Motion graphics are graphics that use video and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or a transforming appearance. These motion graphics are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects. Motion graphics are usually displayed via electronic media technology, but may be displayed via manual powered technology (e.g thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, stroboscope, zoetrope, praxinoscope, flip book) as well. The term is useful for distinguishing still graphics from graphics with a transforming appearance over time without over-specifying the form.
Motion Graphics versus Film
The term "motion graphics" has the potential for less ambiguity than the use of the term "film" to describe moving pictures in the 21st century. "Film" is also used to describe photographic film (the 20th century medium of choice for recording motion), the process of recording footage, and the industry it most serves. However, digital video recording and digital projection to display motion graphics have the potential to make photographic film obsolete. The term "capture" is often used instead of "film" as a verb to describe the process of recording footage, perhaps due to the term's compatibility with digital video and motion capture technology. "The motion picture industry" is the formal term for what used to be called the "film industry".
Scope of the Term
Motion graphics extend beyond the most commonly used methods of frame-by-frame footage and animation. Computers are capable of calculating and randomizing changes in imagery to create the illusion of motion and transformation. Computer animations can use less information space (computer memory) by automatically tweening, a process of rendering the changes of an image at a specified or calculated time. Adobe Flash uses computer animation tweening as well as frame-by-frame animation and video.
History of the Term
Since there is no universally accepted definition of motion graphics, the official beginning of the art form is heavily disputed. There have been presentations that could be classified as motion graphics as early as the 1800s. Perhaps one of the first uses of the term "Motion Graphics" was by animator John Whitney, who in 1960 founded a company called Motion Graphics Inc.
Motion Designer
0. Saul Bass
0. Maurice Binder
0. Jörgen Engdahl
0. Tanja Fassold
0. Pablo Ferro
0. Mario Lautscham
0. Roland Maurischat
0. Paul Rascheja
0. Julien Vallée
0. Jakob Trollbäck
0. LeMob.ch
0. BartWasem.com
0. Stubbings.ch
0. TanyaWeiss.com
Saul Bass
Among those in the motion graphics profession, most agree that Saul Bass is the most significant pioneer in animated graphic design, and that his work marks the true beginning of what is now commonly referred to as motion graphics. His work included title sequences for popular films such as The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), Vertigo (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and Advise & Consent (1962). His designs were simple, but effectively communicated the mood of the film.
Computer Generated Motion Graphics
The term motion graphics originated with video editing in computing, perhaps to keep pace with newer technology. Before computers were widely available, motion graphics were costly and time consuming, limiting their use to only high budget film and TV projects. With the reduced cost of producing motion graphics on a computer, the discipline has seen more widespread use. With the availability of desktop programs such as Adobe After Effects, Discreet Combustion, and Apple Motion, motion graphics has become increasingly accessible.
The term "Motion Graphics" was popularized by Trish and Chris Meyer's book about the use of Adobe After Effects, titled "Creating Motion Graphics". This was the beginning of desktop applications which specialized in video production, but were not editing or 3D programs. These new programs collected together special effects, compositing, and color correction toolsets, and primarily came between edit and 3D in the production process.
Motion graphics continues to evolve as an art form with the incorporation of sweeping camera paths and 3D elements. Maxon's CINEMA 4D is known for its ease of use, integration with Adobe After Effects, and plugins such as MoGraph. Despite their relative complexity, Autodesk's Maya and 3D Studio Max are also widely used for the animation and design of motion graphics. Maya — traditionally used for high-end special effects and character animation — has the advantage of including an extremely robust feature set and wide-ranging user base. 3D Studio Max has many of the advanced features of Maya and uses a node-based particle system generator similar to Cinema 4D's Thinking Particles plugin. There are also some other packages in Open Source panorama, which are gaining more features and adepts in order to use in a motion graphics workflow. Blender and his node-editor is becoming more and more powerful.
Many motion graphics animators learn several 3D graphics packages for use according to each programs' strengths.
Motion graphics has begun to integrate many traditional animation techniques as well, including stop-motion animation and cell animation.
Sunday, 10 February 2008
computer arts article "TRENDS 2008"
Trends 2008
Top designers give us their views on 2007 and their predictions for 2008, and tell us why the industry desperately needs a shake-up
If you speak to designers across a range of disciplines, it’s clear that 2007 won’t go down in history as a great year for design. “The most conspicuous trend has been conformity – more and more work looks and sounds the same,” says Michael Wolff, co-founder of Michael Wolff & Company. He emphasises the point by recalling recent commercials for Saab and Audi that were virtually identical, but didn’t reveal any significant reason why someone would want to dream about or buy the cars in question. “There’s a dearth of original ideas and a surplus of clever executions,” he continues. “Graphic design has become an almost lazy ritual. Websites, too, seem more and more similar. Creativity is retreating into the world of branding, to a surprisingly illiterate, intellectually lazy, impatient, high-pressure, vain, self-serving and boring world – one where process and profit run ragged over authentic quality, resulting in uninspiring and shallow work.”
While others don’t paint quite such a bleak picture, it’s clear there’s a need for change to brush away the vacuous and the exhausted – problems seemingly permeating all areas of media and culture. “It surprises me how visual styles that seem terribly tired are able to cling on,” says Benjamin Cox of the London-based Central Illustration Agency. “Heavily graphic-design-led vector imagery based on patterns and floral motifs with soft feminine palettes needs to move on. It’s almost pure decoration with no substance.”
Online, it’s the ‘2.0’ look that’s outstayed its welcome. Simon Crab of the London-based new media agency Lateral grumbles, “Glossy bevelled buttons, gradients and stupid names for web services should all be gone by 2008, although I suspect they’ll linger for far longer.” Andreas Pihlström, art director of the agency North Kingdom based in Skellefteå, Sweden, says, “Web 2.0 sites all look the same, with clumsy interfaces and too much information to keep track of. I hope 2008 brings less of the ‘2.0’ style and more personality, rich with innovative, unique ideas.”
