eBoy is a
pixel art
Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers and arcade video g ...
group founded in 1997 by Kai Vermehr, Steffen Sauerteig and Svend Smital.
Their complex illustrations have been made into posters, shirts, souvenirs, and displayed in gallery exhibitions.
They were founded on May 2, 1997. "We started working with pixels because we loved the idea of making pictures only for the screen. It’s the best way to get really sharp and clean looking results. Also, handling pixels is fun and you are forced to simplify and abstract things, which is a big advantage of this technique."
eBoy is based in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
.
Their influences come from: "Pop culture... shopping, supermarkets, TV, toy commercials,
LEGO
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlockin ...
, computer games, the news, magazines..."
Kai grew up with
Nintendo to inspire him, the rest of the eBoys lived in East Germany where video games did not exist.
Their work makes intense use of popular culture and commercial icons, and their style is presented in three-dimensional
isometric
The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement".
isometric may mean:
* Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system
* Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music.
* "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...
illustrations filled with robots, cars, guns and girls. Now, most of their designs are printed and not used solely for computer screens, allowing images to get more complex with details.
"If we don't work on other projects at the same time it takes about six to eight weeks to finish a very detailed cityscape, three eBoy's working on it, nearly full time. But, if we have to do it in our spare time, which happens often, it could take years to finish a picture since we can't spend so much time on it."
Their style has gained them a cult following among graphic designers worldwide,
as well as a long list of commercial clients. Another one of their projects are plastic Peecol toys with
Kidrobot
Kidrobot is a producer and retailer of designer toys, vinyl art toys and collectibles founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Paul Budnitz. The company was one of the earliest creators of designer art toys in America.
The company was acquired in November ...
, and a line of wooden toys are to be produced under their own label.
eBoy has completed "Pixoramas" on cities like Tokyo, Paris, Rio, Berlin and London and are currently funding their newest cityscape based on San Francisco via
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...
. They have also worked with brands such as
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...
,
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...
,
Adidas,
Gola and
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
. They worked on creating the album cover for
Groove Armada
Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles " At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of ...
's 2007 studio album ''
Soundboy Rock
''Soundboy Rock'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic music duo Groove Armada, released on 4 May 2007 by Columbia Records.
Content
The cover art was created by pixel artists eBoy.
The song "From the Rooftops" contains an uncredi ...
'', as well as
the Wombats
The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards) ...
' 2022 album ''
Fix Yourself, Not the World
''Fix Yourself, Not the World'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Wombats, released on 14 January 2022. It was preceded by the singles "Method to the Madness", "If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You", "Ready for the High", and " ...
''.
Major Pixoramas (city and landscape scenes)
* Shift Ecity (1998)
* Berlin (1st edition 2002)
* Venice (1st edition 2002)
* Superbroncobattle (1st edition 2004)
* London (1st edition 2005)
* Cologne (1st edition 2005)
* New York (1st edition 2006)
* FooBar (1st edition 2006)
* Tokyo (1st edition 2007
NFT* Baltimore (1st edition 2008)
* Los Angeles (1st edition 2008)
* Marseille (perspective from city, 1st edition 2009)
* Amnesty (1st edition 2009)
* Paris (1st edition 2010)
* Rio (1st edition 2011)
* Marseille (perspective from sea, 1st edition 2012)
* BazQux (1st edition 2013)
* Miami (1st edition 2014)
* San Francisco (1st edition 2015)
* Moscow (1st edition 2021
NFT
Other Notable Pixoramas
* Maker Faire (1st edition 2007)
* MIA Miami Airport (2014)
Collaborations
Adidas, Adobe, Nike, Honda, Paul Smith
Louis Vuitton DKNY, Kidrobot, The Wombats, Yuzu, Uniqlo, FontShop, Marriott, Net-A-Porter, and many more.
Exhibitions
SuperBroncoBattle - 2004
The first solo UK exhibition of eBoy was at the
Minuco underground gallery in
Clerkenwell London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
.
eBoy-LA - 2008
The exhibition at
Concrete Hermit in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, saw
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
get the eBoy treatment. There was a chance to see the development of the
Peecols – eBoy’s series of toys. There was the opportunity to see the Blockbob prototypes and limited editions of the figures.
References
External links
eBoy - Official websiteeBoy - Official databaseeBoy's famous London poster2004 London eBoy 'SuperBroncoBattle' show at Minuco's underground gallery Clerkenwell 2008 London 'eBoy- LA' show at Concrete Hermit2014 "Pixel Perfect: The Story of eBoy" The Verge2014 "eBoy and the perfection of pixels" The Verge on YouTube2008 "Eboy: Berlin's ‘godfathers of pixel’" CafébabeleBoy on FoundationeBoy on objkt.com (hic et nunc)
Social links
eBoy on TwittereBoy on InstagramProject Blockbob on TwitterProject Blockbob on Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eboy
Computer graphics organizations
1997 establishments in Canada
1997 establishments in California
1997 establishments in Germany