NICKLAS PETTERSEN

Explorations

  • 3D modelling & lighting
  • Texture & type
  • UI skins
  • Illustration & pixel art
  • Paper & print
  • Experiments

A look into the sketchbook. Side projects, experiments and ideas that never made it to a release – some unfinished, some put on hold, and a few I simply couldn’t stop playing with. Nothing here was made for a client, so feel free to poke around: most of it reacts when you touch it.

Scrapped Pixel-art character with a cracked, glowing visor #0001

Pixel character tests

When NFTs took off I started on a generative collection built around a character: 64 × 64 pixels, with swappable visors, headwear, mouths, outfits and backgrounds. A handful of test combinations came out of it before I shelved the idea. Mint one for old times’ sake.

Personal projectWork in progress
Serum 2 with the LUMI skin
Serum 2 with the default skin
DefaultLUMI

LUMI · A skin for Serum 2

A custom skin for the Serum 2 synth: glassy, glowing knobs, colour-coded tabs and a keyboard that lights up as you play. Pick a view, then drag to compare it with the default skin.

Drag to compare
3D model · Cinema 4D Three Riptide chronographs side by side: rose gold, gold with a blue dial, and silver with a black dial Nude Beach: rose-gold case, blush dial, dark brown strap open at the buckle Gold Tetra: gold case with a deep blue mottled dial and tan leather strap Silver Surfer: polished steel case, black dial and dark strap

Riptide · Timepieces

A chronograph modelled, textured and lit in Cinema 4D, in three finishes named in the Riptide spirit – Nude Beach, Gold Tetra and Silver Surfer. Stacked bezel rings, a debossed monogram on the strap and a dial built down to the sub-dial ticks. Pick a model and move over it – or press and hold on a phone – to look closer.

Hover – or press and hold – to inspect
Macro of the Nude Beach dial and hands
Low angle across the Silver Surfer dial with the gold watches behind
Gold Tetra crown and pushers in close-up
Nude Beach at an angle, showing the strap stitching
The three models cropped tight, straps and all
Silver Surfer test render on grey, from the side
Untextured clay render of the case
Close-up of the Silver Surfer dial text
3D test render Helmet render in the dark, visor glowing The same helmet under grey studio light

Helmet study

Test render of the Riptide helmet. Flip the studio lights and see what the visor does in the dark.

Playlist cover Friday Night Sessions cover with VHS glitch texture

Friday Night Sessions

Cover art for a playlist. Hover or tap for the signal drop.

Experiment Psychedelic liquid texture in neon blues, greens and pinks

Liquid textures

The raw paint behind the Come Along lettering. Move your cursor – or drag a finger – to stir it.

Move to stir
Scrapped Come Along lettering melting in liquid neon colours
The raw texture before it became type
TextureType

Come Along · Concept header

Made as a header concept for the song, but ultimately scrapped. From texture to type: the same liquid paint, poured into a script and left to drip.

Drag to compare
Uni · Final major project The Drunken Whale facade in daylight, doors closed The Drunken Whale at night with the doors open and the scene inside lit up

One building, four venues

My final major project at uni. A paper building where every side is its own venue at its own hour of the day – a pub at 3 PM, an arcade at 6, a cinema at 8 and a club at 2 AM. Open the doors and four cut-out layers behind them build up a lit, 3D scene.

Pick a venue, open the doors
Corner view of Rock Solid and The Drunken Whale
Corner view of Spacecade and The Grand Avenue
The Grand Avenue and Rock Solid at night, doors open
The Drunken Whale and Spacecade at night, doors open
Uni project
The Darkness – The Classics: pop-up sleeve with a mountain, a sun and a spaceship over a neon grid

The Darkness · The Classics

Uni project: a concept for a new vinyl release by The Darkness. The album is called The Classics, so the whole concept leans into a nostalgic yet futuristic retro feel – neon grids, a low sun, palm silhouettes, a low-poly spaceship and a pixelated take on the band’s script logo. It comes as a pop-up gatefold sleeve with a printed label and a matching poster.

Hover the record
Uni project A1 poster for The Classics: a pink mountain sunset with a spaceship flying over the water

The Classics · Poster

A1 poster for the release, set in the same retro-futuristic world as the sleeve. Originally printed on matte paper.

The sleeve opened, showing the inside print
The record sliding out of the inner sleeve
The gatefold laid out with the record and label
The gatefold next to the presentation box
The back cover with the tracklist
The Darkness – The Classics logo: pink pixel script with a blue chrome subtitle
Illustration The same scene as pixel art
Vector illustration: a white sports car crossing a suspension bridge towards a pink city skyline at sunset
VectorPixel

Sunset drive · Vector vs. pixel

One scene, two eras: a flat vector illustration of a night drive into a neon city, alongside a pixel-art version of the same scene.

Drag to compare
Alt. format Vibrance artwork in a wide format: a frozen robotic hand and a helmet in the snow

Vibrance · Wide cut

The full scene behind the square cover, before it was cropped down for streaming.

3D test render Black helmet in profile with an iridescent visor

Helmet study · Profile

Lighting test for the visor material.