Even the area of typography doesn’t escape lightly, with Erik Spiekermann of the international design and branding agency SpiekermannPartners noting, “Customers are beginning to expect customised solutions to typographic problems just as they expect specific layouts, photographs and logos.” He warns that there’s no need to buy off-the-shelf typefaces and reckons the least designers can do is make existing fonts fit a specific purpose by including logos and special characters, and interpolating extra weights to respond to production issues like onscreen use or special papers. Spiekermann adds, “Type is not an obscure medium, but the most prevalent and important one for all communication, and so it needs to be treated with the proper respect and tools.”
Ian Anderson of the Sheffield-based Designers Republic hits the nail on the head regarding the attitude that needs to prevail in 2008: “A word to the wise – there will be less swirly, lovely gear and more punk-attitude happiness. There’ll be more thinking before doing – and more smarter doing, which is bad news for a lot of candy-surfing designers out there.”
Thinking before doing A move towards a more considered, thoughtful process can take many forms, but a number of designers reckon a return to tradition is on the cards. “I’m noticing a resurgence in the popularity of handcrafted artwork – paint, print and the hand-drawn line are coming back with a vengeance,” reckons Cox, even if such traditional media are often replicated using digital tools. This resurgence, he thinks, is down to the general public no longer being blindly impressed with digital work. “Most people are familiar enough with graphics software to see beyond superficial wizardry, and they now hanker for something more human,” he says. He adds that while people are often impressed with craft skills that they don’t possess, there’s an increasingly common perception that overtly digital production is an exercise achievable by many, given enough time.
This concept of care and fine-tuning, rather than cookie-cutter conformism, pervades elsewhere. Spiekermann forecasts that type design will become increasingly complex, a view largely shared by designer and typographer Pihlström. He recalls the exploration evident in the 1990s, and thinks something similar is happening today: “With cheaper print prices and more people designing for the web, typography can be explored deeply once again. There are many eyesore fonts being produced, but overall there seems to be a better understanding by digital typeface designers of how to make refined faces. As a result, in 2008 you’ll not only see more coherent extreme typefaces, but a better understanding of what made the classics so strong, which will lead to an interesting new crop of more subdued gothic and serif faces.” He also thinks we’ll increasingly see designers tweaking individual characters to fit designs in unique ways, flipping shapes and overhauling whole letters into something completely new.
More boundary-blurring is also on the cards, thinks Barcelona-based illustrator Pietari Posti: “There’s a lot of collaboration between graphic designers and illustrators, and this movement will be stronger in 2008 – the line between doing ‘just’ illustration or ‘just’ graphic design will get fuzzy.” Style-wise, he echoes others in thinking staid designs will evolve into more organic forms, and reckons flowery illustration may give way to forms based on geometric shapes and grids: “You could summarise next year style-wise as Antoni Gaudi’s architecture meets Bauhaus and art deco.”
Blurring boundaries In the online arena, along with video games and advertising, Yates Buckley reckons the boundaries are blurring between 3D, stop-frame, illustration and animation. “The year started with a lot of attention being paid to pre-rendered 3D, and then went back to live action and stop-frame,” says the founder of London-based digital production studio unit9. “The tired aspect of what has been going on is that while designers pay a lot of attention to what something looks like, the interactive experience is still not interesting enough.”
He’s also hoping 2008 will bring more ‘thinking’, with art direction subservient to the interactive meaning of a piece: “An example is an online banner we made for Nike: you notice the strong, interactive story before you realise it looks good.”
For Buckley and others, there’s a feeling that 2008 will force designers to move well away from their comfort zones. He comments, “We’re re-evaluating the idea of what a ‘creative’ is and what a ‘designer’ is. Just as a good developer uses many tools for their craft, a good designer will have to move around in mediums and not be scared to pick up new tools to get ideas across.”
While such tools might be new software, they may also relate to traditional methods. Dan Moore of the Nottingham and London-based graphic design agency Studio Output reveals, “Increasingly, work we’re taking on and pitching involves more photography, and much more planning and thought.” He sees lo-fitechniques being employed in new ways, citing the BRAVIA Play-Doh advert as an example that pre-empts a trend: “There will be more use of set builds, studio photography, and non-traditional materials like Refill’s laseretched skateboards.” He also mentions mixed-media 3D environments like their own Ministry of Sound campaign, as well as greater use of ‘non-design’ computer colours and overprinting.
Motion-graphics designer Xavier Oon of the Singapore-based studio CRITICA feels his discipline may follow suit. Although few consider 2007’s motion-graphics output as vacuous and bereft of ideas as other areas of design, tired influences are still apparent. Oon says, “Right now, there are still nu-rave influences seeping in from 2006: bright candy colours, aesthetics referencing the 1990s rave scene, centred around psychedelic effects and neon – albeit less cheesy.” He reckons the Tim Burton and Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events aesthetic will soon be big: “More large-scale stop-motion is coming up, especially in self-initiated short films. There will be more 3D animation that’s simulated to look like stop-motion photography.” However, Jared Plummer, a motion-graphics designer based in Venice, California, is more cautious about such major changes, noting that technology and new software has been a major driver of recent visual style in his industry: “3D tracking became hot this past year because of apps like boujou and PFTrack. Cinema 4D, with its relatively easy-to-learn interface, has a plug-in called MoGraph, developed specifically for motion designers to create crazy shit!”
