Hi! I’m Alexi, and I’m a passionate storyteller who creates these experiences with graphic design, animation, and illustration. Below are some of my previous work:
THE TOWER
DATE(S) 2017, 2023
MEDIUM Animation
LOCATION Birmingham 8, Birmingham, MI, United States
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2023 Royal Starr Film Festival
A reconnaissance ranger finds a derelict tower during a routine mission in a forsaken desert simply known as “The Redlands”…
The Tower is an animatic/motion storyboard that aims to tell a story without any text or dialogue, taking place in a world that combines the aesthetics of the Hellenistic period and post-apocalyptic media with Cyberpunk technology.
Original music composed by Josh Mackey.
Design Process
Originally titled The Red Necropolis, The Tower began as a week-long college homework assignment from 2017 before it expanded into a dedicated short film later in 2023.
The motive behind the “Cyberpunk-Hellenistic” setting is to create a unique world aesthetically distinct from others within the genre. The weapons depicted are based off late 20th-century weaponry, with visual modifications to match the aesthetic.
When it entered the 2023 Royal Starr Film Festival, the programmer told me it literally broke all of the entry rules (specifically, how it was the opening of a longer film to be developed), but was submitted anyway due to its length and visual style.
Visually and thematically, The Tower is inspired by Luc Besson’s debut Le Dernier Combat, Mamoru Oshii’s Avalon, the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, and Ghost in the Shell.
The visuals were created by drawing the assets with a pencil and brush marker. Later, these illustrations would be scanned and retouched in Photoshop and manipulated in AfterEffects. In addition, “sprites” would be created for a few scenes to accentuate an action.
The Tower
(Directed by Alexi Tsitlakidis)
Motion Storyboard/Animatic
DIMACHAERUS
DATE(S) 2024
MEDIUM Animation
LOCATION Emagine Royal Oak, Royal Oak, MI, United States
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2024 Horror Film Roulette
At the governor’s request, a provincial architect must inspect a haunted bathhouse, only to encounter a gladiator cursed to roam…
Original music composed by Josh Mackey, featuring the song “Pompa Circensis” by Musica Romana from the album Pugnate.
Design Process
Dimachaerus is an animated short made for the 2024 Horror Film Roulette, where each contestant is to make a sub-5-minute horror short based off what theme is selected.
My theme was “Urban Legend”, with a modifier where I had to put in at least two jump scares. I then decided to challenge myself even further: animate it and have it take place in Ancient Rome.
Everyone had four week to make it before the deadline. Due to a week-long military training exercise I partook in, I had three. Despite a full-time job to the point where I thought I couldn’t make it. Somehow, I did, and I made the Top 25 that premiered at the Emagine Royal Oak that year (despite not having voice acting!)
The visual style is a simplistic ink style partially inspired by the work of Alex Toth and the painting series Rachiș Ali by Nicholae Tonitza
The graffiti seen is based off the Alexamenos graffiti and graffiti found in Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Ancient Roman Graffiti Samples
Rachiș Ali by Nicholae Tonitza
Dimachaerus
(di-ma-kHAÏ-rus)
Animated Short Film
YOUR SCRIPT PRODUCED! STUDIOS
DATE(S) 2020
MEDIUM Mixed (Print and Digital)
LOCATION Various
“The Entertainment Industry’s Unparalleled Event!”
I created the brand identity for Your Script Produced! Studios and its subsidiaries; as well as provided motion graphics, print marketing material, promotional advertisements as seen in digital editions of The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Screen Daily, and video editing for YouTube content.
Additionally, I created the brand design for Doval Bacall Entertainment, the production company behind Your Script Produced! Studios and its subsidiaries; including the opening logo and the website.
Your Script Produced! Studios
(+ Doval Bacall Entertainment)
Multimedia Branding and Advertising
TYPOGOJI
DATE(S) 2019
MEDIUM Print, Augmented Reality
LOCATION None
In celebration Godzilla’s 65th anniversary, I created a living poster made to embody the “spirit” of the eponymous juggernaut with futurist-inspired motion typography enhanced with epithets and visual representations of sounds that only he would produce. A T-Shirt variant (dubbed Shin TypoGoji) was later created.
