TSR 010: Victor Bonafonte on Cooking Images in B&TB Kitchen, How to Grow as an Artist, As a Team and Having Fun!

Today I’m joined by a previous guest from TSR 002 — Victor Bonafante from Beauty and The Bit in Madrid.

Victor’s story in ArchViz started by being fired when he was working as an architect back in 2008, serving the first clients out of his big room at home, growing over time to form Beauty and the Bit with co-founder, Lina, to a team of seven people today. They’re all animals cooking images for big clients such as Big, COBE, and KPF.

We’ll talk about their image making approach and process, how to grow as an artist and studio, and why asking the client to leave the artist working on his own is key to getting the best results.

The Start of Beauty and the Bit

You can hear all about Victor’s backstory on our interview from SOA Academy Day #6, found in The SpectRoom on session 002.

Today we’re diving right into the details of Beauty and The Bit, starting with the work Victor did for his first client and transforming that into his own studio. He began as a one-man show working from home but quickly grew into more. Just one month after starting out, Victor was approached by three other companies. The snowball started rolling, and the work hasn’t stopped since.

Refining the Work

Beauty and The Bit have grown by word of mouth because clients were happy with the projects they were producing. Victor shares the approach that he takes to creating successful images and the changes that he’s made to the process along the way. He says he started out quite impatient, but as he’s matured, his images have improved.

We talk about the division of labor in the studio, ways that he’s kept the team from recreating the wheel, and why refining the work they do every day is the key to their success.

Growing Little by Little

Victor says he’s satisfied with slow growth at Beauty and The Bit. He doesn’t believe in shortcuts, and that is the perfect approach to creating a quality, unique, or even iconic project. Those types of high-quality projects have put a seal of recognition in their studio, and Victor is always willing to research the best way to approach each project to get it done to their standards.

We talk about the animals in the studio, the things they do to keep everyone oriented in the kitchen, and what applicants need to do to be considered at Beauty and The Bit.

It’s all inside this session of The SpectRoom with Victor Bonafante.

Key Takeaways

[01:41] Meeting Victor (again).

[03:40] The beginnings of Beauty and the Bit.

[08:35] A look inside the studio and at its employees.

[11:10] The evolution of creating successful images and the division of labor.

[15:20] Victor’s main goal and major challenges in image making.

[17:56] The elevator pitch doesn’t mean much to Victor.

[20:22] Current projects at Beauty and the Bit.

[24:30] Applicants just have to wow Victor.

[28:12] Evolving away from Photoshop.

[31:09] Shifting the typical ArchViz approach.

[34:55] Timeline for creating a SketchUp concept and the workflow that follows it.

[39:28] Is animation in the future at Beauty and the Bit?

[42:45] The impact that being in Madrid has on Victor’s style.

[44:41] All about Image of the Month and ArtStation.

[48:43] Why the animals?

[51:38] What Victor does for fun (since he can’t dive in Madrid).

[53:21] Where you can find Victor this year and online.

Main Quotes

“If you’re not an animal, you’re not at Beauty and the Bit.” — Victor Bonafante

“The main goal is to refine our work day by day.” — Victor Bonafante

“If you improve the way you do things, you will never run out of work.” — Victor Bonafante

“If you grow based on a formula, you are screwed up.” — Victor Bonafante

“Always question the way you work.” — Ronan Bekerman

“I don’t believe in shortcuts.” — Victor Bonafante

“Your best rendering engine is your br