Die Antwoord livery

Last month, I received an invite from my friend SnakeEyes Friex to join a creative competition in Forza Horizon 5, hosted by Rambo Apache. The challenge? Create seven unique designs based on specific themes. You can check out my entries here.

This competition runs every two weeks, but since I’m not exactly a full-time designer – and free time isn’t something I have in abundance – I decided to focus on the monthly edition instead.

In this post, I want to take you along through the creative process behind one of my liveries for the new competition, so you can get a feel for how an idea transforms into a finished design.

The Backstory

Forza’s paint editor lets you create custom decals using nothing more than basic geometric shapes – circles, squares, triangles, and so on. Over time, players have pushed the limits of what’s possible with these simple tools, layering shapes and colors to create surprisingly detailed and artistic results.

For this round, the theme was called “Triple A”, meaning I had to choose from Abarth, Acura, or Alfa Romeo. The model and style were completely up to me.

That’s when I decided to make a tribute livery dedicated to the South African group Die Antwoord. I had wanted to create one back in Forza Horizon 3, but never got around to it – so this was my chance to finally make it happen.

Because this was a Halloween edition, I wanted something eerie and unsettling. While doing some research, I came across photos of Ninja’s Subaru, which features a hand-drawn black-and-white design. It’s simple, creepy, and full of character – exactly what I wanted as a starting point.

Gathering Inspiration

This is a high-level competition, featuring some of the best painters in the community, so I needed to decide on a clear direction. I started collecting reference images online to build a mood and style board.

Once I had my references, I jumped into Forza. I began with a plain white paint job, then took several screenshots of the car. I printed those out and started sketching ideas by hand, doodling directly onto the printouts to figure out where key elements would go.

The Process

With my sketches ready, it was time to translate the concept into the game. I still use an old-school technique that the legendary Forza painter SnakeEyes Friex taught me years ago.

It involves creating a grid overlay in Photoshop – or in my case, Affinity Photo – and matching it with a grid template inside Forza. This helps align shapes more accurately when recreating detailed images in the editor. It took me years to get comfortable with this approach, but it’s worth every bit of effort.

I like to work with Forza open on one screen and Affinity Photo on the other, constantly switching between the two. After countless hours and layers of adjustments, this was the result:

Adding Personality

I didn’t want to simply copy Ninja’s Subaru. Instead, I aimed to create something unique, something that felt like it could’ve been designed by him. I also wanted to include Yolandi in the artwork.

I found a striking image of her and used a small trick to make her eye glow red under certain lighting angles in the game.

The Final Touch

Once everything was ready, I began placing the designs on the car according to my doodles. Forza’s UV mapping can be tricky, so alignment isn’t always perfect—but that’s part of the charm.

For the base paint, I chose a color-shifting finish that transitions from black to deep red. The goal was to make the logos appear black under normal light, but glow red when viewed from certain angles – matching Yolandi’s glowing eyes on the roof.

After many long sessions, this was the final result:

Closing Thoughts

This project was equal parts challenge and creative release. Translating hand-drawn chaos into precise digital shapes is an oddly satisfying process – and it’s why I love Forza’s paint editor so much.

Every design is a mix of patience, obsession, and a bit of madness. And that’s exactly what makes it fun.