London branding force Superunion work with Boston digital artist Ari Weinkle to evolve their breakout image campaign for the LSO (based on motion data of conductor Sir Simon Rattle’s baton) for the 2022/23 Season.

Digital artist Ari Weinkle: “The brief was deceivingly simple – create a Jackson Pollock in 3D. Much like Pollock, master conductor Sir Simon Rattle’s expression comes through his movements. What would it look like if his baton was endlessly emitting paint?

“We worked to translate video footage of Sir Simon conducting Béla Bartók’s “The Miraculous Mandarin” into an evolving 3D painting. Our aim was to express the energy and dynamism of the conductor. It was a tough but rewarding ask requiring weeks of experimentation, critique, and refinement.

Watch the making-of video:
 

 
Superunion ECD Stuart Radford: “There were many technical hurdles to overcome to translate the motion data of Sir Simon’s gestures into an expressive animation. The most challenging was balancing the dynamism of his movements with computer-generated fluid simulations.

“Materiality was also a challenge. We wanted to develop a photoreal aesthetic rather than CG. Instead of traditional “3D paint”, we used a myriad of materials; from nearly-opaque black and blue glass to surfaces that absorb and scatter light – all of this was created using a combination of Cinema 4D, Houdini, X-Particles, and rendered using Redshift.”
 

 
Client: London Symphony Orchestra
Head of Marketing: Fiona Dinsdale
Designer: Kims Mihailovs
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle

Production: Superunion
Executive Creative Director: Stuart Radford
Design Director: George Bradshaw
Digital artist: Ari Weinkle
Client Director: Suzanne Neal
Account Manager: Lindsay Bott

Toolkit: Cinema 4D, Houdini, X-Particles, Redshift