Convergence and crashes Despite the evolution in motion-graphics applications, most reckon the state of software in 2007 was ‘more of the same’, and this is something else in need of a major shake-up. Underwhelming updates to major applications haven’t set the world alight and the rush towards convergence is beginning to grate. “I don’t like tools that marry features from different products – it slows everything down and things get buggy,” argues Oon. “People need lean, mean, optimised software that does what it does best.” Buckley agrees, and reckons there’s a shift on the way: “CS3 has become a way of life you have to sign up to – updates, heavy processor loads, long waits during launches and too many features in an interface that’s not evolving quickly enough.” He reckons that we’ll soon see smaller, context-driven tools, driving users away from monolithic apps.
Hardware has perhaps had a better time of it in 2007, and Posti believes touch technology will be the next big thing: “Wacom already has cheaper devices available for sketching, and Apple’s developing touch-screen technology in the iPhone and iPods. Portability will play an important role – in the near future illustrators won’t need to carry scanners and printers with them, once they have good tablet PCs with Wacom-like pressure sensitivity.” And the increasing power of computer chips means that 2008 will, more than ever, see standard desktop machines used for the post-production of digital media. “Effects that would once have needed Flame operators will be reproduced successfully on a Mac with After Effects,” argues Dan Griffiths of the digital advertising agency glue London.
But Moore reminds us: “Any new technology won’t massively change how we work – in terms of skills for creative people, it’s always going to be about getting the basics right and being a good thinker.” Given our interviewees’ apparent penchant for more thought and less gloss, it’s not surprising that predictions for output media in 2008 don’t entirely centre on digital. “Print has never gone away and never will – it’ll just become more precious, like quality photographic prints,” predicts Spiekermann. However, he does concede the increasing importance of digital: “Everything will be available everywhere, any time – perhaps not next year, but soon – which means a dumbing-down of content but mainly better resolution, as every medium tries to emulate paper as the most humane standard. Screens are just bad paper.” And print’s tactile quality can still give it the edge: Oon comments, “People need tangible CD covers and magazines to hold in their hands. People collect great vinyl covers or posters, but never website splash pages!” In fact, Moore reckons online could suffer in 2008, thanks to myriad unfocused, generic online projects: “The web’s obviously still growing, but there could be a backlash against the mass of information out there – the majority of which no one wants.”
The money game Inevitably, though, most reckon 2008 will still see online and digital platforms consolidate their dominance, for better or worse. “We’re getting increased requests for digital licences for online and mobile marketing,” explains Cox. “More of our poster work is being adapted for digital poster screens, particularly for Underground and mainline stations, and this will continue to intensify; it’ll be interesting to see how many high-value poster sites go digital during 2008.” He feels that this area of advertising with increased cross-media licences is a good bet for where the money will be, although Plummer warns, “A great deal of advertising money is being clumsily dumped into online and budgets are all over the place.” He notes that innovation is increasingly coming from niche companies focusing on business plans not hinged on money – a trend he hopes will continue.
He’s not alone in hoping that money becomes less important in 2008. “A conspicuous trend in 2007 has been the way many businesses behave ever more like their clients,” says Wolff. “The first thing they’ll tell you, when you ask them to describe themselves, is financial information, usually related to size or success. Recently, we’ve seen the results of narrow-minded macho greed in the banking industry, but before we smile at the misfortunes of others, it may be time to look at our own businesses. What are they for? Is ‘our’ business merely an engine of selfish wealth creation, or is there a more intelligent agenda about improving the quality and sustainability of our lives?”
Perhaps this emphasis on financial success is in part down to client expectations, since many clients now apparently equate bigger studios with trustworthiness. “I think such thinking is rubbish, but we have to allow for the fact that clients don’t know anything about design, and so they go by brand and whatever presents no risk to their careers,” explains Spiekermann. There’s also a sense in the industry that clients are becoming more demanding, which may explain why they’re increasingly keen to engage with designers they think they can trust. Crab adds, “Clients now expect to see an ever-widening range of integrated ideas, rather than the standard marketing forms.”
Coping with clients Some believe clients are becoming increasingly savvy, but others see it as the same old reactionary behaviour creeping through: clients hear buzzwords and want to respond to them, to be seen as cutting-edge and ‘in the know’. “I’m glad about this, because they seem to have figured out what to focus on – which parts of a campaign are really worthwhile,” says Buckley. He adds that in online projects, clients now appear less interested in pixel-perfect precision within branding sites and more concerned with deep linking, Facebook integration and tracking site usage to link in with current events. He echoes the comments of others when he says that 2007 has seen many projects that have emphasised technical details over content. “In 2008, clients will demand still more technical emphasis, but designers must ensure technology is being used for a good reason, and make sure users have a fun experience with it,” he adds.
Time will tell if clients are starting to understand how design works, or if seemingly savvy demands are more or less down to luck. But regardless of client demands, it’s what designers can dream up that has the potential to drive the industry forward in 2008. Wolff concludes: “The future is inevitably a re-emergence of creativity. The financially rapacious companies that have come to dominate so-called creativity today will be overtaken by a newer generation of more ambitious creators – ones for whom the driving ambition is not just simply making more and more money. I hope I’m right.”
Top designers give us their views on 2007 and their predictions for 2008, and tell us why the industry desperately needs a shake-up
If you speak to designers across a range of disciplines, it’s clear that 2007 won’t go down in history as a great year for design. “The most conspicuous trend has been conformity – more and more work looks and sounds the same,” says Michael Wolff, co-founder of Michael Wolff & Company. He emphasises the point by recalling recent commercials for Saab and Audi that were virtually identical, but didn’t reveal any significant reason why someone would want to dream about or buy the cars in question. “There’s a dearth of original ideas and a surplus of clever executions,” he continues. “Graphic design has become an almost lazy ritual. Websites, too, seem more and more similar. Creativity is retreating into the world of branding, to a surprisingly illiterate, intellectually lazy, impatient, high-pressure, vain, self-serving and boring world – one where process and profit run ragged over authentic quality, resulting in uninspiring and shallow work.”
