Thank You, Design from Copenhagen

Check out "Transistor" by Copenhagen based design studio Thank You for a lovely MTV ID made up out of animated beads.

Breez Evahflowin' & Dirt E. Dutch: Don't Be Afraid.

YouTube Version:


Video produced by Elasticbrand.

Blip TV Version:


Excellent interview by Freelance journalist Adam Bernard with the Dynamic Duo here.

Promo for Cartoon Network by Shilo

In the tradition of "don't forget to animate the lyrics" (See Kanye Wests' "The Good Life" earlier on this blog) we found one, very nicely executed promo by Shilo, for Cartoon Network. Again, we feel two sided about this: beautiful execution, great typography, but not a terribly original idea. However, pretty edgy for a kid's network promo which also deserves kudos.

[By way of Motionographer.com].

Lifelong Friendship Society for Freelancers Union

Great new spot by the Lifelong Friendship Society:

Hi-8 Video and Hand Animation Combine for a Disturbing "Letter to Colleen"

Londonsquared, Film Makers, for whom we designed the website, appear in an in depth article on studiodaily.com that explores how their latest film, "A Letter to Colleen" was created.

Superfad!

I'm becoming a bigger fan of these guys everytime I see new work it seems. Their commercial for Pioneer is a truly amazing feat of animation, film and design. It involves pretty much any type of animation as far as I can tell, from 3d, to anime.

On a more toned down level, I might enjoy these target spots even more. The aesthetic is perfectly on brand while being innovative, engaging and refreshing, not a small accomplishment either.


Target Ads.



Pioneer Ad.

Awesome Daily Show News Promos

These are so great! (by way of motionographer.com).

Aesop Rock: None Shall Pass

Enough said. Aesop's the Greatest. Buy Aesop Rock: None shall pass.

Small Steps: Creating the High School for Contemporary Arts DVD

I had the great opportunity to contribute title graphics -stop motion animated chalkboard drawings- to this inspiring documentary, directed by David Becker of Cabin Creek Films.

You can buy the DVD from PBS directly.

Pay special attention to the amazing score, composed by Skooby Laposky.

Kanye's Good Life Video, puts lyrics on screen

So, this is the so-manieth video I've seen that uses blue screen footage of an artist doing nothing particularly conceptual, just mouth lyrics waive hands and walk around. Then we couple that with some beautifully executed animated lyrics and some see-and-say animations. i.e. lyric says "waive hands", cue animation of waiving hands.

Now, don't get me wrong, I like watching this video plenty. The animation is well executed and I am a total typophile, so I can look at well drawn and animated words all day long... But I just can't seem to help thinking... isn't there something a littlebit smarter that can be done with this?

Christopher Lee

His illustrative and motion graphics stylings are very inspiring. Go check him out if you haven't already. I know I've already seen him featured on motionographer and somewhere else. But even if you have visited before, he's worth another look.

Motion Graphics by Adolescent of NYC

Check out some tight motion graphics by New York based design & production house Adolescent. I noticed their "Whudufuxup" animations on the big screen across the street on Times Square today and was pleased to learn that it was created by the same house responsible for a lot of the Nickelodeon advertising produced by my colleagues.

Retro Animated Logos

Funny, I was just talking about one of these the other day when at home watching trailers... then ran across this amazing compilation of Retro Animated Logos on Motionographer.com.

SMALL STEPS: CREATING THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS

This fantastic documentary, produced by Academy award winner Barbara Kopple and Directed by David Becker of Cabin Creek Films, airs Thursday, September 6, 2007, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET.

Skooby Laposky composed an amazing 27 track score for it and yours truly created the main title and graphic design throughout.

Lifelong Friendship Society

Not only do these guys know how to design and direct some excellent motion graphics... they have a great sense of humor!

Justice - D.A.N.C.E [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Another well designed music video for graphic designers with type fetishes.

Green Towel Design & Direction

Go have a looksy at Green Towel's work. They kick ass.

Katherine - Excuse moi, 2006

Amazing frame-by-frame hand drawn typographic animation.




Petra Mrzyk and Jean-françois Moriceau are a very creative, prolific and sometime provocative couple of artist, living in Paris. They already exposed all around the world their universe, made of strange creatures inspired from pop culture, comics, porn...

Their third video clip is an animation movie made of more than 5000 draws for the French offbeat musician Philippe Katerine. The song is about what a guy should think about in order to avoid ejaculating in his girlfriend's hair. So you'd better start learning French now!

Björk: Innocence Video Pitch

As some of you might know, Björk put out an open call for submissions for ideas for her new video. Our pitch was hastily produced in one week after they unexpectedly moved up the deadline a month, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

Nagi Noda

If you haven't already you need to check out video art and motion design by Japanese Creative Nagi Noda.

My favorite work of hers is probably the fashion show in which she used people dressed in black crawling the floor on their backs, trailing the models as their shadows.

