When it comes to paper craft, Adrian Woods and Gidi van Maarseveen are the team to beat. Known collectively as Adrian & Gidi, the two are known for their playful but still refined approach toward their work, which includes craft, design, and animation.
Based in Amsterdam, the two first met at the Royal Academy of Arts, where they first joined hands (and hearts). Since graduating in 2012, the duo has worked alongside a talented team of designers and crafters to produce stunning creative content, collaborating with a wide range of brands and agencies. Their selected clientele includes publications and brands as big as ELLE, Vogue, Clinique, and Adobe.
“We studied together, and helped each other with our art projects,” they recalled in an interview with Medium. “Our working together during the study blossomed into a relationship, which grew into a working collaboration. So actually, in a way, we have been working together since we met.”
Besides their love for crafting paper the couple also sporadically works with a wide range of other materials including styrofoam, plexiglass, miniatures, and wood. But no matter the material, the end result is always something unique and well made. “Every project has its own challenges,” say Adrian & Gidi. “When we are working with unfamiliar materials, and tight deadlines it can be challenging to get good results in limited time. But till now, we have seemed to manage.”
And when it comes to inspiration, they seem to come by plenty of it in their day-to-day. “We love going to the paper shop, the shear amount of colors and textures are a big inspiration,” they note
“Design wise we get a lot of inspiration from our daily lives. For instance, when working on miniature architecture we get a lot of inspiration from the old buildings here in Amsterdam. You notice all the little details, and everything around you turns into miniature sets in your head.”
The internet also provides them with endless sources of inspiration. Take a look at some of their stunning results in the gallery below.
