The story about this brand is the story about me—how my passion for cars and art led me to do what I do today. What started as a simple idea quickly snowballed into something much bigger, connecting me with car lovers all over the world.
Would you agree that some of the best journeys in life start completely by accident, and they turn out to be wonderful?
My adventure with custom pixel art illustrations and keychains for car enthusiasts wasn’t exactly planned, but when you think about it—and when you know me—you’ll see how something like this was bound to happen. I’ll explain.
Growing Up: Always About Cars
From as early as I can remember, cars have been my thing—despite it coming out of nowhere. I had no connections to the automotive industry, no die-hard enthusiasts in the family, yet somehow, it was always cars for me. As a kid in the 1990s, I’d walk around with my parents, naming every car we passed, then race home to sketch them from memory. With no internet back then, my “research” meant flipping through car magazines and actually going out into the world to find the cars I wanted to learn about. My favorite thing to do was checking speedometers to see “how fast a certain car could go” and writing it all down in a notebook—I still keep all those notebooks today. I also keep every single drawing I’ve ever made as a kid, and believe me, there’s a lot of those. And when I wasn’t doing that, you can bet the PlayStation was on, and I was chasing gold medals in Gran Turismo. My reward for being good as a kid? Either a diecast car model or a pack of collectible stickers (the kind you’d collect in an album). Simply put, everything I did, every moment, was about cars—I’ve done it all.

In my teens, I dipped into skateboarding and bikes for a bit, but cars were always my true passion. By high school, I was back to full-blown car obsession—running car blogs, writing articles for local papers and websites, and racing around the city with a camera, trying to catch cool cars. I ran car spotting accounts and explored every medium—photos, videos, you name it—all centered around cars. One of my favorite things from that time was using Photoshop to virtually “tune” cars. I’d take a stock car image and go wild, adding mods inspired by Fast and Furious and Need for Speed: Underground. And I didn’t do it alone—I ran a forum with fellow car lovers, where we held weekly contests to see who could modify a car the cleanest or most creatively. Those were some of the most fun and creative years.
From Engineering to Finding Back My True Path
When it came to choosing a career, I wasn’t sure which direction to take. It was clear to me that my career would revolve around cars in some way, I just didn’t know how. I enjoyed drawing cars, but studying car design wasn’t an option in Croatia, and my family wasn’t in a position to support me going to college abroad. I thought journalism could be a good fit, as I loved reading car magazines and watching Top Gear at the time, so it seemed like a fairly interesting choice. One day, I met with a journalist who worked for a local newspaper and was the main editor for the automotive section. His advice was to go to engineering college, specifically telling me, ‘You’ll learn much more about cars if you study engineering than you will about writing if you study journalism.’ So, I did.
It wasn’t an easy ride for someone wired for creativity—drawing, photography—but not naturally inclined toward math and physics. Still, I got through it. Looking back, if you don’t plan on becoming an engineer, it’s probably not worth the struggle. But beyond learning how things work, it taught me valuable skills: how to learn, manage time, solve problems, think systematically, and handle failure—all crucial when running your own business, which I do now.
After graduating, I knew engineering wasn’t for me. With some time on my hands, I decided to dive back into my passions—cars and visuals—to see if I could turn them into a career. Without going into unnecessary details, I spent a good chunk of time on freelancing platforms, learning graphic design and illustration through practice, books, and tutorials. I realized I had a talent for it, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.
The Moment It All Clicked
Pixel art illustrations became a thing for me completely by accident—though, in a way, it was just a continuation of what I had been doing for years in different styles and mediums. One day, I came across a poster online featuring various movie cars, like the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 and Mad Max’s Interceptor, all illustrated in the same side-view style. I thought it was really cool, and it sparked the idea of keeping a consistent style while illustrating different cars.
How I landed on pixel art, I honestly don’t remember. But I made my first one—a yellow Fiat 500—which, looking back, was pretty rough. Still, it was a start, and I had never done pixel art before. I initially used Photoshop but soon realized vector graphics were the way to go, so I switched to Adobe Illustrator. I kept making more—second, third, fourth—just for fun and to get better. I immediately opened an Instagram account (called Autopia Art) to gather feedback from others.

Then came a great stroke of luck that meant a lot to me, boosting my confidence in my skills. I created a pixel art illustration of a Mazda MX-5 owned by Alex Kersten of Car Throttle (@autoalex). Out of curiosity, I sent it to him on Instagram. To my surprise, he loved it and immediately shared it on his page. That was a huge deal, especially at the time—it brought me at least 150 followers in a single day. I’m still grateful to him for that. Suddenly, people started reaching out, asking if I could create pixel art of their cars.
At first, this was just for fun, but then people started asking how much it cost. I was shocked that someone was actually willing to pay for it. I figured, hey, if they give me $10 for one, that would be a cool little side thing.
Not long after, I created a Fiverr account, where you can offer just about any service for money. People started finding me there, requesting pixel art illustrations—not just for personal use but even for commercial projects, like an album cover for a rap record.
It quickly became clear that there was something here. So I kept going, refining my style, adding more detail to my illustrations compared to the early ones, and learning how to approach social media. Things took off fast, and for months, my schedule was packed with pixel art commissions. But it was never the only thing I did—I worked on all kinds of illustrations and graphic design projects for different clients. Combined with other income streams, both related and unrelated to cars or illustration, I was able to run my own business instead of working a regular job.
From Art to Keychains
Before long, people weren’t just asking for digital art—they wanted physical products like keychains and air fresheners. Finding a manufacturer willing to produce unique keychains, each with a different design and cut to shape, was a challenge. Most companies required a minimum order of 10 to 100 pieces per design. But after reaching out to several suppliers, I eventually found a great local partner who still works with me today.
Aside from manufacturing the keychains and running the website, PXLCRS remains a one-man operation. It’s still surreal to think that thousands of my keychains are out there, bringing smiles to car enthusiasts worldwide. I’ve created designs for everyone—from supercar collectors and well-known figures like Doug DeMuro (huge thanks to him for sharing my work and helping it grow!) to enthusiasts who cherish everyday econocars or vintage classics. People order them for all kinds of reasons—some as gifts, some to remember a car they’ve sold, and others just because they love how they look on their wall of keys. It’s been an incredibly fun and rewarding journey, and I’m excited to keep it going.

What’s Next for PXLCRS?
The plan is to keep doing this, and with the recently introduced initiative—donating $1 per keychain ordered to an organization that plants a tree for every dollar received—it’s even more rewarding. It’s cool to know there’s now a good cause tied to all of this, and it makes me even prouder of what we’ve built.
Other than that, the plan is to launch PXLCRS socks this year—adding a second product that also makes for a cool gift.
Recently, I’ve also launched a creative studio called PX by PX. Together with talented creatives across graphic design, illustration, web development, and product design, we deliver everything from logo creation and custom artwork to building websites and crafting unique products like signboards and awards.
Thank You for Joining Me
To everyone who’s supported me—whether by ordering a keychain for yourself or a loved one, sharing a post, or sending me an encouraging message—thank you. Your support fuels my passion and makes all of this worth it. For those who wish to support further, you can join the PXLCRS membership club, which comes with a variety of perks, similar to Patreon. You can read more about it here.
Pixel by pixel, this brand has grown into something I’m incredibly proud of. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me next, and I’m so grateful to have you along for the ride.