Both Poster and T-shirt are available in the shop—link is in the header.
This project is Augmented Reality (AR) compatible with ARIA: The AR Platform and WordCast.
Godzilla is a trademark of Toho Co., Ltd.—No copyright infringement is intended.
Design Process
The driving force behind creating this poster was wanting to make another augmented reality (AR) poster, a futurist-themed poster, and watching Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in theaters.
All of the Japanese text that appears in the posters are either onomatopoeia (i.e. “ドカン/Dokan”, “Boom”) or official nicknames given to Godzilla (i.e. “怪獣王/Kaiju-O”, “King of the Monsters”). Godzilla himself is made out of the Katakana characters that spell his name (ゴジラ)
The audio used in the poster originates from the original Godzilla from 1954 (save for the last roar, which came from Godzilla 1985/The Return of Godzilla), and the initial roar is a homage to his first roar in Shin Godzilla.
TypoGoji
(タイポゴジ)
Augmented Reality Poster and T-Shirt
THE MIME POSTER
DATE(S) 2023
MEDIUM Print, Augmented Reality
LOCATION None
I was asked by Ted E. Dee to create a poster for his submission for the 2023 Horror Film Roulette. Inspired by a poster for Marcel Marceau, I designed the poster, and later decided to bring it to life with Augmented Reality
The Poster is available in the shop—link is in the header.
This project is Augmented Reality (AR) compatible with WordCast:
The Mime
(Directed by Ted E. Dee)
Augmented Reality Film Poster
#DETROITSOUND3
DATE(S) 2016
MEDIUM Print, Augmented Reality
LOCATION Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit, MI, United States
Carleton Gholz, the founder of the Detroit Sound Conservancy (DSC), asked me to promote the conservancy’s third annual conference titled #detroitsound3. Being the first time my work will be published, this became an offer I couldn’t refuse.
The poster was designed to capture the “soul” of Detroit’s musical identity and served as a visual homage to the Graystone Ballroom that once stood where the event was to take place: the Detroit Center for Design + Technology (DCDT).
Later, the poster was put on display at the Detroit Historical Museum from January 19th to April 7th, as a part of the DSC’s Salvaging Sound Exhibition.
#DetroitSound3 is Augmented Reality (AR) compatible with ARIA: The AR Platform
(available on iOS and Android)
#DetroitSound3
(For the Detroit Sound Conservancy)
Promotional Poster and Exhibit Showpiece
AIGA DETROIT
DATE(S) 2020, 2023, 2024
MEDIUM Digital – Social Media
LOCATION Multiple
Back in 2020 (during the COVID-19 Lockdown), AIGA’s Detroit chapter asked me to create social media graphics and animation promoting their remote talks with local and global designers and agencies with the likes of Skidmore from Detroit, MI, United States, Communal of Monterrey, Mexico, and Beetroot of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Then, around September of 2023, I became a member of the AIGA Detroit Board. As their motion graphics expert, I leveraged my motion graphics skills to create Instagram and LinkedIn posts for their then-upcoming events.
AIGA Detroit
(Board Member Since 2020)
Promotional Social Media Content
2019 LTU HOLIDAY SPECIAL
DATE(S) 2019
MEDIUM Digital, Short Film
LOCATION Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI, United States
Bluey the Blue-Horned Devil finds his college is a holiday-themed short animation for Lawrence Technological University (LTU) and a loose remake of the Rankin/Bass holiday classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer directed by Sharon MacDonell.
I provided additional animation that both captures the spirit of the short and matches the visual style that established by lead animator and fellow colleague Carina Taylor.
Design Process
Being a remake of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the short follows the plot of the Rankin/Bass classic—though with college-themed creative liberties. The visual style is a tribute to the aforementioned done in Adobe Animate.
When I came aboard to help out the project I was tasked to essentially finish what Carina had started as she was preoccupied with other projects.
One interesting challenge that came to light was for a visual gag near the end of the film, where three characters randomly bring out a holiday-themed gifts—the challenge being that said gifts are not exclusively Christmas themed. Sharon (the director) had suggested the (ingenious) idea of what one would bring to a holiday-themed office party and we decided on a crock pot, a wrapped gift (colored in an LTU-inspired theme), and a calendar.
