Original Bionicle renders by Advance Copenhagen | .PSD Files available on BioMedia Project
Animation In After Effects | 2D Assets By Morgan Ryan | ♫ Music By Deltron 3030 - Melding of the Minds
3D Artwork in Blender | VFX + Compositing in Photoshop | Metru Nui Airships by Automatik
A World Without Limits
Since 2022 I’ve been making 3D artwork for the Bionicle Illustrated Fanzine created by Morgan Ryan. A love letter to LEGO’s most wild and ambitious toyline of the 2000s. Bionicle was a high concept multimedia project that inspired so many young artists and changed the game for interactive storytelling.
As a kid I was fascinated by the sleek CG renders serving as key artwork for this biological chronicle. My whole process for digital compositing was forever altered by learning the tools and techniques used to bring these scenes to life.
Bionicle Illustrated Fanzine
Building A Team
For the 2024 Fanzine, I wanted to showcase an ensemble cast of Kanoka Disk Surfers. Characters with unique backstories who’d fight back against a ruthless dictatorship in the futuristic city of Metru Nui.
I was inspired by skate culture, parkour, and the rebellious attitude of games like Jet Set Radio and Marc Ecko's Getting Up.
From Great Heights
Metru Nui wasn’t built in a day. It all started by gathering reference material. With a mood-board on my second monitor and a vision in mind, I threw together some Pre-Viz to plan out the composition. Next I jumped into a 3D scene and started blocking out the Great Coliseum.
This was tricky due to the lens distortion from my virtual camera. I knew I wanted this dynamic fisheye effect. Looked great on the tower, but now my characters were also distorted. So I used multiple render passes, and composited everything together in Photoshop.
Metru Nui Mixtape
Every game needs a baller soundtrack. To envision my own take on Metru Nui and hype myself up for the project, I put together a high energy playlist. What I imagine these Matoran would listen to as they defy the law, Vahki enforcers and gravity itself.
Even as Dume’s influence corroded every sector of the city, a new subculture began to take hold. A world without limits...
Information Warfare
During the 2024 810NICLE Day Livestream, Morgan and I hijacked the transmission to bring everyone up to speed on the latest Fanzine. Had a lot of fun with the whole pirate radio angle. An awesome project I’m proud to be a part of. All made possible by the dream team of artists teaming up to keep this world alive.
Cool Like Kopaka
For 2023’s Fanzine, I took to the frosty mountains of Ko-Koro. A Toa of few words, Kopaka’s icy demeanor may be off-putting to some. But when he hits the slopes, he sure knows how to shred! Inspired by extreme snowboarding video games like SSX and 1080 Avalanche, Ko-Koro Extreme is the type of graphic design I want to see more of.