Alex Nechifor

About Me

Hi! I'm Alex, a passionate 2D and 3D artist and animator with a deep love for storytelling through motion. With expertise spanning animation, rigging, modeling, texturing, look development, and motion design, I bring creative visions to life.

I thrive on solving complex creative challenges, blending technical precision with artistic expression, always pushing for the highest standards in execution.

About Me

I thrive on solving complex creative challenges, blending technical precision with artistic expression, always pushing for the highest standards in execution.

Work Experience

11/2020 - 12/2024

3D Animator, Rigger, 2D and 3D Artist | plai studio

Multi-reality experiences and mobile games for Nike, Disney, Meta, Google, BBC, Channel 4, Peacock, Christie's, Timberland, Snap, Live Nation, Kygo, Kraft, PetLabCo, Purina, General Mills, ESPN, Dior, The North Face, Costa, Moncler, Adidas, Pokerstars Casino, Bonnaroo, and others. Software: Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Photoshop, After Effects, Esoteric Spine, Unity, Lens Studio, Meta Spark

11/2020 - 12/2024

3D Animator, Rigger, 2D and 3D Artist | plai studio

05/2020 - 07/2020

3D Animator and Rigger | Vision3

Adapting 3D models to realtime (topology and textures), rigging and animation for Valens Reef VR Experience. Software: Maya, Substance Painter, Photoshop

05/2020 - 07/2020

3D Animator and Rigger | Vision3

Adapting 3D models to realtime (topology and textures), rigging and animation for Valens Reef VR Experience. Software: Maya, Substance Painter, Photoshop

10/2018 - 05/2020

Lead 2D Game Animator | R/GA

Production of digital books included in the Happy Meal App, with animated illustrations based on stories by Cresida Cowel, best known for the book series "How to Train Your Dragon". As Lead Animator, I was responsible for developing workflows involving the preparation of assets in Photoshop, rigging and animating them in Esoteric Spine and integrating them in Unity and coordinating with the rest of the team - animators, designers, developers and producers. Software: Photoshop, Spine, Unity

10/2018 - 05/2020

Lead 2D Game Animator | R/GA

9/2015 - 10/2018

Animator, Illustrator, Designer | CDM London, Blue Drop Studio, Munk Studios, Seed Animation, Trigger, Golin, Contented Brothers, Muckle Hen Productions, BBD Perfect Storm, Dice Media Communications, Fifty Nine Productions

Freelancing as animator, illustrator and designer, working on various projects for brands such as BBC, Amazon, Pfizer, Oracle, Classic FM, Lloyds Banking Group, Amgen, Pernod Ricard, Investec, Biogen, Janssen, Kwiff and others. Software: After Effects, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, Photoshop

9/2015 - 10/2018

Animator, Illustrator, Designer | CDM London, Blue Drop Studio, Munk Studios, Seed Animation, Trigger, Golin, Contented Brothers, Muckle Hen Productions, BBD Perfect Storm, Dice Media Communications, Fifty Nine Productions

10/2014 - 9/2015

2D Game Artist and Animator | Chaos Created

Character and environment design, rigging and animation for games and apps. Software: Photoshop, ZBrush, Modo,

10/2014 - 9/2015

2D Game Artist and Animator | Chaos Created

Character and environment design, rigging and animation for games and apps. Software: Photoshop, ZBrush, Modo,

1/2014-7/2014

2D Game Artist | FormerDroid

Design and digital painting of backgrounds, concept development for original IP, UI asset creation, promotional artwork Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, Unity, Maya, Keyshot.

1/2014-7/2014

2D Game Artist | FormerDroid

Design and digital painting of backgrounds, concept development for original IP, UI asset creation, promotional artwork Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, Unity, Maya, Keyshot.

