Year

2001-2005

Client

Art. Lebedev Studio

3D Visualization at Art. Lebedev Studio

The first employee of the industrial design department of the Studio

An amazing, creative, and exhilarating time spent with incredible people. During this period, I had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, including the sensational Lavatrix washing machine, a Samsung microwave featuring a heart button, the innovative Optimus keyboard with screens on each key, a 3D visualization of the Daewoo Matiz car as an alternative to traditional photography, and, of course, the Ridibundus, stuffed emotions that arrived years before emoji or Facebook reactions.

It all began with a conversation in ICQ. While talking to Oleg Paschenko, who was working at the studio at that time, I asked about potential employment opportunities. The studio provided me with a test assignment. One aspect of it was to conceptualize an innovative design for a washing machine. Flexing my 3D skills, I designed and rendered the concept – and submitted the assignment. This effort led to me securing the position as the first employee of the studio's industrial design department. Interestingly, the core idea of using a play button to start the washing cycle eventually evolved into the Lavatrix project.

Working at the studio taught me the thrill of transforming the wildest ideas into reality.

Daewoo Matiz Renderings

The Daewoo Matiz project embodied a non-traditional approach to solving complex challenges. The client sought photographs of the car's updated facelift model. However, in the early 2000s, conventional solutions were out of reach due to the absence of specialized car photography studios in Russia – the closest one was located in Poland.

To solve this issue, we opted to create high-quality renderings of the car instead of photographs. These photorealistic images were effectively utilized across various mediums, including brochures, websites, and large-scale outdoor advertisements. The project's highlight was the installation of a massive banner featuring our renderings on the facade of the Oktyabr cinema in Moscow.