Ian Wright

From NYC Ian Wright tells all...

Describe your theme in 5 words ...

Hand  / Made  / Lo - Fi /Plastic /  Symmetry

From where do you draw your inspiration? 

Digging out my old set of Hama Beads to reflect the  'Made' qualities of the characters ..

Why did you choose to showcase your work in partnership with a global brand like PlayStation?

Simply, I was fortunate enough to be asked ...... !

What’s it like seeing your work fully digitised on The Studio?

Refreshing! I Animation was always an area I've found exciting, but a little elusive to my own work.

I always hoped a project would come up where I would be able to play .......

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)?

By creating a little analogue world that I hoped would cross both divides. I think by making little stop motion films I sidestepped my own preconceptions on how I would proceed - onto the next one!

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?

They exist in parallel worlds, sharing a love of image with a fast turnover, reacting to and feeding off current ideas and technology. Expertise on both sides could be shared and developed, definitely happening as I write ..... As to the future ????

If you could have created any video game throughout history, what would it be?

No idea ...

If you could turn a PlayStation into a piece of art/design, what would you do with it?

I'd make sure it was kept exactly as it is .....

What’s your favourite video game?

Super Mario Land - I had one of the old Gameboys ....

Cherry (Argentina)

From across the Atlantic the fabulous Cherry tells all...

What was the idea behind your design? 

It's a collage made out of cutouts representing sports and situations, and the sun shining in the middle. 

The colours I choose are pale blue and yellow on white, like the Argentinian flag.

What inspires you about your country?

Too many things: The music. The people. Mother nature . . . 

What three things best capture what your country is about? 

1. The Landscapes

2. The sun

3. The  typical barbecue that we call "asado"

If you could redesign one country's flag, what would it be and why? 

I imagine of all the colours in the world.

What is your favourite flag? 

The Brazilian flag.

Did you watch the Olympics this year? 

Yes, I was watching and cheering from home.

If you could pick one Olympic sport to compete in, what would it be? 

Ping pong!

HelloHikiMori (France)

Denis from HelloHikiMori tells us about all things French...

What was the idea behind your design? 

The main idea here was to feature the different emotions one can encounter in sports: anger, rage to overcome anything, self-overtaking. It was simply a way to mix these feelings altogether, to create the energy to move forward while building a strong and impactful dynamic around the french flag.   

What inspires you about your country?

The mix of cultures, the arts, but mostly the food/gastronomy culture. And french girls.

What three things best capture what your country is about? 

Beef Bourguignon and globally French gastronomy, wine like Sancerre, incredible and old architecture.

If you could redesign one country's flag, what would it be and why? 

I would redesign the Greek one, because we have a Greek guy in the team.

What is your favourite flag? 

The Japanese flag.

Did you watch the Olympics this year? 

Maybe a bit for the important competitions.

If you could pick one Olympic sport to compete in, what would it be? 

Definitely English Boxing.

Graffiti Kings (Great Britain)

Darren 'Ser' Cullen gives us his thoughts on all things British and sport-like.

What was the idea behind your design? 

The United Kingdom. It’s a fast food world & many people have no time for things to take their natural course, just like this piece & its drips & unplanned form, we never had a plan we just went in all spray cans blazing while the Sex Pistols blured from the speakers...mayhem & noise was the day.

What inspires you about your country? 

Do you know of anywhere else like the UK? 

What three things best capture what your country is about? 

1. It’s a crazy mess farmyard for the opening of the Olympics ??? What's that about lol only in the UK

2. 1989 Acid House 

3. An Idiot Abroad pmsl …. I really have 

If you could redesign one country's flag, what would it be and why? 

Already have & because you asked.

What is your favourite flag? 

DAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Did you watch the Olympics this year? 

HELL YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, with 90% of the media around security it was a blast

If you could pick one Olympic sport to compete in, what would it be?

Fishing.

Adhemas Batista (Brazil)

We were very honoured to have A—B join us from Brazil to represent his country for The World Series. Here's what he thinks of his country and sport...

What was the idea behind your design? 