While others don’t paint quite such a bleak picture, it’s clear there’s a need for change to brush away the vacuous and the exhausted – problems seemingly permeating all areas of media and culture. “It surprises me how visual styles that seem terribly tired are able to cling on,” says Benjamin Cox of the London-based Central Illustration Agency. “Heavily graphic-design-led vector imagery based on patterns and floral motifs with soft feminine palettes needs to move on. It’s almost pure decoration with no substance.”
Online, it’s the ‘2.0’ look that’s outstayed its welcome. Simon Crab of the London-based new media agency Lateral grumbles, “Glossy bevelled buttons, gradients and stupid names for web services should all be gone by 2008, although I suspect they’ll linger for far longer.” Andreas Pihlström, art director of the agency North Kingdom based in Skellefteå, Sweden, says, “Web 2.0 sites all look the same, with clumsy interfaces and too much information to keep track of. I hope 2008 brings less of the ‘2.0’ style and more personality, rich with innovative, unique ideas.”
Even the area of typography doesn’t escape lightly, with Erik Spiekermann of the international design and branding agency SpiekermannPartners noting, “Customers are beginning to expect customised solutions to typographic problems just as they expect specific layouts, photographs and logos.” He warns that there’s no need to buy off-the-shelf typefaces and reckons the least designers can do is make existing fonts fit a specific purpose by including logos and special characters, and interpolating extra weights to respond to production issues like onscreen use or special papers. Spiekermann adds, “Type is not an obscure medium, but the most prevalent and important one for all communication, and so it needs to be treated with the proper respect and tools.”
Ian Anderson of the Sheffield-based Designers Republic hits the nail on the head regarding the attitude that needs to prevail in 2008: “A word to the wise – there will be less swirly, lovely gear and more punk-attitude happiness. There’ll be more thinking before doing – and more smarter doing, which is bad news for a lot of candy-surfing designers out there.”
Thinking before doing A move towards a more considered, thoughtful process can take many forms, but a number of designers reckon a return to tradition is on the cards. “I’m noticing a resurgence in the popularity of handcrafted artwork – paint, print and the hand-drawn line are coming back with a vengeance,” reckons Cox, even if such traditional media are often replicated using digital tools. This resurgence, he thinks, is down to the general public no longer being blindly impressed with digital work. “Most people are familiar enough with graphics software to see beyond superficial wizardry, and they now hanker for something more human,” he says. He adds that while people are often impressed with craft skills that they don’t possess, there’s an increasingly common perception that overtly digital production is an exercise achievable by many, given enough time.
This concept of care and fine-tuning, rather than cookie-cutter conformism, pervades elsewhere. Spiekermann forecasts that type design will become increasingly complex, a view largely shared by designer and typographer Pihlström. He recalls the exploration evident in the 1990s, and thinks something similar is happening today: “With cheaper print prices and more people designing for the web, typography can be explored deeply once again. There are many eyesore fonts being produced, but overall there seems to be a better understanding by digital typeface designers of how to make refined faces. As a result, in 2008 you’ll not only see more coherent extreme typefaces, but a better understanding of what made the classics so strong, which will lead to an interesting new crop of more subdued gothic and serif faces.” He also thinks we’ll increasingly see designers tweaking individual characters to fit designs in unique ways, flipping shapes and overhauling whole letters into something completely new.
More boundary-blurring is also on the cards, thinks Barcelona-based illustrator Pietari Posti: “There’s a lot of collaboration between graphic designers and illustrators, and this movement will be stronger in 2008 – the line between doing ‘just’ illustration or ‘just’ graphic design will get fuzzy.” Style-wise, he echoes others in thinking staid designs will evolve into more organic forms, and reckons flowery illustration may give way to forms based on geometric shapes and grids: “You could summarise next year style-wise as Antoni Gaudi’s architecture meets Bauhaus and art deco.”
Blurring boundaries In the online arena, along with video games and advertising, Yates Buckley reckons the boundaries are blurring between 3D, stop-frame, illustration and animation. “The year started with a lot of attention being paid to pre-rendered 3D, and then went back to live action and stop-frame,” says the founder of London-based digital production studio unit9. “The tired aspect of what has been going on is that while designers pay a lot of attention to what something looks like, the interactive experience is still not interesting enough.”
He’s also hoping 2008 will bring more ‘thinking’, with art direction subservient to the interactive meaning of a piece: “An example is an online banner we made for Nike: you notice the strong, interactive story before you realise it looks good.”
For Buckley and others, there’s a feeling that 2008 will force designers to move well away from their comfort zones. He comments, “We’re re-evaluating the idea of what a ‘creative’ is and what a ‘designer’ is. Just as a good developer uses many tools for their craft, a good designer will have to move around in mediums and not be scared to pick up new tools to get ideas across.”
While such tools might be new software, they may also relate to traditional methods. Dan Moore of the Nottingham and London-based graphic design agency Studio Output reveals, “Increasingly, work we’re taking on and pitching involves more photography, and much more planning and thought.” He sees lo-fitechniques being employed in new ways, citing the BRAVIA Play-Doh advert as an example that pre-empts a trend: “There will be more use of set builds, studio photography, and non-traditional materials like Refill’s laseretched skateboards.” He also mentions mixed-media 3D environments like their own Ministry of Sound campaign, as well as greater use of ‘non-design’ computer colours and overprinting.
