Nando Costa is a Brazilian director that I have been looking at for a few years now. He creates identities, title sequences and video promos. He has worked with some major companies such as MTV, ESPN and Budweiser. He also creates illustrations. His videos use elements of 3D with illustration throw in and he has a very clean and bright style about his work. I have also contacted Costa with a question about his work and I am still waiting on the reply.
http://www.nandocosta.com/
I have recently been looking at web design due to my latest project where I am to design a Flash portfolio to house my work. I came across a local web design firm called Bourn. I thought they would be a good contact as they were local. I am waiting on from them at the moment. Bourn designed Stockport’s NHS website and also websites for other local companies.
Rathergood.com
I have been researching the content of rathergood.com after I learnt that they were the agency behind the singing cats advertisement for Crusha Milkshake a few years ago. Since then I have been looking at they animations a lot because they like to concentrate on music heavily alongside their animations, which I am heavily interested in. If you visit them yes you will notice a lot of their stuff is purely for fun and it is quite difficult to find any commercial work on their website. The website has a commercial side to it though. The commercial side is their merchandise; you can design your own clothing and other products such as coffee mugs with images of their animations. A lot of their content is quite unsuitable to post on this blog in my opinion so it would be best to visit them to see what they have on show. For instance they have a stop frame animation called ‘ The W*nky Sh*t Demon’ it is not suitable to post. There are also interactive Flash games on the site and whole music library of songs created by the creative team that accompanies a lot of their cartoons and animations.
The animations themselves are keyframe animations. What I mean by this is that they use still images but alter the position and size of them to make the element move. I think their work is made in After Effects. I have contacted them and asked them a question, which I am still waiting a reply on.
On 21 Apr 2009, at 17:33, Mike Williams wrote:
Dear Sir or Madam:
My name is Michael Williams and I am currently studying on the BA(Hons) Design & Visual Arts - Moving Image course. Recently I discovered that Conkerco was behind the Virgin 1 TV channel ident of 2007. Could you direct me to someone within the creative team that could answer a couple of questions about the ident? I would be most grateful if this was possible.
Many thanks for your time.
Kind regards
Michael Williams
2nd Year Student
Stockport CollegeREPLIEDOn 21 Apr 2009, at 19:36, Chris Rule wrote:
Hi Mike.
My name is Chris Rule, one of the directors of Conkerco, and director of the Virgin 1 idents.
Feel free to ask any questions you wish.
ChrisREPLIEDOn 21 Apr 2009, at 22:36, Michael Williams wrote:
Hi Chris
Its Mike here again. When I first saw reclaiming red ident for Virgin 1 I was blown away with what I saw but it left me with some curious questions. Not if all of it, was any part created using 3D animation? This is because of certain elements like the #1 being so grand and the way some elements got sucked to the #1! If so what software was used?
Many thanks for your time
Michael Williams
2nd Year Student
Stockport CollegeREPLIEDOn Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 12:09 PM, Conkercomain <chris.rule@conkerco.com> wrote:
Hi,
yes, you are right in thinking that certain elements were created in 3D.
Most of the objects flying around were shot in camera, and then composited over the background, but the top half of the 1 was made in 3D. All of the textures were photographic so that you get that real look. Certain elements flying towards the 1 were 3D animation also.
The software used was MAYA.
I hope this helps.
ChrisREPLIEDOn 22 Apr 2009, at 13:30, Mike Williams wrote:
Hi Chris,Fantastic! Thank you!There is something else which i'd like to ask. For a project I had to create a 3D ident for a TV channel of my choice and I chose to create one for Virgin 1. And i was wondering if you would like to see it and tell me what you think of it if thats ok? At Uni we also use Maya!Many thanks for your time
Michael Williams
2nd Year Student
Stockport CollegeREPLIED
From: chris.rule@conkerco.com
Subject: Re: {Spam?} Re: [POSSIBLE SPAM] Re: Virgin 1 TV Channel Ident
Date: 22 April 2009 14:26:05 BST
To: Mike Williams
From: roguerobot@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Key Tunes (The Trafford Centre)
Date: 5 May 2009 14:32:05 BST
To: Mike Williams
On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 4:11 AM, Mike Williams wrote:
Dear John,
My name is Michael Williams and I am currently studying on the
BA(Hons) Design & Visual Arts - Moving Image course. I have been
looking at your work and especially your concert graphics, they blow
me away! I am interested to know, is creating concert graphics your
favorite kind of work?
