Aardman, Cato and From Form

Kicking off 2025 with a creative boost tailored just for you, we’ve got a line-up packed with play and imagination for February’s Nicer Tuesdays. It will feature inspiring talks from Ashley Govers and Jurjen Versteeg of the independent design studio From Form, who’ll be giving us a behind the scenes on how they created, not just a campaign, but an entire multiverse for Amsterdam’s latest Museum Night. Then, we’ll venture inside London-based artist and musician Cato’s world of paint and photo-collage, exploring art history, belonging and culture. Finally, Will Becher, from the award-winning animation studio Aardman, will be sitting down with It’s Nice That’s associate editor Liz Gorny for a Q&A going behind the scenes and of the most recent installment in the Wallace & Gromit franchise,Vengeance Most Fowl, whilst also digging into just how they created the many characters that have charmed us all for so many years.

Everyone received an extra special treat this year whenWallace & Gromitreturned for a new adventure on Christmas day, following a lengthy 16 year hiatus.Vengeance Most Fowlwas a welcome reminder of the pure plasticine magic that happens behind the scenes at Aardman studios, and it launched us straight back into the wonderful world of the loved characters, marking the return of the cult figure Feathers McGraw. In a Q&A with It’s Nice That’s associate editor Liz Gorny, the animator Will Becher – who was the most recent films supervising animator – will give us a behind the scenes look into the process of the new film, as well as digging into the legacy of the studio, explaining just how Aardman has built its magic and mischievous characters and what goes into thecountlesshours that have led to the studio’s world-wide success.

With a distinctly playful approach and a passion for “the analogue and imperfect”From Formhave brought some wonderfully experimental, adventurous and gloriously retro work into the creative world across film and design. When the studio embarked on a campaign for Amsterdam’s Museum Night in the form of a vibrant, meticulously animated flip book in 2023, we were eagerly awaiting what they might do the following year. Founders of the independent creative studio Ashley Govers and Jurjen Versteeg will be taking to the Nicer Tuesdays stage to give us the inside scoop on their latest time travel-inspired creative campaign for Amsterdam’s momentous cultural event, as well as providing an insight into the very hands-on, DIY processes that colour all of their work: building, painting and filming every project from their Rotterdam studio.

London-based multimedia artist and musician Toby Grant, who goes by the monikerCato, has created a world of meticulously layered paint and collage work that is truly unique. Using a number of different methods and materials to his work – acrylic, airbrush and photocollage – the artist has built a reputation for larger-than-life scenes that interrogate traditional formulas for portraiture, all with a cinematic feel. Cato will be taking the Nicer Tuesdays audience through his journey into the art world, giving us an insight into the process behind his evocative work exploring art history, belonging and culture.