From the release:

Hornet is proud to announce the signing of Emmy award-winning animation and mixed media creative director Ariel Costa (aka, Blink My Brain).

Born in Brazil and based in LA, Ariel brings with him over 15 years of experience in the motion graphics industry. He’s worked with big brands, small brands, world-renowned musicians, and major media companies, including Marvel, Adidas, Nike, Netflix, Warner, Spotify, BMW, The New York Times, Facebook, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, and Panic at the Disco. His portfolio brims to the edge with prestige and overflows with a mixed media-collage style that is truly one of a kind.

In Hornet Managing Director Hana Shimizu’s words, “Ariel is a pro. He’s really good at everything he does: collage, mixed media, motion design with a tactile touch. He has a range in his voice that can do edgy music video stuff one moment, then New York Times and Vox explainer content the next. His style is more than just purely design. He incorporates narrative on top of this, with strong metaphors, both unexpected and intentional.”

For Ariel, one description he’s particularly fond of lately is what Hornet’s Head of Creative Development Kristin Labriola recently coined about him—that he’s “a shameless mixed media artist.”

“I love that,” he says. “I like to try different things and just create stuff. I’m not afraid to make mistakes. I actually like embracing those mistakes. For me, there’s no right or wrong, and that ‘shameless’ thing is really fun.”

Just like one of his iconic motion collages, Ariel’s work is constantly shape-shifting and evolving. For much of his career, he’s been known for his collage work—from surrealistic strolls through Rome for Italian fashion brand Marni, to high-octane music videos for Green Day. In recent years, he’s begun to simultaneously sharpen & hone that side of his craft yet also expand & evolve it—from the galactic gallows humor on display in “Ouch” to the hard-charging “History of Horsepower” for BMW.

Digital collage is still very much front and center. But layered on top of this is a medium-agnostic yet religious devotion to mixed media expressionism of all kinds.

“I want to incorporate different elements into my work. More than just photo collage, I want to include other mediums and approaches: 3D, 2D, painting, cel animation. I want to create this huge cake full of cool stuff. Because another thing about my work is that it often has a ‘weird’ vibe. It’s not cute; it’s not conventional. It’s weird in a good way. I like to embrace the irony and surrealism and pump that into work.”

At the heart of all of Ariel’s work—no matter the style (and no matter how weird)—is a commitment to contrast. “What I love most about mixed media is the contrast. I like how two completely different worlds—the old-school and the modern—can be combined to create an altogether different world, something totally new.”

The result is a body of work that is, indeed, totally novel and new. To see more of Ariel’s work, check out his director page.