Best, not biggest

MR.P Studios

An interview with

Our partners

MR.P Studios is an award-winning visualisation and image making practice based in Melbourne. Specialising in architectural renders that blur the lines between ‘virtual’ and ‘reality’, they’ve recently helped Fortis create a stunning suite of imagery to accompany the launch of Pillar+Tide in Brighton. To learn more about their highly-specialised creative services, we recently spoke with MR.P Studios Founder, Phil Horton.

Q—Phil, can you tell us a little about MR.P Studios please?

A—Like most good things that happen in life, I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I’m originally from the UK and randomly met an Australian girl—now my wife—who dragged me back to Melbourne in 2011 as she was fed up with the English weather. At the time, the UK was still scrambling slowly out of the 2009 GFC and it was all a bit doom and gloom, so I thought, why not!? Melbourne is sunny and 30 degrees everyday… right!? Luckily for me, the Melbourne property market was on fire (unlike the weather) and towers were popping up everywhere. There was high demand for my work and our talented team of artists grew organically from there.

Q—How would you describe your philosophy?

A—One of our main values of MR. P is to be the best, not the biggest. The quality of our artwork is always our number one focus and we spend a lot of studio time researching and practicing outside of paid project work. ‘RnD’ (Research & Development) plays an important role in progressing the skills of our artist team and we develop tools and processes that can better our future projects. One of the main values I like to instil in our team is we should never be afraid to fail. Our studio is a safe place. Without failure we will never grow.

Q—What trends are you noticing at the moment?

A—The biggest trend is one that’s been around for too long in my view, dappled light. I’ve been trying to fight this repetitive art direction, as it makes every image and project look the same. Somehow filtered sunlight through a giant tree can appear everywhere from the top floor of a tower to the ensuite bathroom at the back of an apartment building. I’ve even seen it appear in lobbies with no windows! A far more positive trend is how small the world has become since the pandemic began. Today, a large portion of our projects are now with overseas clients. This has highlighted to us just how progressive and world-leading the property market is here in Australia.

Q—What’s the most important stage of a project?

A—Before we even quote a job, we find the most important stage is researching the client team to make sure we’re the right fit for each other. If your values and aspirations are not aligned it will be a difficult journey to get a result all stakeholders are proud of.

Q—Pillar+Tide was our first collaboration—and a great success. Why do you think our two businesses worked so well together?

A—Again, it’s all about being closely aligned to achieve the best results. Fortis is a good example of a client we look forward to working with, because you have a strong identity and vision for the built environment. We both have high standards for how our work is delivered and perceived by the world, as what we produce represents our core business values: quality and honesty.

Q—At the end of a project, what does success look like?

A—Internally, success is achieved when we’ve bettered our last project and learned something new along the way. This could be something technical or service related, both are important. Externally, success is always measured by the clicks our work generates and, more importantly, a positive experience for both the sales team and the customer. This external success is very important to us and it’s why we always try to find a hook that makes a project stand out from the crowd for the right reasons.

Based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Prahran, MR.P Studios is a passionate team of highly skilled artists. Working with a diverse selection of clients, both locally and internationally, they’re best known for creating outstanding architectural renders. But they also partner with a fascinating mix of non-architectural clients each year, drawn from worlds as diverse as music, legal services, fine art and more.

Pillar+Tide, Brighton

Visit mrpstudios.com

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