2024 MAZDA2 HYBRID

HOW JAN BAJTLIK
REIMAGINES
THE CITY

A city can be many different things, depending on who you ask, where you go - and how you get there: It is an open space, a playground to explore, and a canvas to fill with your own brush strokes.

Only a low hum is audible as the compact car drives around the bend. White, abstract buildings grow into the sky around it - the ideal canvas for new experiences in the urban space. Adventure or resting place - where will the journey take its driver today? After all, with the city as a playground, the options are endless…

 

In Mazda's newest campaign "Reimagine your City" Polish artist Jan Bajtlik, deeply inspired by Japanese craftsmanship, creates hand-drawn cityscapes for the new Mazda2 Hybrid to explore.

 

Jan Bajtlik's art perfectly underpins the creative collaboration with Mazda to present the new Mazda2 Hybrid in its natural habitat: the city. His designs, drawings, and paintings are diverse, but always focused on the basics: frequently minimalistic, full of hand-drawn symbols and created with brush and canvas. His art focuses on European visual culture, influenced by both his Polish heritage and his home in the French Alps, but he is also fascinated by Japanese culture, its art, and its high regard for craftsmanship.
 
 

"VISITING MAZDA IN HIROSHIMA WAS CRUCIAL FOR MY UNDERSTANDING OF THIS COLLABORATION AND CHANGED MY PERCEPTION OF MAZDA AS A BRAND."

 

JAN VISITS HIROSHIMA

This fascination intensified when Jan visited the Mazda headquarters in Hiroshima: "This was crucial for my understanding of this collaboration and completely changed my perception of Mazda as a brand", he says. "The highlight of my stay was meeting the design team." During his visit, Jan experienced how Mazda creates new models first-hand - quite literally: He was given the chance to sculpture the clay models that embody the first stage when a new Mazda body takes shape.

 

"The team's stringent philosophy and attention to detail amazed me.", Jan recalls. "I still remember how the creative director showed me a taillight proposed at the beginning of the design process. For them it lacked the human touch: Putting your hand on it would not feel perfectly natural. The end design was only modified by millimeters here and there, but this detail seemed just as crucial to them as a working working engine. This brought home to me what 'Crafted in Japan' means to them."

 

"JAPANESE CRAFTSPERSONS UNDERSTAND THAT A MASTER ARTISAN DOES NOT MAKE THE MOST COMPLEX, CONVOLUTED, AND POMPOUS THINGS, BUT CREATES THINGS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL, BEAUTIFUL, AND AS PERFECT AS THE HUMAN HAND ALLOWS. THIS IS ALSO MY CREDO."
 


 

Mazda's initial approach to Jan surprised him: Despite his interest in Japanese culture, there is little to no reference to it in his art. But when he got to know Mazda better, the link between him and the brand became obvious. "It reflects how we both work - me in creating art, Mazda in carmaking, Jan says. "A handmade approach, based on a lifelong pursuit of perfection, which involves exercising the same working steps repeatedly until they become second nature. Japanese craftspersons understand that a master artisan doesn ot make the most complex, convoluted, and pompous things, but creates things that are essential, beautiful, and as perfect as the human hand allows. This is also my credo."

 

 

In the collaboration, Jan's modern, abstract monochrome cityscapes are brought into fluid motion via computer-generated imagery (CGI). "I found it all a bit mysterious at first", Jan remembers. "But in the best way: I virtually had free rein to do whatever I wanted. It was my first time working with a carmaker, but my style, working hands-on, in black and white and focusing on the simplicity of forms fits Mazda perfectly."
 
 

The campaign title "Reimagine your City" also inspired him: "I love analysing urban spaces, and often find myself on the move. You can learn a lot in every city and gain fresh perspectives. Every city has its own character. So I took the essence of the many cities I visited and poured it into images that have their own distinct character but are also neutral backdrops against which the car can shine."

 


 
"MAZDA CARS HAVE SOMETHING THAT OTHER BRANDS LACK: A CERTAIN DYNAMIC THAT MAKES THEM LOOK AND FEEL MORE ALIVE, AND A DESIGN EQUILIBRIUM THAT GIVES THEM THEIR OWN CHARACTER WITHOUT BEING PRETENTIOUS. THE MAZDA2 HYBRID EMBODIES EXACTLY THIS CONCEPT."
 

 


The city makes the perfect backdrop for the new Mazda2 Hybrid, which is purpose-built for urban environments: sleek, swift, agile, fun to drive. Locally, the car's hybrid powertrain allows all-electric (and thus emission-free) driving. Meanwhile, its superb handling, premium interior, meticulously crafted by Mazda Takumi (master artisans), and comprehensive safety features give those inside it that at-home feeling, even when out and about in the urban jungle.

 

Jan's verdict on the Mazda2 Hybrid? "Mazda cars have something that other brands lack: a certain dynamic that makes them look and feel more alive, and a design equilibrium that gives them their own character without being pretentious. The Mazda2 Hybrid embodies exactly this concept."

MAZDA2 HYBRID

Turn every city street into an inspiring journey with the 2024 Mazda2 Hybrid: your perfect companion for fuel-efficient, safe, and agile urban drives.

 

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