Many thanks for your time.
Michael Williams
2nd Year Student
Stockport College
United Kingdom
REPLIED
From: John Narun
Subject: Re: Concert Graphics
Date: 5 May 2009 18:58:50 BST
To: Mike Williams
thanks michael,
yes, as a matter of fact, concert graphics is my favorite. its really hard work, but definitely the most rewarding. good luck with your studies!
cheers,
john
REPLIED
Dear John,
Here I will compare and contrast the processes and practices of illustrative director and animator Damian Gascoingne and wallpaper designer Tracey Kendall. From this I will then apply these processes and practices to the demands of industry then conclude by reflecting on how these can affect my own practices.
All projects start with concepts and ideas and these come from the things around you. These two designers both use their surroundings to create their work. Gascoingne creates doodles his characters from the people around him. Then goes on to taking photos of them so that he can find the story that is behind people and continue on with designing the characters further. Kendall is on a similar wavelength. Kendall goes out collecting organic objects from her surroundings. Objects include grass, flowers and feathers. She then continues her process by going to the photocopier and creating black and white photocopies. From the initial steps for the work Gascoingne has ideas handed to him on a plate from the people he meets whereas Kendall could be walking around for days looking for the best organic object she can find. For Kendall it is vital for her to find these objects to create wallpaper. This is because then she sells her wallpaper as a consumer product. In that sense if she doesn’t find anything she likes that could lead to a wallpaper design then she cannot make anything for a while and then she will be out of pocket because she hasn’t sold any wallpaper! This is how she succeeds as a practitioner. Whereas Gascoingne is likely to be set a brief that by a company and gain work from that. It is good that Gascoingne belongs to an agency rather than being a freelancer like Kendall because you are vital piece in a big game. The agency can provide a client with a great solution to a brief because they have an arsenal of different practitioners that work at Gascoingne ‘s agency PicassoPictures.
Both these designers use different varieties of materials and techniques in their work. Kendall has a whole range of different materials techniques to create different outcomes in her wallpaper. These include a laser cutter for laser cutting paper, stitching, digital stitching, sequins, jigsaw pieces and lace.
Combining these techniques make for a variety of different outcomes that will not only look right for the intended look of the wallpaper but will also have the feel and texture of the mood the design intended to have. Gascoingne’s work has recently been introduced to new areas and techniques. Gascoingne has started to work in 3D using 3D animating software. A student has been working with Gascoingne on building two characters for his animation. Firstly the models were constructed with clay that is used as a guideline whilst modeling in a virtual environment. Gascoingne quoted at a lecture Gascoingne said that “Animating in 3D is like driving a Porsche in a chip shop.” I’m guessing he mean it hard work. During Gascoingne’s lecture he showed the state of his current 3D work in which the character was basically rendered out without detail and was performing some basic movements. This project will give Gascoingne another tool under his belt and will allow him to be more available and open to any brief set with these new skills.
Kendall revealed that her work has been affected by the economic downturn. This is because the factory where she gets her sequins from had to close down. Politically this really pushes the thought that designers and other artists are potentially at a stand still if they can’t get their materials needed for their projects. There is the famous saying that ‘time is money’ and in Kendall’s case she is potentially loosing money because of the materials that are no longer available to her. I image that many design agencies and designers are feeling the pinch a little bit by cutting down the budgets for production and the cost changes of materials because a lot of things in recent months have been changing in price. It is not known whether Gascoingne’s work has so far been affected by the recession but it wouldn’t be surprising if it were.
The thing that I have learnt from both of these highly qualified practitioners is that you should be open to new ideas and different methods of working. This is because you can be a jack-of-all-trades making you more attractive to an employer. This also allows you have a wide knowledge of what design ideas and techniques are around you. Integration is a positive of knowing different processes and techniques because it allows you to combine two or more tools that could result in something great that could answer a brief that requires something more than just one feature of a technique.
802 Words
all images are from google.com
Previously I created a post about Veneno and had mention John Narun who worked with them on visuals for concerts and other shows. I posted saying that I couldn’t post the videos of his work but I am glad to say that I have found a way of doing it and I will share these and talk about them.
