A Deep Dive Into WTAW's Debut Collection — Chromed

There was no grand plan for chromed.

At least, not at first.

"I wanted to make something cool with my WW logo," the artist explains. "And after trying a chrome type effect before it never looked good, and got lost in my own thing and figuring it out."

So the process became what it usually becomes when something refuses to work: experimentation.

"But one day I pulled up the good olé YouTube, looked up some videos on making chrome effects since I thought it was pretty cool, took my own logo mark, and got to work. It took me a minute to get it down and get it right to how I wanted it, but I applied that same type of effect that I created to a few other logos I made…"

And then came the realization that changed the direction of the project.

"Next thing I know is that I wanted to — I can create anything I want, I can create whatever, and that really unlocked something."

That feeling is essentially where chromed begins.

Not with a manifesto. Not with an elaborate story.

With something finally working.

So, why chromed?

The answer is almost as simple as the title.

"It was clean, short, gets the point across, and honestly reminded me of the chrome SpongeBob meme."

And the idea behind the collection follows that same straightforward logic.

"There are a few things in this project that is an old creation of mine that I 'chromed.' It's a collection of things that are real things, they aren't meant to be chrome but I'm in quotes 'chroming' them."

That means chromed isn't just a showcase of brand-new ideas.

There are pieces of the past hidden inside it.

"So look out for some old easter eggs of old things I've made."

For anyone who's been around for the earlier work, those callbacks become part of the fun. Things that once existed in one form are being pulled back into the conversation and given an entirely different treatment.

Old work.

New coat of chrome.

Same creator, just not quite the same place.

A new name, too.

chromed isn't only an introduction to a new collection.

It's an introduction to willthisactuallywork.

"For one, its chrome.." comes the answer when asked what makes this project different. But the biggest change with this is everything that happened in between the older work and now.

"Its mainly different because I've gotten better, learning better strategies, and all of the technical stuff compared to my first few things that have since been archived."

"if you can find em', you'd see a massive change in quality."

There's another change, too.

"And also I've also solidified myself with a new name and brand if you will, before I've gone with my gov but I've since created a brand new alias, 'willthisactuallywork'."

The collection arrives at the same time as the new identity.

chromed is the introduction.

The vibe? "That old technology vibe."

Ask where chromed came from artistically, and the answer doesn't turn into some perfectly packaged explanation.

"For the project as a whole, I was feeling that old 2000s XBOX, internet, just- just those times."

There's a pause in the thought, because even the feeling is difficult to name.

"I dont know the word for it but that old technology vibe just me."

There wasn't one specific piece of media behind chromed, either.

"For an Inspiration for chromed itself there wasn't anything I was going off of."

And that's where the project stays pretty honest with itself.

"I'm not going to larp and say this huge backstory or anything."

Instead, there are individual ideas that appeared along the way.

Take one graphic involving a spider.

"I actually hate spiders."

Which, naturally, makes the story behind that graphic even better.

"One day I was messing around with a few of my ideas, and something started to look like a spider-web to me, and I instantly locked that idea down."

The problem was figuring out how to actually make it.

"I actually hated making that because I had to work with photos of spiders to get this one done so I hope y'all like it."

A spider-inspired graphic, made by someone who hates spiders, using actual photographs of spiders.

Maybe not the grand lore anyone was expecting.

But it's certainly more interesting.

chromed doesn't have to explain itself.

The hope is that someone seeing the collection for the first time gets something out of it.

"I would hope that some people that are new looking at my graphics and maybe getting a sense of nostalgia or maybe a cyberpunk vibe."

That feeling doesn't require everything to match perfectly.

In fact, part of the collection comes from deliberately avoiding that.

An obvious question you as a reader might be asking:

Why isn't everything chrome?

"partly that I think it being chrome would take away from the main graphics, even though the project is named chromed, there are tons of other elements there, some parts are glitchy, some parts are chrome."