Motion-graphics designer Xavier Oon of the Singapore-based studio CRITICA feels his discipline may follow suit. Although few consider 2007’s motion-graphics output as vacuous and bereft of ideas as other areas of design, tired influences are still apparent. Oon says, “Right now, there are still nu-rave influences seeping in from 2006: bright candy colours, aesthetics referencing the 1990s rave scene, centred around psychedelic effects and neon – albeit less cheesy.” He reckons the Tim Burton and Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events aesthetic will soon be big: “More large-scale stop-motion is coming up, especially in self-initiated short films. There will be more 3D animation that’s simulated to look like stop-motion photography.” However, Jared Plummer, a motion-graphics designer based in Venice, California, is more cautious about such major changes, noting that technology and new software has been a major driver of recent visual style in his industry: “3D tracking became hot this past year because of apps like boujou and PFTrack. Cinema 4D, with its relatively easy-to-learn interface, has a plug-in called MoGraph, developed specifically for motion designers to create crazy shit!”
Convergence and crashes Despite the evolution in motion-graphics applications, most reckon the state of software in 2007 was ‘more of the same’, and this is something else in need of a major shake-up. Underwhelming updates to major applications haven’t set the world alight and the rush towards convergence is beginning to grate. “I don’t like tools that marry features from different products – it slows everything down and things get buggy,” argues Oon. “People need lean, mean, optimised software that does what it does best.” Buckley agrees, and reckons there’s a shift on the way: “CS3 has become a way of life you have to sign up to – updates, heavy processor loads, long waits during launches and too many features in an interface that’s not evolving quickly enough.” He reckons that we’ll soon see smaller, context-driven tools, driving users away from monolithic apps.
Hardware has perhaps had a better time of it in 2007, and Posti believes touch technology will be the next big thing: “Wacom already has cheaper devices available for sketching, and Apple’s developing touch-screen technology in the iPhone and iPods. Portability will play an important role – in the near future illustrators won’t need to carry scanners and printers with them, once they have good tablet PCs with Wacom-like pressure sensitivity.” And the increasing power of computer chips means that 2008 will, more than ever, see standard desktop machines used for the post-production of digital media. “Effects that would once have needed Flame operators will be reproduced successfully on a Mac with After Effects,” argues Dan Griffiths of the digital advertising agency glue London.
But Moore reminds us: “Any new technology won’t massively change how we work – in terms of skills for creative people, it’s always going to be about getting the basics right and being a good thinker.” Given our interviewees’ apparent penchant for more thought and less gloss, it’s not surprising that predictions for output media in 2008 don’t entirely centre on digital. “Print has never gone away and never will – it’ll just become more precious, like quality photographic prints,” predicts Spiekermann. However, he does concede the increasing importance of digital: “Everything will be available everywhere, any time – perhaps not next year, but soon – which means a dumbing-down of content but mainly better resolution, as every medium tries to emulate paper as the most humane standard. Screens are just bad paper.” And print’s tactile quality can still give it the edge: Oon comments, “People need tangible CD covers and magazines to hold in their hands. People collect great vinyl covers or posters, but never website splash pages!” In fact, Moore reckons online could suffer in 2008, thanks to myriad unfocused, generic online projects: “The web’s obviously still growing, but there could be a backlash against the mass of information out there – the majority of which no one wants.”
The money game Inevitably, though, most reckon 2008 will still see online and digital platforms consolidate their dominance, for better or worse. “We’re getting increased requests for digital licences for online and mobile marketing,” explains Cox. “More of our poster work is being adapted for digital poster screens, particularly for Underground and mainline stations, and this will continue to intensify; it’ll be interesting to see how many high-value poster sites go digital during 2008.” He feels that this area of advertising with increased cross-media licences is a good bet for where the money will be, although Plummer warns, “A great deal of advertising money is being clumsily dumped into online and budgets are all over the place.” He notes that innovation is increasingly coming from niche companies focusing on business plans not hinged on money – a trend he hopes will continue.
He’s not alone in hoping that money becomes less important in 2008. “A conspicuous trend in 2007 has been the way many businesses behave ever more like their clients,” says Wolff. “The first thing they’ll tell you, when you ask them to describe themselves, is financial information, usually related to size or success. Recently, we’ve seen the results of narrow-minded macho greed in the banking industry, but before we smile at the misfortunes of others, it may be time to look at our own businesses. What are they for? Is ‘our’ business merely an engine of selfish wealth creation, or is there a more intelligent agenda about improving the quality and sustainability of our lives?”
Perhaps this emphasis on financial success is in part down to client expectations, since many clients now apparently equate bigger studios with trustworthiness. “I think such thinking is rubbish, but we have to allow for the fact that clients don’t know anything about design, and so they go by brand and whatever presents no risk to their careers,” explains Spiekermann. There’s also a sense in the industry that clients are becoming more demanding, which may explain why they’re increasingly keen to engage with designers they think they can trust. Crab adds, “Clients now expect to see an ever-widening range of integrated ideas, rather than the standard marketing forms.”
Coping with clients Some believe clients are becoming increasingly savvy, but others see it as the same old reactionary behaviour creeping through: clients hear buzzwords and want to respond to them, to be seen as cutting-edge and ‘in the know’. “I’m glad about this, because they seem to have figured out what to focus on – which parts of a campaign are really worthwhile,” says Buckley. He adds that in online projects, clients now appear less interested in pixel-perfect precision within branding sites and more concerned with deep linking, Facebook integration and tracking site usage to link in with current events. He echoes the comments of others when he says that 2007 has seen many projects that have emphasised technical details over content. “In 2008, clients will demand still more technical emphasis, but designers must ensure technology is being used for a good reason, and make sure users have a fun experience with it,” he adds.
Time will tell if clients are starting to understand how design works, or if seemingly savvy demands are more or less down to luck. But regardless of client demands, it’s what designers can dream up that has the potential to drive the industry forward in 2008. Wolff concludes: “The future is inevitably a re-emergence of creativity. The financially rapacious companies that have come to dominate so-called creativity today will be overtaken by a newer generation of more ambitious creators – ones for whom the driving ambition is not just simply making more and more money. I hope I’m right.”
