As market-friendly branding or its subversive inversion, loveable kitsch or urban art - contemporary character design, abstract and reduced to the essentials, has redefined aesthetic standards of visual communication worldwide. By playfully sampling and remixing visual codes, these characters evade established pictorial norms, confronting the viewer head on, emotionally and regardless of cultural background.
The Pictoplasma Archives began in 1999 as the world’s first extensive inventory, collection and showcase of contemporary character design. With the countless images collected, pictoplasma examines the vast array of possibilities characters offer as signs of an independent graphical language. Pictoplasma is a curated public archive of the most daring and outstanding characters in a growing global network.
In a series of curated Pictoplasma Exhibitions, installations, group shows and happenings, contemorary character art exposes the viewer with the physical impact of reduced figuration in the third dimension: the tangible delights of plush dolls and costumes, the heart warming spontaneity of hand-drawn scribbles, the cool perfectionism of high-res, larger than life cardboard stand-ups and the interactive challenge of a character-driven rodeo installation.
The annual Pictoplasma Animation Festival puts the style back into animation with a unique overview of outstanding international short films, music videos and motion graphics. Conceived as an event to alternate with the biennial pictoplasma conference, the two-day festival showcases fresh new character design reclaiming the world of animation.
Since 2004, the Pictoplasma Conference brings together a disparate community of international character creators and producers from the worlds of illustration, animation, design, street and fine art. While the format has meanwhile traveled to NYC and Argentina, the focus remains on the exploration of common territory. The lively exchange between the various disciplines highlightes the importance of contemporary characters in today’s visual understanding.
Timeless and stylish, all pictoplasma publications have become overnight bestsellers and a must-have for everyone interested in the creation of character related art. The vast pictorial encyclopaedias by Pictoplasma Pubishing focus on general tendencies and complex interrelations within contemporary character design.
Since the beginning in 1999 Picoplasma has evolved as the first platform for the distribution and collection of artistically conceived character design and art. Today, Pictoplasma Services are able to act as a non-exclusive middleman between potential clients or agencies and the vast network of international artists, illustrators and cartoonists represented by Pictoplasma.