Studio2K / Katya Moorman & Karen Dunn

Katya Moorman and Karen Dunn's is hard to label, and I find that a good thing. Combing area of installation Art, Motion Graphics, Film Making and Interactive Design, to name a few, they explore some interesting territory. It's interesting that it is sometimes applied and sometimes autonomous art but that it seems to come from a similar place an that it works in either arena. Check out THE OPENING OF SKY AND SEA on their website and in the still image below for example.

THE OPENING OF SKY AND SEA -A fashion extravaganza showcasing the work of designers Brooke Priddy and Kelledy Frances. Using the themes of sky and sea we created a dynamic visual environment (videobackpacks on bare chested ushers, projections on oversized helium balloons) which enhanced the narrative. We were also commissioned to create an opening title sequence and a video for the finale. (2006)

Michel Gondry Interview at PixelSurgeon

Michel Gondry is my hero, Science of Sleep is a great achievement in motion design, animation and film making and so much fun to watch. Ofcourse his music videos are classics. Pixel Surgeon landed an interview with this great artist.

Brilliant Pop-Up Book Video by Price James

A brilliant new video for the band Shitdisco

[By way of Designboom & Creative Review]

Everything you see is fake

Check out this montage by RIOT.

"Meridians" New Volumeone piece by Matt Owens.

Skulls, a cougar and eagle roam through time and space as a lighthouse keeps us company.

Check it.

JOOST! Revolutionizing Television.

I just received a coveted Beta Testers' invite to JOOST! This new venture form the entrepreneurs behind Skype & Kazaa promises to revolutionize TV by being the first to provide quality that compares to regular TV, but on demand, over the internet, for free.

This I gotta see. I'm very much into the concept of it, being an early adopter of watching shows on abc.com, nbc.com & Itunes, but ofcourse all of those have issues. (Itunes for one, forces me to own shows I want to see once, how about a subscription instead apple? $19.99 a mo. to stream it all but not own anything?). Cbs's Innertube doesn't even run on a Mac, at least not on my new Intel-chip based Powerbook.

What will this mean for broadcast design? Nothing? More work, less work? Or just different delivery? Perhaps the disciplines of broadcast and Interactive design will finally achieve the fusion that was promised back in the 90's?

The founders explain:


First Joost Commercial:

Tribeca Film Festival "Best of" Short Films on Yahoo Video

Londonsquared's "The Backbrace" was chosen as one of the highlighted shorts of the last 5 years of the Tribeca Film Festival in a nifty little partnership with Yahoo. Yahoo is showcasing about 16 films on their homepage. You can check them out here.

The video channels are listed on the left. Here’s the link directly to the shorts channel.

There are some truly awesome short films on this site.

Opgezwolle: Eigen Wereld

I love the animation and design of this video for one of my favorite hip hop groups, Opgezwolle. Note that I am not saying, my favorite DUTCH hip hop group. These guys' lyrics, beats, production values and well everything else are so tight and refreshing that it most definitely competes with any english or other language hip-hop record. However, I'm posting this because I was particularly impressed with the design and animation of the video for their song "Eigen Wereld"("My own world"). Design by Superelectric from The Netherlands.



Also check RUSTUG, another opgezwolle video by Superelectric:

Interactive Outdoor Advertising

From Businessweek Magazine:
"SWIRLING SNOWFLAKES
The advertising industry is dreaming up uses for motion capture that literally stop consumers in their tracks. Recently, with little fanfare, Target (TGT ), adidas Group, and Clorox (CLX ) began running interactive ads on subway station walls in New York. One Target ad, a 6-by-20-ft. projection, featured snowflakes gently fluttering from the sky. It seemed unremarkable until you approached the wall. If you swiped your hand in the air, the background scene transformed from a wooded winter scene into a city skyline. And by waving both hands you could send the snowflakes into a swirl.

Adidas chose a similar approach for its ad in the entrance of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The ad perked up when people walked by and responded with a shower of shoes. The more they gesticulated, the bigger the deluge became. "People don't ignore the ads—they want to play with them," says John Payne, president of Monster Media, which created the campaigns for adidas, Clorox, and Target. "It's like Willy Wonka."


Photo by Perez-Fox.
See more images on http://www.perezfox.com/2006/11/17/target-new-york/

Chris Ware meets This American Life

One of my all-time favorite graphic designers/artists, Chris Ware created this animation for one of my all-time favorite radio shows This American Life. The new Showtime TV version.

[I stumbled upon this news at Motionographer.com]

Chris Ware books.

The Twisted Films of PES

Up first today are the Twisted Films of PES. .This is amazing stuff, especially if you understand the tediousness involved with tabletop animation. But even within that genre, this work stands out because of it's offbeat visual style and humor. I especially recommend "Game Over" The Diesel Commercial and "Roof Sex".

W+K Tokylab on Apple.com

A nice profile of Wieden and Kennedy's Experimental Graphic Design Lab in Tokyo, featuring Mr. Eric Cruz.

Wieden+Kennedy books.