Brazil over the last few years remarkably scored huge growth as an economic and emergent force, placing its name as the 6th biggest economy of the world. The future is even more promising with the approach of the hosting of two great events - the World Cup and Olympics. This new stage of Brazilian history is something we have never experienced before and somehow to me feels like an organic form, growing fast, untamed and wildly, chaotic and uncontrolled but filled with people's hope and passion. Somehow my design brings that energy and makes me think forms will keep moving and growing as I hope Brazil does.

What inspires you about your country?

The Brazilian "swagga", the way people live their lives, how colourful the country is and its culture. I love Brazilian folk art and northern cultures, plus the São Paulo's urban scene - chaotic but inspiring. Despite living for almost 6 years in Los Angeles, CA I will always recognise my roots and celebrate them.

What three things best capture what your country is about? 

The cliché says: Football, Woman and Samba. I don't disagree with the cliché, because indeed these are three strong elements in Brazil's life. Many people would be mad at me for selling the country this way, but I believe these are wonderful characteristics that only few other places in the world could be described for. We have a huge football culture, beautiful woman and samba is natural of the land. We also have all the beauty of Rio de Janeiro and Amazon forest, an economy which lately has been making European countries jealous, a digital community that grows faster than viruses, one of the biggest petroleum production centres in the world and countless items I could keep listing, but most importantly great designers, "laugh".

If you could redesign one country's flag, what would it be and why? 

Would be a great honor for one, maybe I would give it some minor tweaks to the Brazilian flag, make it more modern as its design has over 120 years. I believe only a Brazilian could re-design Brazilian's flag, and that goes for any other country flag, it doesn't make sense to me having a foreigner designing a nations' flag. I think this honour has to be given to someone who was born in the country, has its citizenship and has experienced the country's life and culture.

What is your favourite flag? 

The Union Kingdom flag looks just right, plus it's great for wrapping up products.

Did you watch the Olympics this year?  

As much as I could - I'm especially interested in football. 

If you could pick one Olympic sport to compete in, what would it be? 

Football, no doubt.

Serial Cut (Spain)

3D and set-build magicians Serial Cut give us their thoughts on redesigning the Spanish flag...

What was the idea behind your design? 

Our Spanish flag contains an emblem made of columns and other motifs. So the columns was the star point. We created diffenret flags in CGI simulating a studio set represeting our flag in a  contemporary way.

What inspires you about your country?

The nice weather always is a great excuse to be outside or take a vacation. For me a vacation means relaxing and that's when cool ideas come.

What three things best capture what your country is about? 

SUN, HOLIDAYS and JAMÓN.

If you could redesign one country's flag, what would it be and why? 

I would change the colours for sure, I don't like the red/yellow combination. For most Spanish this is not cool - you will never see someone wearing a yellow tee with a red pants. I like the columns and the motifs, but I would make it monochromatic, that would make it feel more modern.

What is your favourite flag? 

I think the Swiss is really cool and simple, it works fine everywhere.

Did you watch the Olympics this year? 

Yeah, but I'd rather have been in London and seen it live.

If you could pick one Olympic sport to compete in, what would it be? 

I'm too clumsy for some sports… let the the sport guys make it good.

Tom Muller (Belgium)

Following the release of our World Series set of Themes, The Studio Blog offers a bit of behind the scenes info into what each series is really about! First up is Tom Muller from Belgium:

What was the idea behind your design? 

I was looking to find a way to combine the flag colours, video games and London into one concept. As a Belgian living in London, and a frequent user of public transport I landed on the idea of video glitch patterns that equally owe their existence to 8-bit games and characteristic seating fabric of the London Underground.

What inspires you about your country?

The fact that Belgium, or Belgians rather, have had a bigger impact on the worlds of art, architecture, science and music than most people assume.

What three things best capture what your country is about? 

The stereotypes are beer, french fries and chocolate. I can live with that, because they show that Belgians enjoy the good things in life.

If you could redesign one country's flag, what would it be and why?

Its a toss between the flags of Tuvalu and Fiji. Both look really unbalanced and I'm sure there are better ways to integrate those disparate elements.

What is your favourite flag?

I don't think I can pick one favourite. But the flag of Saint Lucia hits the sweet spot, closely followed by the Mongolian flag.

Did you watch the Olympics this year? 

Obviously.

If you could pick one Olympic sport to compete in, what would it be? 

I guess I'd be pretty decent at rowing.