Design in motion
Design in motion
Thanks to an impressive wealth of talent, innovation and creativity, motion graphics is still an emerging area for designers. Nick Spence catches up with a number of leading industry practitioners to find out what it takes to make it big
You don’t have to look far to see motion and broadcast graphics dazzling, enthralling and enticing audiences. Just turn on any television set and wait. From BBC One’s recent circular on-screen identity revamp to Channel 4 and MTV’s many idents and stings, it’s a vast and varied area for creativity. Yet defining an industry that covers so many disciplines and potential applications can be pretty tricky. “The term motion graphics is an attempted catch-all and a desire for people to tag and bunch diverse areas of visual moving image,” says Shane Walter, director of cross-media production company onedotzero. “We don’t have the language for this kind of new moving image.”
Quba Michalski, one half of Turkey’s premiere motion graphics company, imago, agrees: “Since motion graphics is such a broad discipline, there is a lot of confusion about it going around. Many of the clients we talk to are convinced we are a 3D animation company.”
The essentials Stephen Price, editor of the indispensable Stash DVD magazine, which each issue covers the world’s most outstanding commercial animation, VFX and motion graphics, says there is a subtle difference between two key areas. “‘Broadcast graphics’ is a market for commercial motion art, just like commercials, music videos or videogames. And like those other markets they are not limited to any production methods. They often include character animation or VFX,” he explains. “‘Motion graphics’ or ‘motion design’ is a category of commercial motion art, as are VFX and animation. Of course, clearly categorising commercial motion art is tough, because many styles and techniques are often incorporated into a single project.”
Those styles and techniques are created by industry-standard software applications run on both PCs and Macs. Unlike other creative areas, the wide range of applications put to use reflects the diverse skillsets required. But as a starter, After Effects is a popular choice among many motion graphics professionals. “After Effects is probably the most flexible and prolific of the consumer motion design packages,” says Ben Radatz of MK12, the respected Kansas-based motion graphics studio.
“After Effects is very useful,” adds James Price, design director at world-renowned Transistor Studios. “It’s the industry standard for motion graphics in the US. It’s also essential to be familiar with well-known design tools, such as Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator.”
“It all depends on what your goals are,” adds Jared Plummer, executive creative director/partner at Transistor Studios. “If you want to create photo-real 3D characters and environments, then you should learn Maya and a good compositing program, such as Shake or Combustion.”
Those daunted by the thought of mastering numerous software packages for a career in motion graphics shouldn’t be put off. “If you design or work on a desktop you are already halfway to being able to animate your designs,” reassures Seamus Masterson, creative director at viral agency Maverick. “They are in, or can be turned into, a format acceptable to animation programs. Photoshop and Illustrator are probably the most widely used graphic design programs, and both export material that can be used in animation.”
Rogier Hendriks of Dutch creative studio Onesize sees the use of motion graphics as a logical extension of the use of Flash online. “With the booming internet business of the past few years and the easy-to-use Flash application, motion design became very popular among web designers,” he says. “I think it is a natural ‘follow-up’ to step from the popular Flash-based motion design into the broadcast area of motion.”
Indeed much of the distinctive work of design studio Airside, including motion graphics for MTV, is produced this way. “Much of our animation is done in Flash,” says founder Nat Hunter, “although many keyframes are hand drawn on a light box and scanned into Flash. We have used Maya a lot, to get a subtle 3D feel. We have also rendered complicated models in Maya to look like they were drawn in Illustrator or Flash!”
The bigger picture Acquiring the software skills that will help you master motion and broadcast graphics is half the challenge. “Learn the basics of graphic design before you get into motion graphics design,” suggests Joost Korngold of Dutch design studio Renascent. “Getting the latest copy of After Effects or 3ds Max doesn’t make you a good designer.”
Mel Tonkin, an animator at PSYOP, offers more good advice: “Tools are tools,” she says. “What you make of them is what counts. That said, there’s a relationship between creative intent and technical capability. Ideally, creative intent sits in the driver’s seat, and the technology rides shotgun.”
“Focus on finding your own voice,” says Radatz. “There will always be an army of people who can help execute your ideas, but very few who can see the bigger picture.” That bigger picture can involve many creative hands; much of motion graphics is a collaborative effort involving several individuals with specific skills. Some companies do everything in-house, while others will seek freelancers or specialist studios to save time and meet budgets.
“Like many of our leading competitors, we do everything,” says Jake Banks, owner, creative director and director of the award-winning Stardust. “That’s not only graphics and animation, we actually work with our agency clients, and their clients, as creative partners from the concept stage of a project, then handle casting, direct the live-action film and photo shoots, and then handle the design, animation, visual effects, editorial and final conforming for most of the projects we deal with.”
Others, as Radatz explains, are called in for a particular role. “Often, they are employed to provide design and animation to work in conjunction with someone else’s direction or photography, in much the same way that visual effects companies deliver effects shots for a feature film.”
Finding a role in this buoyant industry also requires an understanding of what clients actually want. Stephen Price recently did a survey of top studios in the industry for a series of talks at animation and design schools. “The first thing I learned is no two companies are looking for the same thing. But as disparate as the responses were, certain general patterns of preference emerge,” he says. “Let’s call them the three Cs. Creative: your reel demonstrates fresh thinking. Confidence: in the interview you present yourself and your ideas with confidence but not ego or attitude. Compatibility: the company senses you are enthusiastic, easy to work with, and will fit into their culture.”
James Price points to a simple fundamental. “The industry is looking for somebody who understands how to tell a story with pictures, and ideally pictures that look great.” Originality and the ability to create new styles, and not simply follow current trends, are vital. “Probably the most important thing, alongside design ability, is an individual style that sets your work apart from the other work out there,” says Seamus Masterson at Maverick. “This is what producers and creative commissioners are looking for above all else, and is more important than technical ability.”
