Final Evaluation

This module, has been one of the most helpful modules for me. It has given encouraged me to spend the time required thinking about all aspects of my online presence and the way in which I can brand myself, to make myself more recognisable and well known. The “Brand Me” brief, was not only massively helpful, but also really exciting, because I was able to brand myself and show myself in a more professional light. Now that I have an updated showreel and a final design for my business card, I feel a lot more prepared to speak to potential employers in person, as well as online, because I feel I now have more to give, where as earlier in the year I didn’t feel very prepared. However, this section of the module has also made me realise the areas that I need to work on, such as gaining work experience, and building my confidence in new software. 

The Creative Strategies brief was a great change to discover some new artists and animators, as well as studios, all of which I have found to be really inspiring. As well as this I have really valued my books this year, especially those based around animation and concept development with in animation. Being able to see examples of other development work and how different artists work, made me feel even more motivated to develop my abilities. The Pitch Perfect brief, was one that I found quite challenging, because I’m not the best at dealing with numbers, however this task on the whole was extremely useful, because I came out of it having a much better understanding of what would be required to set up a studio, and also what not to do. 

Having this opportunity to think more about what I wan to specialize in and where I want to go, has led to me feeling a lot happier in myself as an artist, because I have realised how much I want to specialize in pre-production, and after reflecting on my experience this year, I know exactly what I need to do to improve and develop. I have also realised how inspiring it can be to just simply look through social media when I am having trouble with design work. Instead of dreading seeing other artists’ work, I now see it as a positive and let it be something that drives me to work hard and build my skills. I have realised that my drawing ability is not bad, the problem I have is keeping it up. I have always found once I am in a good place with drawing, I love it. So my main aim is just to keep it all up over summer, as well as animating, and allow myself to always keep improving. I have gradually learnt that sometimes, failure doesn’t have t be a bad thing, it s something that teaches me a lot, and I can use this to my own gain in the long run. 

End of year Reflection

The Final presentation to give, was one that reflected the my over all experience in second year. This is something I was eager to talk about because I felt that I had progressed a lot this year, in terms of the standard of my work and knowing what I want to do when I graduate. My presentation covered the positive and negative aspects of the year, however all of which have helped me in the long run.
My ability to animate in both 2D and 3D is something I was unaware of in first year, however I am now really glad to know that I have the potential to do both. My problem is not so much with learning things, that I can do quickly, my problem is being able to remember everything. This is something I have learnt to cope with my writing suff down when I need to.

My love for production, especially concept design in the areas of characters and environments is something I want to develop further in. After some feedback from my tutor I know that one of the things I need to do is produce some looser drawings, which show how the character is constructed, for, construction and movement lines. This can really bring a character to life, and at the moment some of my work is a little rigid. However I am glad that I now know where ti improve and what to work on. This ask has encouraged me to also think more about life drawing, and drawing in general, which is something I will be making a lot of time for over the summer!

Brand Me - New Showreel

Here is my new and improved showreel!

Brand Me - Online Presence

As part of this brief, we had to think about our online presence and what we needed to do to get ourselves out these. We were also encouraged to narrow down our social media sites and to not try and juggle an unmanageable amount. The social media sites I use most for my work are, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. I do have a Youtube account, however after I began working on this "Brand Me" brief, I was advised to think about using Vimeo as another way of posting my animations.

So I went ahead and created an account. The reason this site is also so useful, is because I am able to update my showreel and replace it, but the URL won't change, so I don't need to worry about giving people the incorrect address, because this wont really be possible! Also, I realised I much prefer the layout on Vimeo compared to Youtube, and it also offers space to explain who you are, what you do, and what you watch. 

Out of the sites I use the most, which is Instagram and Tumblr, I try to post a good few times a week, but not too much. I tend to update my Twitter and Facebook on more of a weekly basis, depending on the circumstances. However, I am now trying to link my sites together more. Instead of posting the same thing several times across different sites, I have been mentioning in my updates about my other sites. This will hopefully encourage people to follow me on more than one form of social media!

I have also updated my sites, so that they all have the same profile Image, and made sure that they have the same theme running through out. 

Brand me - Creative CV & Letter Head

As part of this brief, we were asked to make a creative CV that could potentially be used to help us get a job in the industry. In all honesty this was something I actually found quite hard, because not only do I struggle with writing CV's anyway, I wasn't sure how creative I could make it without making it look unprofessional, so for now I didn't go too crazy!

I decided not to make the whole sheet the same cream colour as my ident background, because I didn't like the idea of the whole sheet looking like that. I decided to simply use the round version of my logo at the top, that way it would also be separate from the rest of the information.

As somebody who wants to specialize in pre-production, I tried very hard to stress this without making it sound as though I didn't want to animate, because I do!

Below is a letter head design I made as part of this brief. I wanted to keep it consistent with everything else I had made so far, so I simply used the same logo and description.

