Case Study · Complex
Complex
× MNNK Bro.
AI-generated environments & motion assets for a surreal editorial campaign.
For Complex's MNNK Bro. feature — the rap duo that includes Takashi Murakami — I helped develop a fully AI-generated visual world from supplied logos, artwork, and talent references. Chrome cities, diamond moons, flower characters, futuristic motorcycles, and dreamlike portals, designed to feel like the artists had stepped into Complex's version of the MNNK Bro. universe.
Overview
Complex needed a surreal visual system for an editorial and social rollout around MNNK Bro. — the rap duo that includes Takashi Murakami — and their collaborative world.
The brief wasn't a traditional photoshoot environment — it was a heightened, impossible universe. The artists travel through a portal into Complex's version of the MNNK Bro. world: chrome cityscapes, diamond moons, flower characters, inflated toy-like structures, motorcycles, and glossy dreamlike environments.
Role
I helped create the AI-generated environments and visual world used across the campaign. Working from supplied logos, artwork, character assets, and talent imagery, I generated and refined backgrounds, scene concepts, and dreamlike spaces tuned to MNNK Bro.'s identity while sitting cleanly inside Complex's editorial visual language.
In parallel, I created two AI-generated video assets and assisted with a third video that brought motion to the cover itself. I extended the still campaign into motion — giving the portal concept a cinematic sense of movement and atmosphere.
- Key Contributions
- AI environment design & generative visual development
- Worldbuilding around supplied MNNK Bro. logos, artwork & talent imagery
- Visual consistency across editorial covers, social carousels & motion
- Translating brand artwork into chrome cities, diamond moons & flower portals
- AI-generated motion assets to extend the portal concept into movement
- Art-directing for Complex's editorial visual tone
Visual World
The visual language combined glossy futurism, surreal toy-like forms, chrome architecture, oversized flower characters, diamond surfaces, motorcycle imagery, and portal-like environments — built to feel like a complete alternate world rather than a set of disconnected AI images.
Motion Assets
Three AI-generated motion pieces extended the world beyond still imagery — turning the magazine cover into a living, looping artifact and pulling the editorial carousel into atmosphere and movement.
Vinyl Edition
The cover art I created for the campaign was carried through into a physical vinyl edition for the MNNK Bro. release. Working alongside Takashi Murakami's team and the Complex design team, we adapted the cover into a full vinyl package — sleeve, Japanese title treatment, and a die-cut flower-shaped record pressed in pink, yellow, and orange.
First vinyl artwork.A personal milestone — my first vinyl album cover, taken from a campaign image into a physical artifact people can hold.
Outcome
A complete visual world. Supplied artwork and brand assets were transformed into a larger cinematic environment system that could carry editorial covers, social carousels, and motion assets without breaking continuity.
Editorial-grade AI. Every frame had to feel imaginative and AI-native, yet polished enough to sit inside a Complex editorial and social rollout — glossy futurism, Murakami-inspired surrealism, streetwear energy, and Complex's visual tone all balanced in one system.
Static into motion. Three AI-generated videos extended the campaign beyond stills, turning the magazine cover and editorial carousel into living, looping pieces with movement, scale, and atmosphere.