Dealing with clients Knowing what clients want is one thing, but meeting their demands can be problematic, as Mainframe’s Adam Jenns explains. “Clients want to be made to look good, and they more often than not want to have some input into a job,” he says. “Occasionally clients will give us some good visual reference, which we like, but things go downhill if you encounter a client that wants you to copy a piece of work that another, say US, agency has done, just because they think they can get away with it.”
For Tonkin, being able to articulate clients’ and creatives’ ideas is paramount. “I think people underestimate how important it is to communicate, often about fairly abstract notions, and to deal with other people in general,” she says. “You shouldn’t be in this field if you don’t really love it.”
Quba Michalski highlights another area you should consider. “You need to change your mode of thinking. Instead of thinking in two or three dimensions, you need to start thinking in four – the fourth being time,” he says. “When you prepare your elements for animation, you need to know what they will then do over time.”
As for the future, Stephen Price sees no sign of the industry flagging. Fuelled by expanding platforms and delivery systems, including the rise of mobile media, increased broadband content and HDTV broadcasts, it’s an industry in bloom. “Motion graphics fits perfectly into today’s market because the tools are cheap, easy to learn and fast,” he concludes. “Designers can kick out work quicker and cheaper and that makes clients happy. Where is the breaking point? My guess is it has to be some way off, because amazing new studios keep popping up and brilliant students keep graduating.”
Thanks to an impressive wealth of talent, innovation and creativity, motion graphics is still an emerging area for designers. Nick Spence catches up with a number of leading industry practitioners to find out what it takes to make it big
You don’t have to look far to see motion and broadcast graphics dazzling, enthralling and enticing audiences. Just turn on any television set and wait. From BBC One’s recent circular on-screen identity revamp to Channel 4 and MTV’s many idents and stings, it’s a vast and varied area for creativity. Yet defining an industry that covers so many disciplines and potential applications can be pretty tricky. “The term motion graphics is an attempted catch-all and a desire for people to tag and bunch diverse areas of visual moving image,” says Shane Walter, director of cross-media production company onedotzero. “We don’t have the language for this kind of new moving image.”
Quba Michalski, one half of Turkey’s premiere motion graphics company, imago, agrees: “Since motion graphics is such a broad discipline, there is a lot of confusion about it going around. Many of the clients we talk to are convinced we are a 3D animation company.”
The essentials Stephen Price, editor of the indispensable Stash DVD magazine, which each issue covers the world’s most outstanding commercial animation, VFX and motion graphics, says there is a subtle difference between two key areas. “‘Broadcast graphics’ is a market for commercial motion art, just like commercials, music videos or videogames. And like those other markets they are not limited to any production methods. They often include character animation or VFX,” he explains. “‘Motion graphics’ or ‘motion design’ is a category of commercial motion art, as are VFX and animation. Of course, clearly categorising commercial motion art is tough, because many styles and techniques are often incorporated into a single project.”
Those styles and techniques are created by industry-standard software applications run on both PCs and Macs. Unlike other creative areas, the wide range of applications put to use reflects the diverse skillsets required. But as a starter, After Effects is a popular choice among many motion graphics professionals. “After Effects is probably the most flexible and prolific of the consumer motion design packages,” says Ben Radatz of MK12, the respected Kansas-based motion graphics studio.
“After Effects is very useful,” adds James Price, design director at world-renowned Transistor Studios. “It’s the industry standard for motion graphics in the US. It’s also essential to be familiar with well-known design tools, such as Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator.”
“It all depends on what your goals are,” adds Jared Plummer, executive creative director/partner at Transistor Studios. “If you want to create photo-real 3D characters and environments, then you should learn Maya and a good compositing program, such as Shake or Combustion.”
Those daunted by the thought of mastering numerous software packages for a career in motion graphics shouldn’t be put off. “If you design or work on a desktop you are already halfway to being able to animate your designs,” reassures Seamus Masterson, creative director at viral agency Maverick. “They are in, or can be turned into, a format acceptable to animation programs. Photoshop and Illustrator are probably the most widely used graphic design programs, and both export material that can be used in animation.”
Rogier Hendriks of Dutch creative studio Onesize sees the use of motion graphics as a logical extension of the use of Flash online. “With the booming internet business of the past few years and the easy-to-use Flash application, motion design became very popular among web designers,” he says. “I think it is a natural ‘follow-up’ to step from the popular Flash-based motion design into the broadcast area of motion.”
Indeed much of the distinctive work of design studio Airside, including motion graphics for MTV, is produced this way. “Much of our animation is done in Flash,” says founder Nat Hunter, “although many keyframes are hand drawn on a light box and scanned into Flash. We have used Maya a lot, to get a subtle 3D feel. We have also rendered complicated models in Maya to look like they were drawn in Illustrator or Flash!”
The bigger picture Acquiring the software skills that will help you master motion and broadcast graphics is half the challenge. “Learn the basics of graphic design before you get into motion graphics design,” suggests Joost Korngold of Dutch design studio Renascent. “Getting the latest copy of After Effects or 3ds Max doesn’t make you a good designer.”
Mel Tonkin, an animator at PSYOP, offers more good advice: “Tools are tools,” she says. “What you make of them is what counts. That said, there’s a relationship between creative intent and technical capability. Ideally, creative intent sits in the driver’s seat, and the technology rides shotgun.”
“Focus on finding your own voice,” says Radatz. “There will always be an army of people who can help execute your ideas, but very few who can see the bigger picture.” That bigger picture can involve many creative hands; much of motion graphics is a collaborative effort involving several individuals with specific skills. Some companies do everything in-house, while others will seek freelancers or specialist studios to save time and meet budgets.
