You’ll likely have seen Extraweg’s work on social media, where his bendy dummies are bound to stop people mid-scroll. Maybe you’ve recognised it in the uncanny faces and bodies found in his music videos for Gorillaz and Bring Me The Horizon. Or perhaps you’ve watched his hypnotic Emmy-winning title designs for Apple TV’s psychological drama, Severance.

The throughline in Extraweg’s practice lies in his attention to physical movement and form. “Abstract and unnatural forms allow me to present human emotions and societal critiques without being too literal, leaving space for individual interpretation,” says Extraweg, whose real name is Oliver Latta.

So it’s interesting but not surprising to learn that before embarking on a creative career, Latta gained a degree in physiotherapy. “Although I never worked a single day in the field, it gave me the space to explore my passion for 3D design – a decision I’ve never regretted. That background gave me a unique understanding of the human form and movement, which continues to influence my work today. No learning is ever wasted – it’s always useful in some way.”

At first glance his work has the clean, mesmerising appeal of ASMR videos, but beneath that technically accomplished veneer, you’ll find an existential, dark or humorous undercurrent. “When creating my art videos, I aim to go beyond surface-level visuals. I like to embed layers of meaning – ideas that might not be immediately obvious but reveal themselves upon closer inspection. There’s often an intentional double meaning in my work, something that encourages the viewer to interpret and engage with it on their terms.”

Extraweg studied at the Bauhaus University in Dessau and continues to draw inspiration from the legacy of the pioneering art school. “It’s about stripping things back to their core, focusing on what really matters. That mindset still drives everything I create today.” After graduating, he joined Berlin production company Sehsucht as a 3D artist, where he honed his skills in software such as Houdini and Cinema 4D, which remain a core part of his toolkit.

“While working at Sehsucht, I began sharing my personal work on Instagram. This became the birthplace of ‘Extraweg’, my platform for artistic expression.” He describes his work under Extraweg as a space for “provocative, thought-provoking digital worlds”. Latta acknowledges that social media has had a significant impact on his career, particularly since going it alone. His viral clips have directly led to commissions for well-known artists and brands, while his grasp of keeping audiences engaged has also influenced his storytelling approach, even on projects destined for other contexts.

Given his interest in exploring the “ambiguity and complexity of our inner worlds” through his art, commissioning Latta to create the titles for Severance was a masterstroke. Created by Dan Erickson, the series reimagines people’s work-life woes to surreal and disturbing effect. The show follows a group of Lumon Industries colleagues who have undergone the ‘severance’ procedure, which results in their existences being psychologically split between their work life and personal life. These two versions of themselves are known as their ‘innie’ and ‘outie’ respectively, and neither knows anything about the other – no shared memories, relationships or histories.

“The visuals explore [main character] Mark’s fragmented memories and his psychological struggle as his outie attempts to uncover and escape the innie within his mind,” Latta says of the concept.

To create the titles for season two, Latta returned to the New York set to meet with all of the departments – from costume design to set production – to build a better understanding of the show’s various strands. “Working with [the show’s main director] Ben Stiller and the production team was an honour; they trusted my vision and gave me the freedom to experiment, which allowed the work to evolve naturally while staying true to the tone of the show.”

Paired with Theodore Shapiro’s haunting theme music, Latta’s scenes are unsettling and transfixing in equal measure. “One of the most intricate aspects of this project was working with the same iconic music from season one. The score is so distinct and deeply tied to the identity of the series that creating something visually new while maintaining that connection required careful balance,” he explains. “In many ways, the music became both a creative constraint and a guiding anchor, shaping the development of visuals that could stand out while staying true to the Severance world.”

This is integral, given “the Severance audience is incredibly detail-oriented – they love analysing and connecting visuals to the story. Every symbol, transition and element in the sequence was carefully crafted to hold meaning, but I also wanted to leave space for interpretation.” Striking this balance also has the benefit of tapping into the show’s themes without spoiling plot points.

It’s an increasingly rare success story in the age of ambient TV and ‘skip intro’ options. “A successful title sequence should have a clear purpose: to pull the audience into the world of the story and set the emotional tone – a deeper connection,” he says.

Though Latta is technically skilled, the narrative is what always matters most to him, noting that the majority of the process for the Severance titles was spent on getting the concepts right. “Especially now, when AI can generate perfect-looking images,” he says, “it’s even more important to focus on the story behind the visuals.”

It’s one thing to achieve this level of storytelling in his personal practice or projects for the entertainment world. However, Latta manages to incorporate his artistic perspective into projects that sit on the more commercial end of the spectrum too. Take the short 3D sequences he created for a car ad, where rows of identical rocking chairs move independently, as though haunted, and tins of squished sardines feel like a comment on herd mentality. They only last a few seconds but are packed with layered meaning.

By having an alias, you’d be forgiven for assuming he also has a divided self – like Severance’s Mark – split between his artistic practice and his commercial work, between Oliver Latta and Extraweg. But in this case, the connection between the two is far closer – a seamless transition worthy of his own title sequences.

extraweg.com