A 'Snow Beasts' MINI and Custom Burton Snowboards by Illustrator Andreas Preis.

A creative collaboration between MINI, Burton Snowboards and urban artist Andreas Preis resulted in hand-painted Burton snowboards and a decked out MINI Paceman, all created for the Burton European Open in Laax.








A matte white MINI Cooper D ALL4 Paceman was given to Preis to use as a blank canvas. Left to the creative devices of Andreas, the car was transformed into the MINI Paceman SNOW BEAST.







Highlighting the MINI maxim of Creative Use of Space, he went to work emblazoning each side with heraldic creatures of the highlands, or SNOW BEASTS, as he calls them. The five emblematic animals include: the lynx for its gracefulness, the eagle for its vision, the ibex for ambition, the wolf for teamwork, and the owl for its wisdom.







"SNOW BEASTS all have properties that make them role models for people who move in the mountains and snow," Andreas explained while a warm winter sun shone through the glass of the MINI C_ART Container. "Snowboarders move with grace, ambition, vision and wisdom and have the most fun when they're on a team. These technical and aesthetic qualities of SNOW BEASTS are what I wanted to express on the MINI."



A dedicated snowboarder (and skateboarder) himself, Andreas imbued the installation with his first-hand knowledge of these qualities... and may have done some extra research while on site. "During the breaks I was able to get together with the Burton and MINI crew and put in a few runs, which was really cool. I'm definitely not as good as the kids competing, but I love to ride."

The beautiful snowboards:





In addition to the patina he gave the MINI Paceman, Andreas's stickers and hand-painted MINI custom SNOW BEASTS snowboards were given away to lucky riders both on site and online.


above: Andreas Preis with one of his custom Burton snowboards that was raffled of at the event.

You can also find some of Andreas' illustrative work for sale here at Society 6

information and images courtesy of MINI , Burton, and Andreas Preis

23 Thai Artists, Designers & Brands Interpret the MINI in Scale Models.

The MINI Thailand Design Celebration commemorated half a century of the iconic MINI design tradition by commissioning leading Thai artists, designers and brands to interpret the classic car, all in the form of a 1:3 scale fiberglass model.



The artists had total freedom to express their individual creativity and the participating designers presented their model MINIs On October 27th to the public.

Then, from November 20 - 30, the cars were displayed at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center and Central World Plaza as part of the Bangkok Design Festival 2010, where MINI was also the official car.






























Participants included Taweesak Srithingdee, Jitsinga Somboon, Wuttikorn Kongka, Moey Scrubb, Sarit Hoontragul, and Dolchai Boonyarattawesh. Herman Miller and Wallpaper were amongst the brands participating.


above: TK Stripe by Santi Lawrachawee in collaboration with Nattapol Rojjanaratanangkool.©


above image courtesy of flickr




Finally, in January, the designed cars were auctioned off by MINI Thailand with all proceeds going to The Reading Room, a non-profit organization operated by The Foundation for the Promotion and Preservation of Thai Art.

images courtesy of MINI space, Mini.com.au, flickr and Wallpaper (Thai)