic scenes from the The Empire strikes back. I wanted the asteroids to go all around the box so the film scene was as big as possible. This file shows both front and side panels of the box. As you probably know this model wasn't released until much later and the design would get another spin. To be continued...

Flashback - The LEGO and Star Wars collaboration - part 2

Right from the first meeting I attended at Lucas in 1998 it was clear that LEGO would get a different role than the other partners Lucas had earlier worked with. LEGO would actually give kids and adults the power to change the vehicles and the story. The creative possibilities that LEGO gave to the Star Wars universe would be a great new communication platform.
As a first concept idea I did this sketch of a LEGO tent workshop with a rusty LEGO sign placed on Tatooine where everybody could come and get their vehicle build, rebuild or customised. The idea was that the brick was a new interpretation of the Force. A force of creativity. So if you wanted 8 engines on your X-wing, now it was possible.

Escape RIG21 game icon showdown

Ok, now it is time to get serious:) Here are 4 different icons for Escape RIG21 with and without title and in small size. Any comments or preferences? #RebelNature will soon come alive.

1# Res in front of RIG21

2# GUI graphic on metal

3# Semi submerged RIG21 icon

4# RebelNature Res tag icon

"Escape RIG21" game icon. What do you think?

As you may know we are in production with the #RebelNature app #EscapeRIG21 and the time has come to make the game icon. Here is a snapshot of my screen right now. What do you think about this suggestion showing Res in the foreground and RIG21 in the back. Pretty simple but does it work? please comment.

Finding inspiration for Res Waveborn of RebelNature in surfmode

Denmark is not the biggest surfnation but the first weekend of august I went surfing in some small (1m) waves in the north of Sealand with my 2 daughters and this gave plenty of inspiration for Res from RebelNature in her surf mode. Here my oldest daughter poses in silhouette. I think I'm going to use that silhouette for something in #RebelNature

Flashback - The LEGO and Star Wars collaboration - part 1

A color layout of the minifigs behind the Star Wars logo

Back in late 1997 I got one of those phone calls that you can only dream about. 

At that time we at ADVANCE only dared to dream about what would happen if LEGO started to work together with some of the big film IP’s of the world like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, any of the Superheroes or others. But that was only wild fantasy.

Working at ADVANCE I had been doing many different LEGO launches until then and was heading the Art Direction of LEGO Technic . I had done some concept development on different new projects including my own test project “Cybots”. 

But then one morning this call came through!. I can’t remember the exact words but it was something like “Would you like to start working on the design for a new project we are starting up? It includes travling to San Francisco to have the first meeting with Lucas arts at The Skywalker Ranch to have design discussions and see the first glimpse of the new film “Episode 1”. 

“Wh-wh-What….YES!!! of cause” was my prompt answer.

As this was the first collaboration with a major IP we needed to make a clear connection between the 2 brands LEGO and Star Wars. I suggested to make a mini figure logo where the 2 sides of the conflict meet behind the Star Wars logo. That would blend the 2 brands perfectly. My good friend Jan Kjær who was then my assistent made the final version of the logo.

I might have forgotten the details but the approval process went extremely easy and both Lucas and LEGO were happy with the layouts. So it was just to go and put it on paper and cardboard (the web was not up and running yet). 

One thing is certain. My experience with Star Wars gave me a lot of inspiration for what came later in the form of Bionicle.

The very early logo sketch together with
my treasured Skywalker Ranch mug:).

The final box front design of the 1999 LEGO X-Wing Fighter
with the minifig logo in the upper right corner

Will you Escape RIG21 in time?

Here is a teaser for the upcoming app game #EscapeRIG21. The game is the first introduction to the #RebelNature universe and it is currently in production.
Get ready to join Res Waveborn as she tries to get out of this maze of machines and tower of technology. She has a plan but one thing is planning another is carrying it out and make it in time!

Getting inspiration and sketching Goodman Rock Research Station. A new RebelNature location

#GoodmanRock Research Station is taking shape. It is build on a rugged rock formation jutting out of the deep ocean. This is one of the important locations in the #RebelNature universe. It is part of the prehistory of #Rig21. The story is being build like a giant unfinished puzzle so the adventure and mystery grows with every piece.

 Vacation time is also inspiration time so here I am at the small Danish island Bornholm where the rocky formations gives lots of inspiration for Goodman Rock.
In the picture of the cave I have just been 70m inside a very narrow cave where apparently lives a very big cave spider that bites:) Found out about that after I came out and my Iphone and only lightsource ran out of power half way out.
Enough Indiana Jones for that day.