This is a visual backdrop made for the Spice Girls world tour and by watching it you can appreciate all the effort that has gone into animating it, as I know myself from animating in 3D it can be quite complex. I feel a lot of mathematics have gone into calculating the angles of movement in this piece, especially towards the end where you see the famous trade make of the Spice Girls, the Union Jack Flag that Geri Halliwell made famous in a performance, and to which many people identify them with the flag. The timing of the music and animation are very accurate as the music changes so does the movements of the objects. For all this looks very over powering, most of the elements are easy to create in 3D such as the coloured boxes with their textures and colours. I think this was created using Maya and the shapes have the material/texture called phong or blinn on them to give them the shiny plastic or metallic effect. Then after that Narun possibly decided on to turn a setting called raytracing on the objects to make them even shinier. Then using lights in the 3D environment extenuate the shiny effect.
This visual backdrop was for a Christina Aguilera concert for the song ‘Fighter’. This video I feel represents the song extremely well with its hard dirty look it defiantly has aggression and reflects the song name very well. I really like how the most important words appear on screen in time with the music this punches its way to the audience. This would look great live I imagine alongside whatever routine the artist performs on stage. I imagine this was greeted using light trails made by a torch or something similar with a long exposure camera to get the trails effect. Then these images may have gone into Photoshop for some editing then onto animating the images in After Effects using Masks and Filters. Or perhaps there is a tool in After Effects that allow you to create light trails?
This visual backdrop is presented in how you would see the layout of the screens on the actual stage. It was created for a band called Rain and the song is called ‘Me’. I really like how this video is presented because you can appreciate all the different elements of what the show looks as if you were really there. Yet again and as expected the music is in sync perfectly with the motion graphics on screen. The animation is also very smooth. I think all the main graphics were created in Photoshop then using the 3D tools in After Effects Narun would of done the animation.
I really love this kind of stuff, as it’s lively and powerful at the same time. It also provokes emotions as these visuals are intended to do to their audience.
all videos are from http://www.johnnarun.com/ - visit for more information and videos!
Fake I.D are an independent American graphic design company from L.A. Josh Trees and Yvan Martinez from Fake I.D came to Stockport College to give a lecture to the students.
Pieces of their work feature in the MOMA in New York and have worked with massive clients such as MTV and Nike.
This lecture was very different to any other we have had whilst on the course because they didn’t choose to talk about their work, this was because they were bored of constantly talking about their work at other lectures. From that I assumed they talked about their influences all the way through the lecture. I only assume this because they didn’t outline what they were talking about so not a lot was clear as to what they were saying. And what’s more they spoke from a word for word script unlike the other lecturers. This had a negative impact on myself and from what I understand a lot of other students had this same negativity.
Their influences included:
· Looking at the marriage of language and sound.
· Lettering and sound.
· The rhythmic sound of typing and writing.
· Breaking the fourth wall and audience interaction.
· Different languages.
· Gang graffiti
It was a conclusion I made that they showed their influences because I saw no graphic design work during their lecture. I think it was very confusing lecture for the audience and myself. Perhaps they aimed to achieve this result? The audience struggled to ask them any questions about their lecture because they were so confused. I’d say it was the worst lecture I have seen so far whilst being on this course.
Here is some information from their website http://wefakeid.com about Fake I.D as they advised us to visit if we wanted information about them.
Fake I.D. was founded in 1999 by Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees.
Fake I.D. is an independent graphic design practice that develops projects for cultural contexts (exhibitions, games, performances, publications, social media, websites, and workshops). Fake I.D. initiates collaborations between artists, brands, and institutions, and works with companies to expand the cultural dimension of their communications through the origination, motivation and support of thought-provoking activities and productions.
Currently in its tenth year, Fake I.D. has produced a diverse range of work, recognized in numerous books and magazines, including commissions from Aiwa, Anthropologie, COLORS, Emigre, The Face, Giant Robot, GLBT Historical Society, Harmony Korine, IdN, MTV, Nike, Sony, Urban Outfitters, Venice Biennale, Wieden+Kennedy, and Zune Arts, among others.
Martinez and Trees have shown their work at international venues including La Panaderia in Mexico City, Ynglingagatan 1 in Stockholm, Galleri Christian Nagel in Cologne, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, American Fine Arts in New York and the Venice Biennale. Fake I.D.'s work is featured in the permanent collections of Design Museum in London, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and Museum of Modern Art in New York. They have lectured and taught workshops at California College of Art, Centro Culturale Candiani, Dutch Art Institute, Fabrica, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, London College of Communication, UCLA, and the Valand School of Fine Art.
