Hello, thank you for visiting. Here's a little about me and my experience as a designer – and more specifically as a livery designer / artist.
Firstly an introduction. My name's Denise Pope, I grew up in Northamptonshire, England not far from Silverstone. I've always been a motorsport fan, and as a child I would happily spend hours drawing and colouring-in racing cars to replicate the ones I saw on TV. I never dreamed I'd be doing that in real life eventually.
That said, I have been a designer for my entire professional career, from graphic design for small businesses to helping build brands and websites for larger entities.
During the 2020 pandemic I was running an independent design agency called Wild things, and the extra time I had working from home led towards getting heavily into sim racing. I started a team called Wild things Racing, and competed in SimGrid's #MoreFemaleRacers series finishing third overall. Not bad for a first effort!
At this time I also began experimenting with livery design, and it brought back the feeling I had when I was a child, and I was hooked again.
Through a series of very fortunate circumstances I decided to close down my design agency, and work in the sim racing world full time. I became a full-time designer for SimGrid and sister brand Coach Dave Academy.
At the same time I was also contacted by the developers of Assetto Corsa Competizione, Kunos Simulazione and worked on a number of official liveries that are included in the game and subsequent updates and DLC packs.
More recently, I've been fortunate enough to be part of Motorsport Games and Studio 397 as a UX/UI designer on Le Mans Ultimate; the official game of the FIA World Endurance Championship – an incredible opportunity I never dreamed of.
In my spare time I still work on liveries for various games, and produced this site to demonstrate that work.
For me, sim racing liveries should maintain an element of realism, because that's what helps people to feel immersed in the world of motor racing. Whenever I complete a livery, I take a step back and ask if it feels realistic, does it seem like a real team would make the same decisions, and is it practical to do so?
I also very much enjoy seeing a livery scheme applied to different cars with very different shapes. From GT cars to a single seater or prototype; how does the overall brand and theme – if it cannot be a direct replication – apply to very different shapes and surfaces? How can be best adapted? It's always fun to try it out and see!
