MATTEL CREATIONS

Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels is a popular American brand of 1:64 scale die-cast toy cars and racing tracks. Beyond children's play, it has grown into a massive global hobby with adult collectors. Mattel Creations is Mattel’s direct-to-consumer platform featuring limited-edition collector products, artist collaborations, and specialized die-cast lines from Hot Wheels. As the art director on these Mattel Creations Hot Wheels campaigns, I brainstormed each concept, art directed photography, oversaw retouching, and designed digital assets.

Hot Wheels x Futura Laboratories collaboration
Renowned American artist Futura began by painting walls in New York City in the ‘70s, then brought his distinctive style to everything from sneakers to museums. When the man with the can decided to make his mark in die-cast collectibles, he chose the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 as his canvas for the Hot Wheels x Futura Laboratories collaboration. The car’s deco featured Futura’s “Moment Magnitude Scale” artwork. Utlilizing this artwork and Futura’s famous atom icon, I created the campaign’s “atomic track” concept, art directed the shoot, oversaw retouching, and designed digital layouts for email, web and social for this drop.

Results: The Hot Wheels x Futura Laboratories Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 sold out in approximately 2 minutes

Licensors: Mitsubishi, Futura Laboratories

Hot Wheels Elite 64 Series
The Hot Wheels Elite 64 Series is a premium, true-to-scale 1:64 die-cast collectible made by Mattel that focuses on high-precision engineering rather than fitting standard orange track layouts. Unlike traditional Hot Wheels that are scaled or distorted to fit loop tracks and playsets, Elite 64 models are built to exact, proportional scale. Each model is built from scratch with a full metal body and chassis, intricate headlamps, separate rearview mirrors, detailed interiors, and road-matched paint. Select castings include opening parts or mix-and-match components.

For each model’s launch, I imagined the story behind the car and focused on finding creative ways to highlight all angles of each car and special features like custom mix-and-match parts or premium detailing. Researching each car’s history and fan base, I aimed to bring to life these unique car worlds. I jumped in on set designing and styling. And as Mattel Creations uses these assets across a their digital and social platforms, it was necessary to plan for multiple use cases for each asset.

Collaborated with: Design Manager: Rolex Vidal | Photographer: Kevin Hipp

The Nissan Stagea occupies a cult-classic space in JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) car culture, often celebrated as the "Skyline wagon" due to its shared mechanicals and aggressive performance pedigree. Japan has a vibrant car culture centered around gatherings at highway rest stops, public parking lots, and outdoor community spaces. We wanted to recreate one of these unofficial, spontenesous nighttime street showcases for the launch of the 1:64 Nissan Stagea.

During the 1990s, Japan's underground highway racing scene—most notably the infamous Mid Night Club—ruled the Shuto Expressway (Wangan). While highly modified Nissan Skylines and Mazda RX-7s were the norm, the absolute top-tier kings of the Wangan drove modified Porsche 911 Turbos and GT2s. The 993 GT2 Evo represented the holy grail of this philosophy: an air-cooled, twin-turbocharged, rear-wheel-drive monster stripped of all heavy all-wheel-drive mechanics to achieve maximum high-speed velocity. It became the ultimate status symbol of lethal speed and precision timing. Inspired by Japan’s racing scene, we wanted to recreate this neon, Tokyo nighttime street racing aesthetic for the Elite 64 Porsche 911 FT2 EVO 993’s drop.