2003-2013

Fine Art Painter, Designer, Animator

3D sculpt, model, rig and animate for short film during BA animation course Edit, composite and animate for graduation short film “In Sight” Design catalogues and cards for decorations producer Commissions of fine art painting and Byzantine icons. Gouache on gessoed boards, oil on canvas Mural Art painting project for Bloom! Hotel in Brussels, Belgium. Acrylics on wall Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Maya, ZBrush

2003-2013

Fine Art Painter, Designer, Animator

11/2020 - 12/2024

3D Animator, Rigger, 2D and 3D Artist | plai studio

05/2020 - 07/2020

3D Animator and Rigger | Vision3

Adapting 3D models to realtime (topology and textures), rigging and animation for Valens Reef VR Experience. Software: Maya, Substance Painter, Photoshop

10/2018 - 05/2020

Lead 2D Game Animator | R/GA

9/2015 - 10/2018

Animator, Illustrator, Designer | CDM London, Blue Drop Studio, Munk Studios, Seed Animation, Trigger, Golin, Contented Brothers, Muckle Hen Productions, BBD Perfect Storm, Dice Media Communications, Fifty Nine Productions

10/2014 - 9/2015

2D Game Artist and Animator | Chaos Created

Character and environment design, rigging and animation for games and apps. Software: Photoshop, ZBrush, Modo,

1/2014-7/2014

2D Game Artist | FormerDroid

Design and digital painting of backgrounds, concept development for original IP, UI asset creation, promotional artwork Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, Unity, Maya, Keyshot.

2003-2013

Fine Art Painter, Designer, Animator

Education

2010-2013

BA (Hons) in Animation

Edinburgh College of Art, Ediburgh, UK

2010-2013

BA (Hons) in Animation

Edinburgh College of Art, Ediburgh, UK

2006-2009

BA (Hons) in Mural Art

National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania

2006-2009

BA (Hons) in Mural Art

National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania

2010-2013

BA (Hons) in Animation

Edinburgh College of Art, Ediburgh, UK

2006-2009

BA (Hons) in Mural Art

National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania

Highlights

2018

Creative Pool Annual Shortlist in the category Animation - individual

For "Opera Shorts" animated series commissioned by Classic FM

2018

Creative Pool Annual Shortlist in the category Animation - individual

For "Opera Shorts" animated series commissioned by Classic FM

2014

Microsoft Beautiful Game Award - 4th place

For "Splemy" Game that I worked on at FormerDroid Game Studio

2014

Microsoft Beautiful Game Award - 4th place

For "Splemy" Game that I worked on at FormerDroid Game Studio

2014

Nominated for BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award

For "In Sight" - graduation short film for my BA (Hons) in Animation at Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK

2014

Nominated for BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award

For "In Sight" - graduation short film for my BA (Hons) in Animation at Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK

2009

Winner of Experimental Film Award at International Student Film Festival “CineMAiubit"

For "Organic" graduation short film for my BA (Hons) in Mural Art at National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania

2009

Winner of Experimental Film Award at International Student Film Festival “CineMAiubit"

For "Organic" graduation short film for my BA (Hons) in Mural Art at National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania

2018

Creative Pool Annual Shortlist in the category Animation - individual

For "Opera Shorts" animated series commissioned by Classic FM

2014

Microsoft Beautiful Game Award - 4th place

For "Splemy" Game that I worked on at FormerDroid Game Studio

2014

Nominated for BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award

For "In Sight" - graduation short film for my BA (Hons) in Animation at Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK

2009

Winner of Experimental Film Award at International Student Film Festival “CineMAiubit"

For "Organic" graduation short film for my BA (Hons) in Mural Art at National University of Arts, Bucharest, Romania

Recommendations

"Alex is a multi-faceted many-talented joy of an artist to work with. We've worked extensively together creating both real-time XR, and pre-rendered promotional and pitch assets. Alex has a rare combination of creative vision and integrity with technical problem solving abilities. He understands briefs and feedback and is always committed to understanding the assignment then executing to the highest standard. While he explicitly excels at 3D animation, his abilities in modeling, rigging, lookdev, and motion design mean that Alex is a critical part of a team from ideation through delivery."

James Dick | Executive Creative Director @ plai | Formerly R/GA, Framestore, Candy Digital NFTs

"Alex is a multi-faceted many-talented joy of an artist to work with. We've worked extensively together creating both real-time XR, and pre-rendered promotional and pitch assets. Alex has a rare combination of creative vision and integrity with technical problem solving abilities. He understands briefs and feedback and is always committed to understanding the assignment then executing to the highest standard. While he explicitly excels at 3D animation, his abilities in modeling, rigging, lookdev, and motion design mean that Alex is a critical part of a team from ideation through delivery."

