The design studio of eBoy harnesses the limited medium of the computer bit and creates infinity. With each click of the mouse, another pixel is populated with a calculated visual in mind. For over 20 years eBoy have sharpened their approach and aesthetic. All the while they’ve been true to their initial concept.
eBoy is composed of Svend Smital, Steffan Sauerteig and Kai Vermehr. Smital and Sauerteig grew up in East Germany, which was arrested in comparison to what was happening in West Germany.
Let alone further abroad.
“Everything was really black and white in the East, all the buildings were worn down. No billboards, not even that many trees. In the West it was shiny, everything was colorful.” – Smital
As he had done for many, John Peel’s weekly BBC radio show enlightened them to the burgeoning Punk Rock movement. Whilst having German heritage Vermehr grew up in Guatemala, and recalls a similar feeling of living in a closed society. As fate should have it the 3 eBoys would cross paths and forge friendships in a post-wall Berlin. Smital and Sauerteig were able to indulge their new found love for typography and abstract layouts whilst studying at the Berlin Institute of Design. This also where they met Vermehr.
“I think we were maybe the first among the artists we related to that said, you don’t have to print it, you can have it on your computer.” – Vermehr
eBoy has collaborated with a veritable who’s who of clients including Coca Cola, The New York Times, Paul Smith, MTV and the list goes on. Bread and butter jobs such as the aforementioned allow them to compose their true masterworks known as Pixoramas. Pixoramas are vast cityscapes that are constructed from scratch. Pixel by pixel, bit by bit. eBoy have an extensive library of images that have already been created and can be adapted to new settings. Cities such as New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, Rio and Berlin have all been immortalised in eBoy’s Pixoramas.
A pixorama is a unique interpretation of a city. eBoy are not afraid to show to the seedy underbelly, nor are they sheepish about nudity, superheroes, villians, crime, monsters or war. It is not uncommon to find all these things happening simultaneously. Amidst all of the chaos there is always a safe haven, a place of relaxation. This feature is intrinsic to the pixorama. The closer you examine eBoy’s work the more you see. The amount of detail is truly staggering. There is endless amounts of pixel art in the world, however it is truly paled in comparison to eBoy’s depth and quality.
* Video from http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/17/5803850/pixel-perfect-the-story-of-eboy