The good guys at Ekstasy brought me on to this project to help visually flesh out the narrative for this new electric bike set to hit the market–Arc. And it truly was a sleek number.

The story follows a protagonist in search of a unique final ingredient for a deftly crafted culinary feat. And his mode of transportation – the Arc bike. It spoke to the many characteristics that defined the man: a mindfulness that exudes from his craft and lifestyle choices. Especially the ones that would have an impact on his environment. Radiating prestige, juxtaposed with a futuristic, sleek machine whilst simultaneously being embedded in the classic and the traditional. Truly self-made.

I liked working on this project; the years of being forced to watch cooking shows with my chef sister and brother finally paid off.

As a story artist, I find you have to challenge certain concepts put forward towards the overall success of the team and project. And whilst in the end, I will create what a director/producer requests, it is imperative they are made aware of any issues and potential shortcomings.

One example was the use of the edible flower. Initially, the flower was meant to be ‘sprinkled’ on the dish, with tweezers used later on to place random vegetable pieces on. Now, after years of watching my sister craft cake for @cakemeistro, I know that the tweezers come out only when applying something delicate, like edible gold leaf. Edible flowers are the same. And if these flowers were sprinkled on like salt or condiment, it would have robbed the visual of a few things:

• The perceived expertise of the main character whose meant to have some classical chef training (by transfer, the idea of precision is the line of symmetry you’re creating between the rider and the bike).
• The significance of riding into the proverbial wilderness in search of the one, key ingredient–the flower.
• The delicacy and ‘crowning moment’ of the final dish.

Now after several emails and reasoning, I am glad this concept put forward by myself made the final cut, as it helped the overall creative. Couldn’t have my cuisine buddies and family lambasting me.

Check out some of the story art frames I created for the project:

Plus, check out the final ad. Ekstasy, as always, did an awesome job:

Sum up,

Let’s ride!