James Dick | Executive Creative Director @ plai | Formerly R/GA, Framestore, Candy Digital NFTs

"Alex is an excellent animator, rigger and an artist. His attention to detail is beyond this world. He animates with limitless charm and builds rigs that enable animators to express themselves freely. He is a fierce creative who not only comes up with ideas, but has the tools to propel those ideas to launch. He is a diligent problem solver whose work ethic is one to be inspired by. I was lucky to have worked with him on several projects, and I can only hope to do so again."

Bora Demirbilek | Design & Creative Tech

"Alex is an excellent animator, rigger and an artist. His attention to detail is beyond this world. He animates with limitless charm and builds rigs that enable animators to express themselves freely. He is a fierce creative who not only comes up with ideas, but has the tools to propel those ideas to launch. He is a diligent problem solver whose work ethic is one to be inspired by. I was lucky to have worked with him on several projects, and I can only hope to do so again."

Bora Demirbilek | Design & Creative Tech

"I had the pleasure of working with Alex. His animation ability is a joy to see. Always pushing the creative to the best it can possibly be. Open and willing to bring new ways of working into the mix. Super passionate about what he does. He produces at a really high standard. Great blend of technical and craft skills. I would recommend him highly. "

Darren Whitney | Head of Design at OddCommon

"I had the pleasure of working with Alex. His animation ability is a joy to see. Always pushing the creative to the best it can possibly be. Open and willing to bring new ways of working into the mix. Super passionate about what he does. He produces at a really high standard. Great blend of technical and craft skills. I would recommend him highly. "

Darren Whitney | Head of Design at OddCommon

"Alex is a top talent. Super motivated, diligent and a master of his craft. Alex has demonstrated during his time at R/GA that he can craft and execute ideas to the highest of standards, lead a team and set the standards for large scale, global animation production. Alex has a solid technical understanding, a passion for R&D and will never settle for second best. I can't recommend him enough!"

Ben Lloyd | Experience Design at Apple

"Alex is a top talent. Super motivated, diligent and a master of his craft. Alex has demonstrated during his time at R/GA that he can craft and execute ideas to the highest of standards, lead a team and set the standards for large scale, global animation production. Alex has a solid technical understanding, a passion for R&D and will never settle for second best. I can't recommend him enough!"

Ben Lloyd | Experience Design at Apple

"Alex came on board and worked with us for just under a year. During this period, Alex worked with us on two major projects – Langeroo Adventures and Bad Day for a Balloon Ride. Langeroo Adventures is a suite of educational mini-games for iOS, Android and Windows. Bad Day for a Balloon Ride is an upcoming mobile game combining simple gameplay mechanics, with frantic and creative environments and characters. Alex developed some really impressive artwork for both games, developing compelling characters and some wonderful animation work. He was responsible for creating backgrounds for both games, with intricate environmental assets, along with foreground objects, characters, enemies, and power-ups. Alex was also responsible for rigging these assets. He worked in Photoshop, Unity, and Spine, developing a workflow that worked for these projects and he really did come up with a unique visual style that I’m extremely excited about. For fun we also developed a smaller game, Pancake Panic, in just a week. Alex rose to the challenge, delivering the assets in time, and was very nimble and adaptable to working on such a project. In fact, the workflow he developed on this project determined our structure for working on the 12 mini games for Langeroo Adventures. I look forward to collaborating with Alex further in the future."

Alastair Maggs | Company Director and Developer at Chaos Created and Technical Director and Presenter at TeenTech

"Alex came on board and worked with us for just under a year. During this period, Alex worked with us on two major projects – Langeroo Adventures and Bad Day for a Balloon Ride. Langeroo Adventures is a suite of educational mini-games for iOS, Android and Windows. Bad Day for a Balloon Ride is an upcoming mobile game combining simple gameplay mechanics, with frantic and creative environments and characters. Alex developed some really impressive artwork for both games, developing compelling characters and some wonderful animation work. He was responsible for creating backgrounds for both games, with intricate environmental assets, along with foreground objects, characters, enemies, and power-ups. Alex was also responsible for rigging these assets. He worked in Photoshop, Unity, and Spine, developing a workflow that worked for these projects and he really did come up with a unique visual style that I’m extremely excited about. For fun we also developed a smaller game, Pancake Panic, in just a week. Alex rose to the challenge, delivering the assets in time, and was very nimble and adaptable to working on such a project. In fact, the workflow he developed on this project determined our structure for working on the 12 mini games for Langeroo Adventures. I look forward to collaborating with Alex further in the future."