Trees is an associate lecturer at the London College of Communication, and adjunct faculty at Art Center College of Design. Additionally, Trees and Martinez are visiting faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute.
And since they refused to show any work of their own I have decided to place an image of some work they did for Nike below.
image from wefakeid.com
Grant Gilbert came to Stockport College to give a lecture. Grant Gilbert is an ex – student of Stockport College about 20 years ago and had the same tutor as I do now!
Gilbert is from Double G Studios in London and they are: (Text from http://www.doublegstudios.com/) a London based design company specialising in motion graphics, live action and brand identity. Our process is all about good communication and clean modern design.
Gilbert started out by doing a National Diploma in Graphics which ran for two years then went on to do a degree in at Birmingham UCE he said this was a print based course and was very different from the one at Stockport College which was more motion graphics based.
Gilbert’s first job was at Plane 24 which involved working on the Big Breakfast Show and his roles included doing some auto-que work and making tea! He did this for 3 years. Then saw a job going at Channel 4. In his time there he worked on identities title sequences and channel promos and really enjoyed himself. He stayed at Channel 4 for 3 years. Then saw a job going at the Attic in New York in the year 2000. Gilbert remembers having a lot of fun there but then the office had to close down because it wasn’t doing too well. Gilbert then returned to London and worked as a freelancer. He has been working freelance for 8 years now and likes it a lot because he can move from job to job and work with a variety of people all the time. Gilbert then started Double G Studios a few years back to get his name out there. He finds that having his name in a company in more impressive to clients rather than him standing alone as one man. He runs the company more like a collective rather than a company as he works with other people that belong to the company and prefers to call Double G Studios as a Collective. He then showed the audience a show reel of Double G’s work, the same show reel can be seen below.
video from doublegstudios.com
He decided then to talk about a piece of promo work he did for Channel 4. This was a promo for 4Music. Gilbert wanted to give it a summery, music festival feel to it. Gilbert has had an image of people wrapped up in neon cables on his desktop for a while and he had been waiting for a project to come along so that he could execute his idea. For this piece he was also influenced buy LED screens and displays and this gave a very electronic feel to the promo. There was dancers wrapped up in neon cable and glowing camping tents linking to the festival concept and these elements intertwined to give the feeling of music and represent 4Music.
Gilbert then worked on the More 4 channel identity for Channel 4. He worked with London based company Spin who designed the logo for More 4. Gilbert wanted the logo a living thing and wanted it to have a navigational kind of presence. He started integrating the logo into patterns. The team was under pressure to come up with a colour scheme and eventually decided on one as the pressure mounted. Also the team decided on the simplest layout for the logo with the identity, which worked better than all the ones with patterns in it. The team then worked with The Mill in London on the animation. After the identity was sorted out the team had to come up with a promo for a channel. With this promo they wanted to be provocative so they decided to brand the channel as an adult channel from channel 4, this is because the channel was going to show programming that adults would find interesting. This got a lot of complaints because the public thought that channel 4 was going to start a channel for pornography. Gilbert thought this was a brilliant response to the idea.
videos from recording of lecture at Stockport College
A year after More4 launched they came back to Gilbert wanting him to reinvent More4 again with the existing graphics. So then Gilbert spent about four weeks in After Effects creating new animations. He worked alone on the reinvention.
Gilbert was keen to mention at this point that being a student you get total freedom compared to the real world where you have to work under constraints.
Gilbert then went on to tell us that he was behind the rebranding of BBC1. One of Gilbert’s aims was to get the circle back into the logo that had featured in every set of BBC1’s identities apart from the last set. A requirement of the brief was to keep the colour of the brand red still. This identity can be currently seen on BBC1. The cost of the rebrand was heavily criticised by the media saying that £1.2 million ‘s worth of the TV licensing money from the public was spent on animating swimming hippos. The media had the idea that this was just for one ident but they were mistaken because the money paid was for the entire rebrand including everyone’s labour etc. he concluded in saying that the BBC 1 job was the worst one he had ever done. I think this was because the BBC were so specific how they wanted things to be so it wasn’t a waste of public money.
