Living the Dream: Joe Mortell's Surrealist Visions Bring Our Ideal Space to Life

Joe Mortell creates dreamy designs, where the organic and inorganic marry in beautiful harmony. Details rule supreme— shadows to show natural lighting, curated hardcover books, and greenery in motion. You just want to step into this world of balance and peace, but that’s the catch, they are 3D. Mortell creates surreal spaces that reimagine how we live and inhabit space, and are influencing the physical world with his “The Shirinda Residence” design being transformed into a physical space.

Originally from Cheltenham, Mortell moved to London to study graphic design 15 years ago at Central Saint Martins. After graduating, Mortell worked in app design, and branding and created websites. In 2016 the designer discovered Cinema 4D and began to experiment with Cinema 4D as a hobby for a few years, before getting enough clients to make it his full-time job.

Joe Mortell is an architect for a new future, where technology and nature co-exist, and humans live peacefully with the natural world.

What spaces inspire you, and how are these references transformed into your designs?

One of my favourite places to visit in London for inspiration is the Barbican Centre. The inside has so many great architectural details that you notice as you walk through. There’s also a big, glass-roofed, leafy sanctuary where they have tropical plants and trees, birdlife, and exotic fish. If you haven’t been, I would recommend a visit. Any spaces like this inspire me where there is a mix of natural elements and architecture.

When I find a place or an image that inspires me I build a big collection of images that have a similar feel. When an idea comes up I have a look through all of these and see if there’s something I can use as a starting point. For my design “Biophilia Conservatory” I used the sanctuary Barbican Centre as the main inspiration.

What does your design process look like?

My process now involves having a loose idea in my mind and collecting lots of reference images. I prefer not to sketch anything and start working directly in Cinema 4D, where I can quickly experiment with objects and camera angles to see how I can make the idea work. I work on a direction for the idea for a few hours, and if I feel it could be better, I’ll start again with a fresh approach the next time I work on it.

Your designs are very realistic and look like you can step into them in the physical world. There is also a clear design style where nature and architecture co-exist with their surroundings. Is there a philosophy behind this?

I believe people are drawn to more natural organic places and it’s down to practical reasons that we can’t live in them. I think humans are not meant to live in white boxy rooms! It's just because they’re the most efficient. I try to explore more ways that natural and organic shapes can be designed digitally because, in the real world, they cost so much to make. Designing in 3D without all of those constraints allows 3D artists to experiment a lot more.

It was very exciting to see that your design “The Shirinda Residence," was transformed into space in the physical world. Is that a goal for all your 3D renderings? When is a design complete?

Having that design made into a real space felt very surreal! I didn’t manage to travel to Australia to see it in person, so I saw it being built through photos and videos sent over by people there. Which probably added to how crazy it felt that it was being made. When I make a new design, I don’t think about it being made in the physical world, but I would love to build some more if a chance comes along in the future.

When it comes to feeling that a design is complete, I’m mainly trying to capture the original image I have in my mind. That can change a lot when trying to build it in 3D. If I feel it’s not going as I imagined, I will save it in a folder to come back to and start on a new idea. I always need to feel like I’m really satisfied with it.

What are your next steps as a designer, and what do you think the future of 3D design is?

I would love to work on more projects involving building real sets or making longer animations that feature travelling through spaces I design! The nice thing about working in this field is that there are so many different areas you can experiment with. If one area feels a bit repetitive, there are always new approaches you can try. This year, AI has started to show many new possibilities in which 3D artists can work. At the moment, I use it to generate ideas for almost every project and I am looking forward to seeing how it develops next year. The ability to art direct it and have more control is coming very soon which will change the speed in which 3D artists can work.

Interview by @weir.amber

Images courtesy of @joemortell

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