Lucas Borras on Mixing It up with Mixed Media
It kinda feels greedy to be a master at both live-action and animation but Lucas Borras’s creative appetite knows no bounds. His award-winning work is a banquet of creativity but that’s enough with the food analogies, we wanted to catch up with Lucas to see why mixing it up works so well in the world of commercials. Furthermore, we wanted to learn more about Lucas’s process and the pros and cons of working in a mixed-media format.
Q> What inspired you to get into visual storytelling in the first place?
Lucas> My journey into visual storytelling began with a love for filmmaking, sparked by my friends who were filmmakers themselves. Growing up in the '90s, I was captivated by MTV, particularly the innovative music videos of Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze. Japanese animation and cartoons also played a huge role in shaping my early visual language.
The Chemical Brothers ‘Let Forever Be’ directed by Michel Gondry
As I grew older, my fascination with iconic films like '2001: A Space Odyssey' solidified my passion. It's a blend of influences that continues to inspire my work today.
Q> Were you always experimenting with different forms of media to craft stories?
Lucas> It’s been an evolution. I started with a fascination for art and physical crafts, influenced early on by my father, an artist. My weekends as a kid were filled with museum visits, where I developed a deep appreciation for form and colour. As I delved into filmmaking, design, photography, and typography, I began experimenting - giving typography a volumetric feel through sculpture, merging analogue with digital, and exploring the emotional resonance of stop motion and live-action. I’ve always been drawn to the spaces where different mediums intersect. For me, storytelling has never been about using just one tool - it’s about expanding the toolkit and pushing boundaries.
There’s a kind of magic you can only find when you step outside the screen... and then return to it with new materials to merge and transform.
Q> What excites you the most about working within mixed media and what’s the most
daunting aspect?
Lucas> What excites me most about working within mixed media is the sense of creative freedom - it’s like speaking multiple visual languages at once. Each medium brings its own texture, emotion, and possibilities, and when you blend them thoughtfully, you can tell stories that are deeply layered and unexpected. Each medium also connects with the audience emotionally on a different level, and I love that about mixed media - you can harness the very best of each form to create something truly unique.
Whether it’s placing 2D illustration within a CGI environment or merging stop-motion with live action, there’s a magic that emerges - something that gives a story a dreamlike touch that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. I’m drawn to the challenge of finding the right balance, where every element enhances the narrative and creates a singular emotional experience.
American Express ‘Personal Loans’
The most daunting part is also what makes it so exciting: navigating the complexity. Mixed media projects often involve many moving pieces - multiple teams, tools, workflows, and creative languages - and aligning them under one cohesive vision requires both precision and flexibility. But that tension is where the breakthroughs happen. It’s where you stretch, evolve, and ultimately elevate the work.
But for me, that tension is part of the joy - it pushes the work to a higher place.
Q> Maybe you could let us peer behind the creative curtain and share one example of an obstacle you faced with a brief and how you overcame it.
Lucas> One of the most memorable challenges I faced was during the Shopify 'Marketplace Replatformers' campaign. The brief was ambitious: create a suite of localised video ads across six global markets, speaking directly to experienced marketplace sellers and inspiring them to expand their business with Shopify.
We initially planned a film that would be 80% live action and 20% animation. But as we progressed, that balance flipped completely - eventually becoming 80% animation and 20% live action. That pivot could have derailed us, but instead, it became a lesson in adaptability. I leaned into listening - really listening - to the evolving needs of the client and responded with quick, effective solutions grounded in ideas that still hit the original brief.
The biggest creative hurdle? We had no established brand guidelines - just three static screenshots. For a campaign of this scale and visibility, that level of ambiguity could have easily slowed us down. But I saw it as an opportunity.
I proactively built a visual system from the ground up, initiating collaborative meetings across Shopify teams to extract design preferences, tone, and brand language. I led explorations in gradients, UI, typography, and motion - developing prototypes that acted as tools for alignment as much as they were design tests. We shaped the brand together, in motion.
I also kept the team energised by turning uncertainty into possibility. I encouraged exploration, while always anchoring us in our north star: empowering sellers to feel ownership over their brand and growth.
The result? Over 120 localised video assets delivered! But more than that, we created a brand visual language where none existed - and delivered a clear, powerful message: with Shopify, you can sell anywhere.
That experience reminded me that the best creative breakthroughs often come from constraint - and that the key to leading through ambiguity is empathy, curiosity, and decisiveness.
Q> Are you a filmmaker who is always on the lookout for implementing new technologies or do you like to keep your methods simple?
Lucas> As a filmmaker, I'm always eager to explore what's next, but I don't rush to implement everything immediately. I'm fascinated by new technologies, innovative approaches, and fresh ideas, while also appreciating the value of past methods. It's this blend of the old and new that keeps my work dynamic and interesting.
Q> With mixed media becoming more popular in the advertising space how do you make sure your work stands out from the crowd?
Lucas> I strive to craft a voice that's unmistakably my own - where playfulness meets elegance, and every detail is guided by a strong sense of art direction and design. Blending live action, 2D animation, stop-motion, and CGI, I shape visual worlds that are both distinctive and cohesive. Instead of following trends, I lean into authenticity, what interests me, allowing a minimalist sensibility to lead the way. My choices are rooted in genuine curiosity, and that clarity seems to resonate - people often recognise and connect with the look and feel of my work.
Even across diverse collaborations and brands, there’s a throughline in the aesthetics—one that clients not only embrace but help amplify, all while honouring their own unique voice.
Q> Filmmaking is about collaboration, and learning from those around you. However it can be hard to break into the industry, especially for those of under-represented backgrounds, maybe you could tell us more about how you nurture and collaborate with the younger generation of storytellers?
Lucas> I’d love to share a personal story that really connects with this topic. Back in 2016, I met Alicja, a friend who was fresh out of film school with limited commercial experience. I took her under my wing, where she learned the craft with me for about a year. Eventually, I partnered with her into a duo, called Paloma, which we ran with for six years.
I believe strongly in nurturing, mentoring, and collaborating with emerging talents. I've also taught at ArtCenter, so I’m close to the idea of guiding students' growth. Throughout my career, I've been mentored by incredible professionals, which has been instrumental to my success. I feel it's crucial for those in our field to help others, especially individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. It’s vital to create more inclusive spaces in our industry.
Q> You’re hopping into the DeLorean and going back in time to pay young Lucas a visit, what advice would you give him?
Lucas> Do your thing. Stay humble, trust your process, and focus on the present not worry too much about the future. Especially not to worry so much about finances.
If the blending of live–action and animation is something that inspires you then everyone at NERD would highly recommend checking out more of Lucas’s work here.