"its all kinda random, but didn't want to overdo it."

And that's a pretty good description of the collection itself.

The chrome effect may have started everything, but he thought everything being this shiny look to it may get a bit repetitive.

Maybe this is where it came from.

There is one piece, though, that stands out from the rest.

"There is one piece that represents chromed way more than anything else."

It doesn't come with an official explanation or a piece of lore to memorize.

Instead:

"it shows a possible origin of maybe thats where this chrome stuff came from."

That's about as far as the explanation goes.

"There isn't any direct story or anything for this collection, but it gives it just a little something that you can take and use your imagination as to whats going on."

And that's intentional.

Whatever the viewer thinks is happening can remain their own interpretation.

Maybe there's a reason.

Maybe there's an origin.

Maybe it's just a cool image that makes you wonder.

The teasers aren't the collection.

There is one thing worth knowing before the full release: don't mistake the teasers for the finished product.

"The teasers are far from what the main collection will look like when it releases."

The spider graphic is brought up again as an example.

"its not just a spider plopped down on a background, or just items simply placed in there, all of the—"

The sentence trails off in the original interview, but the point is clear: the work behind these graphics is deeper than the individual elements might suggest.

That process is where a lot of the growth happened.

"Photoshop, Illustrator, all those Adobe apps."

And, more specifically:

"I learned a lot about gradients, shading, blending, that very nice chrome effect and a ton of little technical things along the way."

chromed isn't just about learning how to make chrome.

It's about figuring out what else becomes possible once you understand how to build the image around it.

There are graphics that are going to immediately grab attention.

But the piece that's most meaningful to the artist isn't necessarily the one that looks the craziest.

"I'm definitely proud of a few of the graphics, but the one I'm the most proud of I feel isn't the coolest one, but for me personally the most technical and biggest leap in terms of how they were made."

That says a lot about where the project came from.

The point isn't only to make something that looks good.

It's to look at the work afterward and realize that something about the way it was made is different than before.

Better.

More technical.

More ambitious.

And maybe a little harder to explain.

From making things to making a collection.

"I've always been creative, always been creating stuff."

That part isn't new.

What is new is the scale and presentation.

"I felt that the way I'm showcasing the collection closely resembles MPZ4's collections over at his account and I just believe that the way he has his really emphasizes it being a big project."

That idea of a collection matters.

chromed isn't being presented as one isolated graphic, followed by another unrelated graphic.

It's meant to feel connected.

Like something you can actually step into.

And once the full project releases, the individual teasers start making more sense as pieces of a bigger thing.

So... will this actually work?

It's a question that accidentally became a name.

While trying to figure out what that name should be, the answer came from one of the most random places possible.

"So I was trying to think of a name to make for myself, and I went to Instagram, went over to settings and typed willthisactuallywork into it, expecting for it to say taken or available... but instead it changed it without any confirmation."

He told MPZ4.

"We both laughed at the situation and I went back to brainstorming about what I should actually make my name."

Then someone else entered the conversation.

"But then MPZ4's Girlfriend whom was also told the freak accident on how I changed my name and she said that I should just make that my name."

And that was that.

"Next thing you know…"

He stops talking in the interview after that, but the result is obvious.

The accidental username stuck.

And now that username is attached to chromed.

chromed

A first collection.

A new alias.

Old creations getting a second life.

A chrome effect that started with one logo and turned into something much bigger.

There isn't a giant backstory waiting to be uncovered. There doesn't need to be.

There are gradients.

Shading.

Blending.

Glitches.

Chrome.

Nostalgia.

A spider that probably wasn't worth the trouble.

And a bunch of ideas that started working once he kept experimenting.

"I can create anything I want, I can create whatever."

That's what chromed ultimately feels like.

Not the end result of having everything figured out.

The beginning of figuring out just how much can be made.

chromed arrives soon...

"You can find chromed on Instagram @willthisactuallywork, and I hope to see you there."