Anders Brasch-Willumsen on channelling emotion through 3D image-making

Copenhagen-born Anders Brasch-Willumsen is an art director, image maker and the founder and creative director of Stockholm-based Studio Brasch, a creative studio offering “creative direction, conceptual thinking and a distinct design language that results in brand images, campaign images, moving images, set designs and more.”

“To me, the most important quality of a great image is that it makes you feel something,” Anders tells It’s Nice That. “It can be a concrete or an abstract feeling, maybe something you can’t describe – like a dream. It’s my responsibility to channel that emotion, and to do so I need to fully understand where my client is coming from and where he wants to go, and then guide him through the process of creating something that resonates well," explains Anders. "Images mean different things to different people and understanding what makes an audience tick is key to a successful image. From a purely compositional perspective, I usually tend to favour images that are both simple and complex. Something that instantly catches your attention, but also something that you can look closer at and get lost in. Contrasts, essentially.”

Anders’ background in traditional design and advertising paced the way for the luxuriously sleek 3D work which currently fills his portfolio. “The first seed for using 3D as part of my work was planted when I worked on a packaging concept for Givenchy’s Rouge Interdit lipstick,” he tells It’s Nice That. “The concept involved a redesign of the lipstick case and I started looking for ways to visualise it. Later on, I was commissioned to create imagery for a jewellery brand and I had an idea of staging the pieces among abstract, ceramic-like forms. I created all the sets in 3D and seamlessly integrated the photographed products into the set. The result had a hyperreal feel that struck the right chord with both the client and myself and I realised that 3D could be used as a creative tool as well.”

Most recently, Anders has been working on a branding project for a series of glass objects, designed by the likes of Karim Rashid. “The concept perfectly captured the luxurious feel of the products in both tagline and imagery,” he says. Other commissions have been an album artwork, which took Anders into new creative territory, while Rocks and Light, a series of digital sculptures, were influenced by an unlikely source in a Japanese art movement. “Last year I discovered the work of the Japanese art movement Mono-ha who created contextual and temporary sculptures using a combination of natural and man-made materials,” Anders explains. “As I was contemplating their work, I realised that the ephemeral nature of their works was similar to my work, which often exists only in photographs as well.”

Far from an unknown to be feared, in the hands of Anders Brasch-Willumsen, the future feels like an exciting place. “Today we live in a world where we shape our own media landscape, we consume it however we want, whenever we want,” he muses. “We shape it according to our needs and how we feel – right now. Rational product benefits are secondary to things that matter to us on a more emotional and contextual level. Brands need to find ways to earn a place in people’s life – beyond the actual product benefits. We, as creatives, need to find out what that is – what people really care about. Maybe it’s branded content or a highly personalised experience. Maybe it’s a product presentation or lifestyle image that people actually want and can identify with. Maybe it’s something else altogether. Whatever it is, we need to provide it in authentic ways – beautifully. And knowing that all of this – and more – is possible, excites me.”