In the establishing shot where Bluey enters campus and walks over to meet Dr. Moudgil, there is a cameo of Carina (talking to another person off-screen) and myself (pacing my way out of the scene).
2019 LTU Holiday Special
(Directed by Sharon MacDonell)
Promotional Animated Commercial
NAUKRATIS
DATE(S) 2019
MEDIUM Mixed Media
LOCATION Detroit Center for Design + Technology (DCDT), Detroit, MI, United States
Inspired by the ancient tales of Atlantis and records of the “Sea Peoples” during the late Bronze Age period, Naukratis is a senior year design thesis comprised of an immersive space, ephemera, and concept sketches depicting the life of the Naukratis Civilization, a lost, ancient, maritime empire originally from a distant waterworld known as Neibara who spanned from the top edge of North Africa to the Eastern Mediterranean before disappearing mysteriously.
With the aid of semiotics (the study of signs and symbols), Naukratis explores the synonymous nature of graphic design and worldbuilding, and how designed items existing in a world can tell a story in a symbiotic fashion.
Wanakti is the name of the language used by the Naukratis Civilization; an evolved creole between a Tyrsenian progenitor language and languages of Bronze Age Mediterranean civilizations such as Mycenaean Greek, Hittite, Akkadian, and Old Hebrew. It is written in an Abugida, in a script similar to languages used in Ethiopia.
Design Process
Naukratis is the accumulation of two: my four years at Lawrence Tech and a passion project I had developed for at least three years—it began life as a video game proposal before turning into a multimedia worldbuilding experiment a whole year before the thesis course began.
Visually, the project takes inspiration from the Biblical Philistines, as well as the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoans, and Ancient Cypriots that had allegedly preceded them— shown through the recurring decorative motifs.
The initial focus of the exhibition was on the concept of the meme as originally defined by Richard Dawkins. However, after some iteration, the theme was instead focused on worldbuilding and semiotics, inspired by the works of Umberto Eco and Rob Cobb.
One plan for the exhibition was to create a section of a military barrack, representing the militarism of the civilization. However, it was quickly decided that a part of a street market would be more feasible and easier to present a civilization.
To aid in establishing context, I had created four mood boards meant to serve as a personal “framework” for the project that describes the four pillars of worldbuilding: Culture, Geography, Cosmology, and Physics.
The idea of the Codex Naukratica came from a suggestion made by a fellow colleague for a miniature guide, inspiring me to create a hand-written companion guide that provided additional context (thank you Andrea).
The currency was created in the form of fish scales as a way of implying what kind of society Naukratis was. The scale currency was created with pancaked foam core and hardened with mod podge.
Constructing an immersive fantasy world would not be complete until a language is established (at least that’s what I would think).
Wanakti takes inspiration from the writing systems and spoken languages prevalent in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age, as a tacit way to describe how said civilizations influenced the Naukratis Civilization. Similarly, the idea of making the language a creole was inspired by the “cityspeak” spoken by Edward James Olmos’ character from the 1982 film Blade Runner. It is designed to be a functional language.
The most significant sources of inspiration for the writing system include the Ge’ez script, Linear B, and Ancient Cypriot syllabary.
The name Wanakti came from a ceramic fragment written in an old Corinthian dialect of Ancient Greek, meaning “of the King.”
Naukratis
(NAF-kra-tees)
Mixed Media Worldbuilding Project
About
Headshot by RJ & Cheryl Photography
My name is Alexandros (Alexi) Tsitlakidis (gr. Αλέξανδρος (Αλέξη) Τσιτλακίδης), and I am a Metro Detroit-based graphic designer, animator, and Michigan Army National Guard soldier with over five years of experience designing brands for local companies and bringing still images to life though augmented reality (AR), a passion for storytelling…
…and a hobby for movies, gaming, bodybuilding, and martial arts.
Previously, I created the brand identity for ToDoolie, promotional material for the Detroit Sound Conservancy, and movie assets to local filmmakers ranging from posters to storyboards.
Need a new design? I am Open to Work! Feel free to reach out to me below!