“Like many of our leading competitors, we do everything,” says Jake Banks, owner, creative director and director of the award-winning Stardust. “That’s not only graphics and animation, we actually work with our agency clients, and their clients, as creative partners from the concept stage of a project, then handle casting, direct the live-action film and photo shoots, and then handle the design, animation, visual effects, editorial and final conforming for most of the projects we deal with.”
Others, as Radatz explains, are called in for a particular role. “Often, they are employed to provide design and animation to work in conjunction with someone else’s direction or photography, in much the same way that visual effects companies deliver effects shots for a feature film.”
Finding a role in this buoyant industry also requires an understanding of what clients actually want. Stephen Price recently did a survey of top studios in the industry for a series of talks at animation and design schools. “The first thing I learned is no two companies are looking for the same thing. But as disparate as the responses were, certain general patterns of preference emerge,” he says. “Let’s call them the three Cs. Creative: your reel demonstrates fresh thinking. Confidence: in the interview you present yourself and your ideas with confidence but not ego or attitude. Compatibility: the company senses you are enthusiastic, easy to work with, and will fit into their culture.”
James Price points to a simple fundamental. “The industry is looking for somebody who understands how to tell a story with pictures, and ideally pictures that look great.” Originality and the ability to create new styles, and not simply follow current trends, are vital. “Probably the most important thing, alongside design ability, is an individual style that sets your work apart from the other work out there,” says Seamus Masterson at Maverick. “This is what producers and creative commissioners are looking for above all else, and is more important than technical ability.”
Dealing with clients Knowing what clients want is one thing, but meeting their demands can be problematic, as Mainframe’s Adam Jenns explains. “Clients want to be made to look good, and they more often than not want to have some input into a job,” he says. “Occasionally clients will give us some good visual reference, which we like, but things go downhill if you encounter a client that wants you to copy a piece of work that another, say US, agency has done, just because they think they can get away with it.”
For Tonkin, being able to articulate clients’ and creatives’ ideas is paramount. “I think people underestimate how important it is to communicate, often about fairly abstract notions, and to deal with other people in general,” she says. “You shouldn’t be in this field if you don’t really love it.”
Quba Michalski highlights another area you should consider. “You need to change your mode of thinking. Instead of thinking in two or three dimensions, you need to start thinking in four – the fourth being time,” he says. “When you prepare your elements for animation, you need to know what they will then do over time.”
As for the future, Stephen Price sees no sign of the industry flagging. Fuelled by expanding platforms and delivery systems, including the rise of mobile media, increased broadband content and HDTV broadcasts, it’s an industry in bloom. “Motion graphics fits perfectly into today’s market because the tools are cheap, easy to learn and fast,” he concludes. “Designers can kick out work quicker and cheaper and that makes clients happy. Where is the breaking point? My guess is it has to be some way off, because amazing new studios keep popping up and brilliant students keep graduating.”
Statement of Intent
I intend to look deeper in to the world of motion graphics and the concept of "Vjaying" video jockeys are the DJ's of video
I plan to study animation in my range of expertise. I feel that my outcome will be outlined and understood during the
development of my FMP. My materials of choice for this will be a mixture of computer generated illustrations, hand
drawn and video. I intend to manipulate as many mediums as possible to fully explore the skills that I have developed
during this course.
I plan to study animation in my range of expertise. I feel that my outcome will be outlined and understood during the
development of my FMP. My materials of choice for this will be a mixture of computer generated illustrations, hand
drawn and video. I intend to manipulate as many mediums as possible to fully explore the skills that I have developed
during this course.
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Vinyl Toys: Invasion of the Color Snatchers
Vinyl Toys: Invasion of the Color Snatchers the article i was looking for lead me to read this one about
vinyl miniatures, this basically tells you about the origins of vinyl and so forth it also talks about the
strong use of color.
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/01/18/vinyl-toys-invasion-of-the-color-snatchers/
vinyl miniatures, this basically tells you about the origins of vinyl and so forth it also talks about the
strong use of color.
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/01/18/vinyl-toys-invasion-of-the-color-snatchers/
SUPERFLAT
Murakami (yes I put him in) ok the super-flat movement this is basically taking a look at japan and
pop culture world wide and making it 2-d hence superflat anyway i was just reading this article on
an exhibition being held in NYC.
http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/drohojowska-philp/drohojowska-philp1-18-01.asp
pop culture world wide and making it 2-d hence superflat anyway i was just reading this article on
an exhibition being held in NYC.
http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/drohojowska-philp/drohojowska-philp1-18-01.asp
David shrigely
this dude makes some interesting things he looks at the boring
and uninspiring and changes the meaning of the work just like
the matchboxes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/shrigley
and uninspiring and changes the meaning of the work just like
the matchboxes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/shrigley
Man Machine
A cool exhibition showing work from the science museum utilizing an engineer and designers to make an interesting exhibition.
http://www.physicalinteractionlab.com/projects/man-machine-2
http://www.physicalinteractionlab.com/projects/man-machine-2
Starck!
Starck a dude who designs artistic home appliances some that are not exactly practical but just look pretty
I am using this as a link because designer matchboxes are novelty and so are starcks creations.
http://www.philippe-starck.com/
I am using this as a link because designer matchboxes are novelty and so are starcks creations.
http://www.philippe-starck.com/
ITS FMP Time!
Task one find an interesting article my article is about japanese matchbox art a mundane object bought to life through illustration. I thought the article was interesting because “When you open a matchbox, it turns into a three-dimensional sculpture,” explains Fujinami. “This is probably what makes it so nice to design with matchboxes rather than working on two-dimensional canvasses. Also, there is the joy of striking a match and the distinct odour that comes with it. Something you don’t get with a lighter.” (ref http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/24/match-exhibition/)
so here are the links i found relevant to this.
so here are the links i found relevant to this.
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