composite // interview with Fabio Palvelli
Creative Director at international studio 'Elephant Skin', co-founder of the D2 Conference and long time industry voice.
Fabio Palvelli has been a prominent voice in the field of architectural visualisation for several years. He is the co-founder of the D2 Conference which has become an industry highlight and a beacon for collaboration and connection between studios around the world.
“I break things (but then I try to make them better).” - Fabio Palvelli
Fabio recently joined the global studio Elephant Skin as a Creative Director, so it was the perfect time to discuss a range of topics with him, from big questions to small ones - gaining insight into his thinking about creativity, CGI and life in general:-
What is your name?
Fabio Palvelli
How many people work at Elephant Skin?
Last time I asked we were 120-130
Where are you based?
I am in Zurich, Switzerland - but Elephant Skin have 5 international offices, and remote members of the team around the world.
How would you summarise your work in three words?
I break things (but then I try to make them better).
What song or album have you been playing on repeat recently?
College Dropout from Kanye
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Pepper, my Israeli desert dog
How did you get started in the industry?
I started making images while studying architecture at uni in London, in 2006. I had a positive attitude towards 3d and post-production with Photoshop, which made me land some freelance gigs as a visualizer.
Then I moved to Vienna for my Masters, there I really got into visualization, but since I had lost most of my professional connections with the UK and had to start from zero, I had this idea to create a conference where I could invite the best artists to speak. This way I could learn the job from the best in the industry. This was the beginning of the D2 Vienna. From there, all things started to happen!
What would you say sets your work apart from others?
I think my true abilities are when dealing with people. In my work, I try to focus on understanding artists and clients and finding the right way to connect the two.
How do you balance artistic expression with technical accuracy?
I have the freedom in my position to push the envelope as much as I like. This is the great thing about Elephant Skin, they want you to take the liberty to act the way you think it is best, and of course, you are responsible for whatever decision you make, which is ultimately the purest form of creative freedom one can have.
The reality is that I have incredible teammates like product owners, client managers, and project managers that manage other processes which allow us creative people (directors and artists) to do crazy things.
How do you measure success in your work?
I am happy with what I do, that is all that matters.
What's your philosophy on customer service / working with clients / dealing with feedback?
We have a stage of the creation of a project that we refer to as the WOW phase. This is where we gather information and collaborate with the client to understand as much as possible what it is that they are looking for.
During this stage, we can do almost everything we want to test ideas and see what sticks. After this phase, the client helps us with changes and revisions. I have learned in my career that changes are not only inevitable, but they are also essential, if this process is controlled and done correctly it can really help the project be successful.
Finally, what advice would you give to someone new to our industry?
Just go for it. Give yourself time and forgive yourself when making mistakes. That's it, prepare yourself for the ride!
I would like to personally thank Fabio for his time and his openness during a very busy and exciting time of change for him personally and professionally. You can find out more about Elephant Skin here, and see more of Fabio’s personal image creation on his Instagram and Youtube.
If you’re still here, thanks for reading - this interview is part a series featuring artists, leaders and innovators in architectural visualisation and related fields. If you’d like to see more don’t forget to subscribe and share the post with someone else who might be interested.
If you have any follow-up thoughts to share with Fabio (or me), or if you have a question you’d love to be asked in future interviews, feel free to drop them in the comments below!
Thanks, and see you next time!
- JL
Awesome interview! Thank you