Based in London, step into Alex Hill's illustrative mind...
Describe your theme in 5 words...
Pop, with a fruit twist
From where do you draw your inspiration?
All over the place, an idea could spring from a track I'm listening to, a pattern on a piece of clothing or some random street signage. I like the way ideas can come together like join the dots. By connecting visual cues from different experiences and media, new and unexpected pictures emerge.
Why did you choose to showcase your work in partnership with a global brand like PlayStation?
I produce work in a lot of different media, so when I heard about The Studio project I thought it would be a great opportunity to experiment with something new. Its cool that Playstation offer such a platform to produce work for.
What’s it like seeing your work fully digitised on The Studio?
It was awesome to see my piece transformed from a static illustration into a constantly moving image, where your never quite sure how the composition will look from one second to the next.
How did you adapt your work – in terms of both the feel of The Studio space and the physical parameters of PlayStation’s XrossMediaBar (XMB)?
I didn't have to worry too much about making sure my piece worked within the parameters of the XMB. Lots of the colours I used were very bright, so I just had to be careful whilst designing the icons that everything would still be legible and nothing clashed too much.
The worlds of gaming and art have grown closer and closer over the years – how do you think they fit together and how do you see the relationship progressing?
Its an interesting symbiotic relationship, that provides benefits for both worlds. Being able to interact, engage and generate art in new ways is always a good thing and I think the added depth that great art direction can bring to a game with an engaging story line or interesting dynamic enhances the whole experience. New games that mix art and interaction, like The Unfinished Swan are starting to come out, so it will be interesting to see how that is received and where it might lead in the future.
If you could have created any video game throughout history, what would it be?
I spent a lot of time playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater when I was younger. It exposed me to a lot of music and art that I had never heard of before, so it would have been cool to have brought that game into the world.
If you could turn a PlayStation into a piece of art/design, what would you do with it?
Most people never see inside a Playstation, so i'd try to reveal that. Show the inner workings in a more humanised way, as an actual miniature world populated by people carrying out various tasks.
What’s your favourite video game?
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
