ABOUT

NOVA NIMBUS is a multi-disciplinary creative studio with a focus on illustration, design, scoring and sound design. The studio was founded by ANTHONY BENEDETTO and COURTLAND URBANO.

We are motivated by story and emotion and we find that nostalgia is one of our strongest sources of inspiration. Basically, we use the old to make the new. We feel like we have a unique voice, but we also pride ourselves in our artistic versatility. Over the years, we've seen our work successfully applied to a variety of clients in many different industries. We love working with our clients, but we are also passionate about creating our own content. Our hope for NOVA NIMBUS is to strike a healthy balance between commercial and personal projects.

"Even though we find ourselves on earth, we also live in android dreams, and spaceships descending through the clouds of NOVA NIMBUS."

ANTHONY BENEDETTO ILLUSTRATOR / DESIGNER / DIRECTOR

His father is a biologist, and his mother is a nurse, so it's no surprise that his art reveals an appreciation of both nature and technology. It is actually this synergy that shapes Anthony's view of art. If nature can be seen, experienced, and studied, then technology is what we produce from what we understand; the product of inspiration. Anthony approaches the arts much like a scientist would methodically plan and execute an experiment, or how an architect might conceive and design an intricate structure. He is a student of discipline and rejects the notion that the artist is lazy or messy or only motivated by fleeting inspiration. It is the symbiosis between discipline and inspiration that drives him. Anthony has been drawing all his life, always practicing, and always pushing himself, but he is also captivated by inspiration and caught up in the beauty in and all around us. This space between reality and fantasy is the balance achieved in Anthony’s work: the love of nature and technology, the modern and the antique, the studied and the intuitive. Anthony is an award-winning illustrator and designer working in a variety of mediums and genres, and has a BFA in illustration from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.

COURTLAND URBANO COMPOSER / SOUND DESIGNER / DIRECTOR

A family of artists tends to produce more artists. Courtland Urbano’s Great Grandfather was an animator and director for Hanna-Barbera, his Grandmother was a painter, and his Father is a director. The visual arts influenced Courtland at a young age and began to shape his own artistry. At first it was drawing, then acting and film, and finally music. At the age of thirteen he discovered Hip Hop. From here, his artistic pursuits focused, and the production of music became his primary outlet. Because of his history as a visual artist, he creates music as if watching a film in his head. Mood and emotion are at the forefront of his creation, pushing him to explore changes and complexities just as a story takes turns and drives its audience forward. His teacher has always been other music. He learns how to play from listening to a wide range of genres, studying and adapting aspects from each of them, and applying those elements to create his unique style. As a self-taught musician, Courtland plays everything by ear, building and arranging each element in his compositions. Courtland’s music evokes the feelings of fear, frustration, and doubt, that we all face, but also those of love, hope, and faith, giving audiences the full spectrum of the human experience.

We met in Colorado in 2005, and have been creating art together ever since. It started with music, Courtland (a producer) and Anthony (a rapper)! And although, music was the art form that brought us together, we quickly realized the we shared a multitude of interests. Many a late night was spent pouring over every detail of a film we just watched, or an animated series we grew up on, and we began to understand that our connection was rooted in so much more than music. We shared a love of food, film, animation, design, fashion, furniture, architecture, family, and faith. However, after 5 years of friendship and music, things changed. In 2010, Courtland was signed to a record label in Portland, Oregon called Humble Beast. That same year Anthony left a career in the trades and went back to school to pursue a degree in illustration. So Anthony was going to school in Denver and Courtland was making music in Portland. Humble Beast started as a record label, but over the years has expanded beyond music to become an influential arts ministry focused on educating artists about the interconnectivity between theology and creativity.

In 2014, Anthony took the job of Creative Director for Humble Beast to oversee all of the visual aspects for the label/ministry. So after 4 years apart we were now living in the same city working for the same company. This is when our shared interests in the arts and working chemistry really began to develop. At Humble Beast, we worked together to create a wide range of art forms. We created album packaging, apparel, music videos, short films, photography, branding, web design, animation, book covers, poster art, musical scores, sound design, album production, social media campaigns, live events, and the list goes on and on. It was a crazy time, but rad because we saw what our combined talents could produce. Even though we were both working at Humble Beast, necessity required us to continue to freelance for other companies. We loved working for Humble Beast, and we loved working independently, but we realized what we really wanted to do was work together. In 2018, we started NOVA NIMBUS and we couldn't be happier.

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