Alastair Maggs | Company Director and Developer at Chaos Created and Technical Director and Presenter at TeenTech

"Alex is a professional and pleasant individual and a skilled computer animator. He has delivered results to a very high standard and if opportunity arise I will not hesitate to cooperate with him again."

Ingo Aurin, (Ph.D.) | System Engineer at SEVEN PRINCIPLES Mobility GmbH

"Alex is a professional and pleasant individual and a skilled computer animator. He has delivered results to a very high standard and if opportunity arise I will not hesitate to cooperate with him again."

Ingo Aurin, (Ph.D.) | System Engineer at SEVEN PRINCIPLES Mobility GmbH

"Alex is a multi-faceted many-talented joy of an artist to work with. We've worked extensively together creating both real-time XR, and pre-rendered promotional and pitch assets. Alex has a rare combination of creative vision and integrity with technical problem solving abilities. He understands briefs and feedback and is always committed to understanding the assignment then executing to the highest standard. While he explicitly excels at 3D animation, his abilities in modeling, rigging, lookdev, and motion design mean that Alex is a critical part of a team from ideation through delivery."

James Dick | Executive Creative Director @ plai | Formerly R/GA, Framestore, Candy Digital NFTs

"Alex is an excellent animator, rigger and an artist. His attention to detail is beyond this world. He animates with limitless charm and builds rigs that enable animators to express themselves freely. He is a fierce creative who not only comes up with ideas, but has the tools to propel those ideas to launch. He is a diligent problem solver whose work ethic is one to be inspired by. I was lucky to have worked with him on several projects, and I can only hope to do so again."

Bora Demirbilek | Design & Creative Tech

"I had the pleasure of working with Alex. His animation ability is a joy to see. Always pushing the creative to the best it can possibly be. Open and willing to bring new ways of working into the mix. Super passionate about what he does. He produces at a really high standard. Great blend of technical and craft skills. I would recommend him highly. "

Darren Whitney | Head of Design at OddCommon

"Alex is a top talent. Super motivated, diligent and a master of his craft. Alex has demonstrated during his time at R/GA that he can craft and execute ideas to the highest of standards, lead a team and set the standards for large scale, global animation production. Alex has a solid technical understanding, a passion for R&D and will never settle for second best. I can't recommend him enough!"

Ben Lloyd | Experience Design at Apple

"Alex came on board and worked with us for just under a year. During this period, Alex worked with us on two major projects – Langeroo Adventures and Bad Day for a Balloon Ride. Langeroo Adventures is a suite of educational mini-games for iOS, Android and Windows. Bad Day for a Balloon Ride is an upcoming mobile game combining simple gameplay mechanics, with frantic and creative environments and characters. Alex developed some really impressive artwork for both games, developing compelling characters and some wonderful animation work. He was responsible for creating backgrounds for both games, with intricate environmental assets, along with foreground objects, characters, enemies, and power-ups. Alex was also responsible for rigging these assets. He worked in Photoshop, Unity, and Spine, developing a workflow that worked for these projects and he really did come up with a unique visual style that I’m extremely excited about. For fun we also developed a smaller game, Pancake Panic, in just a week. Alex rose to the challenge, delivering the assets in time, and was very nimble and adaptable to working on such a project. In fact, the workflow he developed on this project determined our structure for working on the 12 mini games for Langeroo Adventures. I look forward to collaborating with Alex further in the future."

Alastair Maggs | Company Director and Developer at Chaos Created and Technical Director and Presenter at TeenTech

"Alex is a professional and pleasant individual and a skilled computer animator. He has delivered results to a very high standard and if opportunity arise I will not hesitate to cooperate with him again."

Ingo Aurin, (Ph.D.) | System Engineer at SEVEN PRINCIPLES Mobility GmbH