ePropulsion manufacture electric outboard motors for the marine industry. Their elite outboard motor has blank panels either side of the central structure. These blanks panels are the perfect location for a vinyl facades. ePropulsion ran a design competition to create the artwork for these vinyl facades and this is the design I created.
I’ve wanted to include octopus tentacles in a project for a long time and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The image of tentacles pressing against glass had a strong resonance with me, so I followed through on that thought. I also decided that I’d like to create a design that was conscious of its intended location. I pursued these ideas and by adding the sense of energy and optical illusion, I tried to make them as fun as possible.
A behind-the-scenes look at the scene created in 3D.
The artwork was created in the 3D software Houdini, with minor amends in Photoshop. I wanted to push the optical illusion as far as possible and I thought this would be best done in 3D. I used a technique which is used in computer games and 3D billboards, texture baking. I imported a 3D model of the outboard model into Houdini and I created the scene within that model. I then used the model as a camera to capture the scene. The effect of this technique is to create a distorted image which when wrapped around the curved structure of the outboard, no longer appears distorted. The great thing about this technique and creating the scene in 3D is that both sides of the design/outboard correlate to each other, we’re seeing the same tentacle from both sides.
