12 Cute Low-Polygon 3D Artworks by Erwin Kho

The characters in your work are very lovable, where do you get the inspiration in creating them?

I consider all the objects to be sort of characters, so not just the humanoid figures, but the animals, plants, buildings and machines as well. They are all miniatures, in a way, like miniature versions of their realistic and more serious (virtual) counterparts. By treating them like this, the styling process becomes quite free and playful.

Besides motion-graphics animation, do you experiment on using other mediums or techniques?

Working digital all the time can get frustrating, it’s not tangible. So I draw (and write) short comics from time to time and that’s all done the old fashioned way: with pen, ink, paper. It’s great to get away from the screen, though I wouldn’t mind a real life undo-button.

Can you tell us more about using low-polygon aesthetics in your work? What do you think makes this aesthetic very appealing?

I think it’s the way it stylizes a shape into something recognizable but autonomous as well. There’s this honesty in the low-polygon shapes. It doesn’t pretend to *be* a realistic car or bird, with perfect texture maps and real-life imitating geometry.

What is the story behind your Ecology series?

It was inspired by RTS games. I love how much effort the gaming companies put in making the units come to life and how they depict this mini economy buzzing across the screen. So in a way Ecology is a homage to that, but with a slightly darker undertone. The three landscapes are not necessarily the same piece of ground, but it does show different periods of artificial interference.

What keeps you busy nowadays? Any new projects that you’re working on right now?

I’m working on a theme for the Playstation 3, together with Studio Output. The final piece should look pretty cool, with flying alien mantas, space stations… Oh and a monorail!