The truth is that when we dreamed of having a studio, we wanted to experiment with the environments and techniques we like, practically with a series of curiosities, in addition to animation. So we didn't want to become an agency or a corporation, but a studio / workshop that we call our home. We also wanted to be self-sustainable.

For some time, about 3-4 years before we decided to have our studio space, Constantin was working on this character called Hopa. He modeled it in 3d, then he played with various textures, then we looked at it like that and we said what it would be like  to be a real object and to shine.



Well, from this idea began a long way of documenting, and looking for ways of production, where we ran into all sorts of difficulties. The process was very interesting for us.
Coming from a digital and technical environment, we didn't know exactly how difficult it would be to model an object like this. So the first time we talked to a sculptor about the size, modeling, the problems that the object raises and its shape when it needs to be poured, how we introduce light, how fine the material should be when it reaches the lens, how solid and strong must be, after all, resistant in time. How will he grow old?

Along the way the object was modeled from fiberglass, the interior is empty so that we were able to introduce a LED-based luminaire. The only problem was that the inside of the object has a number of imperfections and when it is illuminated, they are visible.




At the moment we are glad that we have come to realize the object and that the first prototype can be seen in our studio.

We also made the object in a limited edition, on a smaller scale, as an office / toy object and it can be found in our shop.



Hopa was exhibited at Romanian Design Week and Vienna Design Week, in the category of hybrid object design.

Hopa has its name in the revelation I had when I saw
that the inspiration was from 2d illustrations and the shape was totally different. The starting point was a painting by Loreta. An imaginary animal took its human friends to unprecedented and mysterious places. In the same way, the real 3d object that has the shape of a lamp is meant to shake the imagination. Hence the function of an illuminated bookshelf. The imaginative side is stimulated by the function of the lamp and the books hosted by our friend.



In the end, in order for the object to come out perfectly smooth inside but also outside, we found out that we should have made a large mold for it and by injection the object would have come out almost perfectly. But the costs would have risen to over 30,000 euros. The mold was a good solution if we had a plan for mass production of the object and its sale on a larger scale.
The idea of the object, Hopa, we told him that it is an imaginary character that can be a bench, a lighting object in the garden, with various storage spaces: books, cats, clothes, toys.

Then we went to the TATE where there was a temporary exhibition with some interesting questions "What happens when two colors are next to each other?" "Do colors help you see shapes or movement?" "Can color refer to a certain period of time?" "Is there color when we don't look at each other?"
This whole journey was like an initiation for our path to take a decision. It motivated us and made us promise that we will not postpone our plan, that we will carry it to the end. It had been postponing it for too long. And this is another journey we dreamed of, a common space in which we planned to collaborate & experiment on projects, we were curious what would come out.
It's been 5 years since then and here we are, just as strongly motivated as back then on the streets of London. So, totay we decided to open a blog category where they can tell you more about us.
So who are we? Why are we doing this? How did I get here?




We are 2 colors that met at one point at work, in 2005, at MTV Romania, since then we practiced our passions, we traveled, we learned we lived and we experimented. We know that the name CO (nstantin) + LOR (eta) is not unique on the market but our story is unique. After a long time of seeing what it means to work in the creative industry, we wondered what a studio would mean to us. And we claim that a studio is an experimental space, it's not a place where you only work in the chair all day long only for clients, but a space where after pressing the play button, we do everything we like: sculpture, ceramics, drawing, murals experienced with animation . A space where we combine all our pleasures, a journey from which we want to be financially sustainable. Illustration, 3d and animation are for us the most sustainable activities that we are happy to offer to people who contact us.

In 2016, we remember our last trip to London, we left Bucharest on a rainy autumn day and arrived in London on a sunny but cold day. We wanted to visit the places we had seen before and the places that are not familiar. We went to see the London Bienalla, which had the theme "UTOPIA". As we wandered across many interesting exhibitions from 37 countries each one of them approaching serious themes like meteorological instruments, riches of nature, water shortage,humanitarian crisis, microplastic, religion, politics, sci-fi socialism a particular subject caught our attention. The German unique response to utopia, the kind of definition for utopia given by John Malkovich,  "Utopia means elsewhere". A clear tribute to the american actor , that  argues the state of happiness, it is always better elsewhere than where you are now.