Permanent Collection

Dimitrios Sakkas Reveals the Invisible Beauty of Viruses

Posted on Sunday, April 5, 2026

Athens-based director/CG artist Dimitrios Sakkas (whose Eallos film we featured in Stash 175), transforms virus-visualization into spectacular 3D motion art in this campaign for Income Insurance Singapore thru Leo Burnett.

Dimitrios Sakkas and Etienne Lesourd, lead CD at Leo Burnett Singapore: “Our biggest creative challenge was making the microscopic world of bacteria and viruses visible without making it feel frightening. How could we reveal something invisible in a way that surprises rather than unsettles?

“The answer was to draw inspiration from the natural forms of microscopic organisms, but reimagining them through our own creative lens. With a lot of R&D and all the lovely people we worked with on this project, we showcased the viruses spreading as 3D generative art.

“How could we reveal something invisible in a way that surprises rather than unsettles?”

“Technically the main challenge was to make it quick and beautiful, without many hours of simulations and renders. So creative thinking went into managing the software tools in a quick and creative way.

“Most of the simulations were done with Insydium’s GPU tools (X-Particles, NeXus) and Houdini. For some shots, we transferred the simulations to Blender and did extra work with Geometry nodes. Also in Blender, we built some node tools for the easy transfer of Houdini and Cinema 4D data.

“After a lot of style frames, we finally chose Blender’s internal render engine Cycles because we wanted the final look to be realistic and not too saturated and scary. Cycles gives us that along with very quick render times. Compositing and extra coloring was done in After effects.”

Watch finished films:

Images

A close-up of a black insect flying near vibrant swirling masses of yellow and green liquid, set against a dark background, captures the invisible beauty of viruses with bubbles and strands creating an abstract, dynamic scene. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Close-up of delicate purple flowers and small round berries on branches, with a dreamy, blurred background in violet shades. The image has a soft, ethereal appearance, subtly evoking the invisible beauty of viruses captured by Dimitrios Sakkas. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A black smartphone floats in darkness, partially covered with surreal growths of greenish moss. White technical text and faint DNA-like graphics evoke Dimitrios Sakkas Tomakti Studio’s style for "The Invisible Everyday" brand films for Income Insurance Singapore. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A stylized, cartoon-like giraffe figure stands against a black background, abstract shapes erupting from its side—echoing the invisible beauty of viruses—to create a surreal, imaginative scene inspired by Dimitrios Sakkas. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A cluster of shiny, purple and pink spheres with fine blue and pink wisps and small white particles floating around them, set against a dark background—evoking the invisible beauty of viruses. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Credits

Client: Income Insurance Singapore

Agency: Leo Burnett Singapore
Group ECD: Asheen Naidu
Lead CD: Airina Imran, Etienne Lesourd
CD: Claudia Ribeiro, Henrique Lemenha, Liam Annis
Senior Art Director: Lorenzo Alajar, Cheryl Seah
Head of Integrated Services: Bettina Feng
Senior Producer: Joanne Lee, Irene Cher, Marin Villarreal, Caroline Frances

Production: Tomakti Studio
Director/3D artist: Dimitrios Sakkas
Post/grade: Dimitrios Sakkas

Stephen Price

Stephen is the co-founder/CD of Stash Media Inc. and the executive editor of Stash Magazine and the Stash Permanent Collection.
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Category: 3D Style, Brand film, CG, Featured, Motion Design · Tags: Income Insurance Singapore, Leo Burnett, Tomakti Studio