Creativity Squared: Dreaming Up Worlds with Tom Alex Buch

I love the problem solving nature and the focus required to make great media. Ads, original content, stadium screens, whatever it is we make it our own, I enjoy stepping into different digital realms. As we enter our fifth year, we accept all kinds of work and love it that way. One glance though and you may think that clean, focused 3D motion and storytelling has become our hallmark. But ultimately I think the process is the throughline in our work. 

Back growing up in a very rural part of the UK, time moved biblically slowly. For whatever reason I always had a fierce drive to make the next drawing, painting or Lego spaceship the masterpiece, or at least superior to the last. A tragic little artist, I put a lot of pressure on myself, but while working, there were moments I entered nirvana / flow state and it was addictive and felt meaningful.

It's not surprising to say I loved videogames, film, anime, but I was a sponge and dreamt of making my own worlds. I understood that if I could do something similar and have that effect on someone else it was powerful and lasting.

All this pressure and focus served me well as a digital painter and illustrator in my teens, as a 3D artist winning pitches with NYC animation studios in my 20s and now with the day-to-day of directing, designing and helping run Unsaid Studio.

My creative process has always been a series of conflicting beliefs, the chatter between right and left brain. It's initially instinctual, comes from somewhere unknown, but then logic takes over and judges, and harshly.

Sometimes I see a piece of work as thousands of micro decisions all stacked on top of each other. Other times it’s really important to explore with abandon and throw the rulebook out. What I do know is that unfortunately it’s not always easy, often good work requires patience, being humble, determination and grit. And in the end you know you’ve done it right if it's a breeze to sell (talk through why your decisions are good) or ultimately just draws emotion from people.  

Unsaid Studio was born when I met co-founder Doug Bello, a Brazilian director and animator who had the exact same approach to work that I did. We were both in great demand on the freelance scene, and our values meant we were ruthlessly efficient. A lot of the companies we worked in were segregated and bloated in one form or another, and we believed creativity was between the lines and specific roles. 

We try to find fellow multidisciplinary craftspeople that love the process and embrace the complexities and flexibility required to make quality work, not just the result. I believe this shows in our company's portfolio. We have a large variation of work, but it always seems hyper-focused and clean because the first pass is never enough and we know when and how to pick our battles. 

We’ve found these creative souls on all continents, not just in our native UK and Brazil and have found that language is not a huge barrier if artists align with our beliefs. Our team is growing more diverse by the month.

I have the feeling that all of my work over the years has also shown me some universal truths about design, the best work in any field tends to stand the test of time and place. Often because it goes beyond personal opinion, it just works and I love the search for that.

I guess that same kid is still chasing that enduring legacy that comes with making that timeless masterpiece. Get in touch with us if you too are naïve enough to think the next one could be it.