Meet the designer making viral live art for All Blacks, Warriors and rock stars

“I was at university and as a bit of a side project one day, I was a bit bored, decided to get out my laptop and try and create something for a sports game that was coming up that weekend. Sent it to them – the loved it.”

That start up project grew into a business which Weston offers at every level of sport – from Olympic medallists to Super Rugby and Saturday morning footy. His graphic tribute to the Hurricanes winning Super Rugby Pacific 2026 was beamed onto the Sky Tower from top to bottom – a first for Weston and the biggest canvas he’s ever worked with.

His reach on social media might be even longer – and that’s something that Weston is still coming to terms with. By his own admission, the photographer struggles with the idea of being on the other side of the camera. He says that idea came from his mates who are “very big” on social media. They encouraged him to put a face to his brand.

“I started posting videos, which at first was actually very scary because I’ve probably naturally been quite a shy or like reserved person,” Weston, 30, says.

That was almost 2 years and 50,000 followers ago. More than 600 posts later and Weston is almost as recognisable as his trademark style. At the recent All Blacks test in Christchurch, Weston was editing a piece when former All Black Lima Sopoaga approached him for a selfie.

“The GOAT right here!” says Sopoaga into Weston’s video camera.

What took Weston to that level of recognition is his live artwork. That began when he and his partner went to shoot a Warriors game in Auckland.

“We’ve been doing a bunch of work with them from a design standpoint, and then we happened to be in Auckland for round 1 of the NRL season and decided to try something new.

Photographer and live art creator Blake Weston with partner Freedom at the Once in a Lifetime concert at One NZ Stadium in Christchurch. Photo / Blake Weston

“It hadn’t been done before anywhere, and I honestly had no idea if it was something that was achievable in that time frame.

“We photographed the first half of the game – me and my partner. Then the aim was to try and basically turn around a design for a player based on photos that we get in that game and see if we could then show them the artwork at full time.”

The player was Kurt Capewell – and Weston achieved his goal in more ways than one.

“That one sort of just blew up on socials. Teams were reaching out, entertainment industry was reaching out. All these different stadiums around New Zealand, ‘can you come do that at our event’?”

“It almost, maybe seems easy because so far every time I’ve done it, I’ve happened to get it completed by the end of the game. But anyone that is in the design space will know that those things typically take hours.

“People have commented in the past saying, ‘oh, that one would have taken me 8 hours, that would have taken me 12 hours’,” Weston says.

Weston created this piece featuring former All Black Sevu Reece on a short flight while sitting across from the Crusaders winger. Photo / Blake Weston

One of Weston’s most popular edits was created on a short plane flight when he was sat opposite former All Blacks winger Sevu Reece. In the space of an hour he created a design (with file photos) and air dropped to his fellow passenger.

In Christchurch last weekend he had Ruben Love in his sights. Despite Love complicating the assignment by spending 10 of the first 12 minutes in the sinbin, Weston completed the design – but was unable to present the artwork. Access denied. That’d be the closest thing to a failure that he’s experienced, though he says he’s run close before. The Once in a Lifetime concert, headlined by Six60, tested him.

“Normally it’s very straightforward. I’ll photograph a 40-minute first half and have 40 minutes to create the artwork. But there were so many moving parts.

“I’d nip down [to the front of the stage], photograph, run back up to the suite, try and quickly edit them, and then run back down as the next act comes on… almost trying to make the design on the go.

Weston says the design included 20 to 25 images. Five times as many as he’d normally be dealing with.

“Honestly that one I got I got probably 10 minutes from the end of Six60’s set, I could tell they were starting to wind down with their final song choices, and nothing was actually coming together. My partner was like, ‘OK, I’m just gonna leave and let you focus. So, she just left the room.

Weston captured the Once in a Lifetime concert at One NZ Stadium in Christchurch and presented the finished product to Six60 shortly after their set finished. Photo / Blake Weston

“Then just something clicked. Things started coming together. The textures were working, the images I was putting in the background were working, the lighting was working.

“Just as they wrap up their final song, I made the finishing touches and hit export. I was actually feeling very nervous to go and show them.”

The response from the band was one of disbelief.

“Oh my god, bro! You did that tonight? That’s unbelievable!” bassist Chris Mac said.

“Can we blow that up in a massive poster or something?” asks guitarist Marlon Gerbes.

“You’re really talented!” Matiu Walters says.

There seems to be a genuine appreciation from one artist to another. It’s the same from athletes, says Weston.

“Everyone I’ve showed has had such a cool reaction and not only a reaction to the artwork, it’s so cool how grateful they are for it and how appreciative they are of the time and the effort to do that and make something for them.”

Blake Weston mixing his love of photography, sport and graphic design. Photo / Blake Weston

Weston says he has more projects in the works – and looks forward to new opportunities that come his way.

“Basically just up for any challenge.”

Mike Thorpe is a senior multimedia journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.