Final Post

Putting design into motion opens up so many doors for new opportunities and means of expressing an idea. It was critically important to learn AfterEffects; it is such a powerful tool – although the application also has its own limits in terms of manipulating truly 3D objects. But learning this app starts putting my mind into a different frame of thought when trying to move things with the illusion of depth (ie depth cues, focal point, etc etc).

The print half of the design world is focused on capturing a still shot of something well composed and visually appealing. Motion design is more about creating a string of well composed and visually appealing objects that the viewer can remain fixed upon. However, it still builds upon the basic principles of what good design would look like, and many of the elements in motion parallel the design elements in print, whether it be good typography or a compositionally strong screen.

Although the concept development behind the 3-minute sequence wasn’t new – brainstorming, creative brief, storyboarding, etc. – things definitely played out differently once the graphics were built on screen, rather than paper.

I definitely found this course as an eye opener. In fact I can confidently say that I’ve learnt more new things (designing in motion, learning new applications) in this course alone than I have all year. It was worthwhile!

I Love JunKi Website

First, the site. I’m not a big fan of K-Pop… and hearing the three tracks on the website makes me like it even less. But considering the target audience of this korean pop star’s website (teens, tweens, or just anyone into K-Pop overseas… or over on this side of the ocean, too), it actually does quite an excellent job of making the pop star seem innocent, affectionate, cute, talented, creative, etc. etc.

The concept behind this site, I believe, was to be looking into Lee Jun Ki’s personal diary (but really it’s just a fancy revamped way of navigating a regular site, with normal sections like music samples, buying his DVD, videos, and a fan page). Nothing out of the ordinary nor all too impressive here, but I think what would make me want to post this as inspiration is the ‘randomness’ of navigating through the site. You shake the diary thing until something pops out – every shake results in some flowers or something coming out, and this is repeated until one of the sections falls out of the diary. It makes the person navigating the site wanting more, because you’re never sure what will pop out of the book next. I can imagine that navigation through this site would be very enjoyable if I actually liked this guy’s music.

P3: First Ten Seconds

If I’m going to do the whole Roman thing as a framework for the student showcase, I’m going to do it well. I’m happy with how this is turning out so far =)

DVD Menu Leader – WORK IN PROGRESS

Just thought I’d post my WIP for the 10 second leader into the DVD Menu. The idea is to show busts of ancient leaders – each bust will correspond to a 10-second leader. Therefore the ancient Roman/Greek theme that’s prevalent in the menu. I’m only going to be featuring ten leaders.

Troublemakers

This company is a cut above the rest! As they said, “troublemakers.tv is a production company that represents a new generation of directors who use live action, 2D and 3D animation to create innovative imagery for commercials and music videos.” Their website is a simple gallery of all the spot and vids they’ve produced. Each and every one of the works has a strong concept, exceptional execution, explaining the sparseness of the web page – each video speaks for itself.

Every conceivable method or technique of production and 3d motion is used in this company’s work. From simply things like duplicating a video and offsetting them just a bit, to fancy graphics of glass flying, to something remarkable like a sound system blasting a woman out of her own clothes, this company makes the unbelievable and undoable a real/virtual experience. Their work goes to show how this time-based course only begins to explore the world of motion design. Real awe-inspiring stuff.

Here’s their site.

Project 2

I suppose I should link it up on my site too.

LAO Digital Design

 

It’s funny how the way you see things change when you learn about the process needed to get to the final product. And prior to project 2 I would’ve seen the works at Laura Peña  (LAO Digital) differently from how I see it now. Much in the way that the design we encounter everyday – posters, billboards, magazines, etc. – had been quickly broken down into the types of filters, typefaces and textures used to achieve the final product, diving into AE and learning the kinds of masks, tricks to create a false sense of depth, and the kinds of effects you can create has changed my perception of LAO’s digital work.

The work looks a lot more logical, precise, and also a lot more difficult than before. You can practically see the designers turn on ‘3d object’ with shadows and blur on while they working on the piece, and imagine them fiddling with the timing and keyframes of a new camera object to create the sense of depth in a lot of the pieces. Then there’s also the stop-motion animation – the one named “Beautiful” reminds me of one of the student works from last year’s class.

In any case it’s definitely an inspirational site, more so when you know a bit about the execution process to achieve the final result. Good work always makes something difficult look easy!

FPM: Different Colours

I was recently looking for music videos for Fantastic Plastic Machine, a J-pop DJ/Artist that I absolutely love. Different Colours is definitely my favourite one.

Struggling to tie image and sound together cohesively in my own project at the moment, the video is a source of guidance and inspiration because what you see totally reflects what you hear. The quirky, cheerful music is reflected in the light-hearted, crazy adventure of a little girl that finds herself chasing a Louis Vitton panda into another dimension after it takes her cell phone from her.

You can notice some very good use of visual depth cues (even if I myself can’t figure out how to use them well), resulting in the viewer feeling like they are also flying down the LV-pattern tunnel, floating in the bubble world, and peeking right around the shop window into the outside world. I’m a far shot from creating a fully fleshed environment with an elaborate sense of depth like this video, but it’s still a nice video to look at critically.

Explose

A good indicator of the new direction that ‘designers’ are headed as exemplified by Explose.

This creative team is a jack-of-all trades. As it says on the website, the company is “not an advertising agency”, but rather a collective of Image and Sound Artists, as well as Freelance artists.

Aside from the extremely strong portfolio of web, print, photo, illustration – standard repertoire for a design firm – they also have people on board that make MUSIC. The tracks are cool mixes of everything imaginable – urban sounds, hip hop beats, instruments and musical influences from the Middle and Far East and Eastern Europe, and the occasional vocals. It makes for a good metaphor of what design is quickly becoming: no longer restricted to the people that are waving some diploma or degree saying they’ve been educated in design, this collective did not come from a design background per se, but they’re doing some pretty serious stuff regardless now.

Seriously inspiring stuff. And I love their music – their attitude and take on design really reflects the direction that design is headed in the near future.

PS3 Games Universe

Websites: some are over-the-top flashy, while some are drab and have nothing but plain HTML. Well-designed sites always find a good balance between the two, and while this one may lean on the flashier side, it still gets the purpose across, along with some other bonuses. The PS3 Games Universe website is one that knows its place but does a fine job of what it’s meant to do.

The website is basically a showcase of the latest PS3 games to date. Being the latest Sony gaming platform, it’s not a surprise that the website reflects the system’s advanced technology – the experience becomes a semi-experience unto itself when you fullscreen the window. With the ‘PS3 gaming cosmos’ theme and intermittent ambient sounds to go with it, the glass cube motif plays off of the otherwise sparse design and sound of the site – the games are there, but not much else: very pure, very clean, but also shows how technologically advanced the PS3 is.

You get a real feeling of slowly floating, and get to navigate the space by clicking on wherever you want to center on. A short click moves the screen over slowly, while holding it makes you float in that direction faster. The rollover on the glass cubes leads to small preview of one of the games. Clicking on it leads to an even flashier interface, and a full showcase/preview of the selected game. In the end, the design here is in the interface, and it really does pale in comparison to the footage of games once you open the glass cubes (take a look at Metal Gear Solid 3’s preview video, for example). It doesn’t go over the top, which in this case is actually very appropriate because the site is supposed to be nothing more than a framework or showcase for the actual games. But in any case, it’s interesting to see design increasingly effective create digital atmospheres.