D: As the world's number one print ads production house, how do you understand the strengths of Illusion?
Surachai: I believe that Illusion has the best team. Without them, I would not be able to achieve what I am today. There are many talented artists here, and many employees have specialties. Some directors have worked with me for over 10 years, and many have been here even since founded. We have a long-standing relationship and we know each other's work styles and preferences very well. I particularly recruited the team members, value the strengths and abilities of each employee, and I am eager to see their progress. Everyone can create the best results if they can work on what they do best.
Post: In the field of production, our artists must be very knowledgeable about their profession. CGI production is not a very common skill, you need to have an interest and a passion for the industry, advertising, and art. There are 3D generalists, 3D modelers, light artists, overseas producers, etc. in the Illusion team. Our work system includes training sessions to help them better integrate into the team.
D: Working with creative teams from all over the world, do they have differences in creative concepts and production requests? How does Illusion maintain an international cooperation network?
Post: In terms of creative ideas and production demands, there is not much difference between them. All winning cases have great ideas and great art direction, plus our craftsmanship to get it done. Overseas partners will first contact our designated overseas producer, who is responsible for receiving brief and initial project information, as well as budget and schedule planning, and then enters the production process. We work with the client's time zone. In addition to email, we also use Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and other tools to facilitate their communication. Our team has had overseas artists, and also a co-producer from China. Illusion has continued to cooperate with Chinese creative agencies, and "Heaven and Hell" has made us famous internationally. Of course, we have also been assisting local Thai agencies and brands.
4
On the peak, the exploration non-stop
Everything starts with the founder's personalized aesthetics and trend prediction, combining the rather niche "hyperrealism" style with the pioneering CGI technology. With the help of like-minded people, after 20 years of devotion to the industry, a small studio in Bangkok has grown into the world's most famous print production agency.
Taking "make a masterpiece" as the business philosophy, the emergence of Illusion has influenced and led the development of print advertising, and continued the vitality and charm of still images in the digital media era.
However, in the face of numerous new marketing methods, how long will print ads's competitiveness last? As a highly personalized style, will "hyperrealism" also be some kind of restrictions or restraints?
In Post’s view , it is undoubtedly the digital age, technology is constantly affecting the creative process, NFTs, Internet celebrities, and the metaverse are becoming the focus of the industry, but still images will continue to be widely used in brand promotion. In addition, although the client will refer to the earlier works, while satisfying the needs of them, Illusion refuses to repeat itself, and never stops developing.
Post: We are always learning and experimenting, treating each brief as a new challenge. When the creative team gives a new direction, correspondingly, we need to explore new technologies and new procedures to present new results. It's like a new journey, there must be unexplored places. So we have to constantly reset our perception and keep it open.
Since student days being fond of "hyperrealist" painting, Surachai is still committed to it up until today. He admits that Illusion does not seek any new styles of work other than hyperrealism : "I believe the peak of 'hyperrealism' has yet to come, and many techniques are still to be developed and refined." Rather than planning for the future, Surachai prefers to focus on the present and focus on each specific case in front of him.
Surachai: Our future is now. We've spent a lot of time in the past looking to the future, as far as possible, to accelerate business development. But for business, spending so much energy on the future that you ignore the present can be problematic.
Today, more than ever, we know how to stick to the present and complete the research and development at hand. While preparing for future quests and transformations, we will delicately do our best work every day.
In the face of such a group of CGI masters with firm beliefs, skills and ingenuity, as readers, we unconsciously let go of our obsession with certainty and bravely fall into the illusion created by Illusion. Although the objects in the paintings are hard to tell between unreal and real, but people's experiences, feelings and memories are absolutely real.
~ At the end of the article, let's enjoy another wave of works ~
Karana Travelgear Karana Travel Bag
Brand: Karana Travelgear / Creative Agency: Ogilvy Thailand / Production Company: Illusion CGI studio