I realised that the Logo on my cards, CV and Letter head, is laid out differently to the one for my ident. This was intentional because, I think having the logo above the text looks better in paper, however my ident is animated, and I really liked the look of the face popping up at the side of the text. However, each component of my logo is separate, so these changes are easily made and can be suited to their purpose. The face in my logo is my profile picture for all of my social media, so this will hopefully become recognisable anyway!

Brand Me - Business Cards

To begin with, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted my business card to look like, because having my logo and indent sorted made the whole process much easier. I began by making a number of versions in photoshop, this way I had more than one to choose from and could be able to clearly see which one would be the most appropriate.

I knew the design for the outside of the card, so this I kept the same. However after creating different examples, I couldn't help but feel that having the same colour on the inside and outside was kind of boring, for me anyway, because I don't think it did me much justice. I decided to try switching the colours round on the inside, which I actually really liked the look of! 

Here is my final design for my business card. I decided to reverse the colours on the inside, and take away the separation line from the middle. I just preferred it without, I think it suits me more that way. I have included my email address and mobile number, as well as my Instagram and Twitter because these are the same. I also put down the link to my latest showreel on Vimeo. 

 I'm really pleased with how my final cards turned out, I will definitely be getting some of these ordered so that I can give them out when I attend festivals and studio visits, or even if I meet somebody in the street, you never know!

Creative Research - Just Keep Drawing

Through out the course of this year, I have tried to structure my time in a way that would give me free time to draw, because I often struggle to juggle this when I have several briefs on the go. I did manage to get some character sketchbook work done, however not a massive amount.

You may be wondering, why do I have pages filled with just noses, moths and eyes? WELL, nearer the start of the year, I felt as though id hit a bit of a brick wall in terms of ideas. I had all of these ideas in my head in terms of character based drawings, however every time I sat down to draw I would just go blank. I realised that something I really needed to do was spend some time focusing on doodling some of the many ways that facial features could be represented. This was something I set myself to do because I knew in the long run, it would really help me out. On many of the occasions since, when ever I have felt like I can't draw something, or I struggle to convey what is in my head onto the paper, I often flick back to these pages, just to remind myself that I do have the ability to get my ideas down, it just might mean that I have to chill out and stop worrying about the final outcome and just DRAW!

Looking at these earlier pages rom my sketchbook, I can already see a huge change in the standard of my drawings in terms of character design. Also, I have become a lot more comfortable with drawing and producing design digitally. I think this has come about through the amount of hand-drawn digital animation I have done this year, a long with the amount of pre-production work. I'm really glad about this, because this time, instead of feeling nervous about he summer and trying to figure out what i'm going to do, I'm really excited to sit down and produce some really goos stuff!

Creative Research - Life Drawing

During second year, I haven't done half as much life drawing as I should have done. I found myself getting so wrapped up in my current projects that I wasn't making the time to draw as much. Therefore I have decided to dedicate a set amount of time over summer to doing this. Since I haven't drawn from life in a while, the thought of doing so actually makes me a bit nervous, because I don't believe life drawing is easy, especially when you haven't done it in a long time.

After carrying out some research to see how different people approach life drawing, it has become more clear to me that I don't just have to use the traditional pencil and paper. I really like the idea of playing around with other medias such as charcoal, ink and paint. I think this could make it more enjoyable for me too, unless I find myself in the mood to just use the good old pencil!

Also, after seeing some of the work produced by other artists online, I feel a lot more comfortable with the thought of just going for it, and not over thinking. I often over think when it comes to drawing, which can result in me getting internally frustrated. However, on the few times I have just winged it and not thought about it so much, I have actually found that the stuff I produce has been much better. 

Another thing I need to think about is drawing men more. I am quite comfortable with drawing women, and whist this is a good skill to have, I really need to get better and sketching males too. So this is something I will need to get working on. After researching what different artists have come up with, I feel a lot more confident to just go for it, and to not over think! 

Creative Research - Stop Motion

Through out this year, I have carried out some stop motion face painting as part of a separate module. However, I have chosen to include a specific example I found on youtube in my blog because I think it is really well done, and it has made me want to do this again. 

This animation below called "Ruby" is a stop motion face painted animation, which is based around the topic of death and rebirth. It sounds slightly grim, but it is actually quite a heart warming animation. The woman's is painted in way that makes it look as though she is ageing rapidly, it then moves onto death, so the skin gradually transcends into bone. Eventually,  her skull cracks open and an array of flowers grow out from underneath. The black background works really well, especially when the colorful flowers grow outwards across her face, because there is no distractions or issues with lighting.   

The emphasis is placed only on the face, because there is nothing else to be seen. I am unsure as to weather or not this was shot at 12 or 24 frames per second, but either way I think it looks great.

I would really love to produce another stop motion face paint, possibly over the summer. This is one of many possible ideas that could be used. This example has got me thinking of other themes that could be followed and how they could be represented.

I am aware that this doesn't hugely fit with my interest in concept design, but to be honest I just happen to enjoy it a lot, so if I find the time to spare I would love to produce another!

Creative Research - Luli Bunny

On tumblr I have recently come to follow a an Illustrator/ Character designer who goes by the name Luli Bunny. I have taken a particular interest in her work, because of her unique and simplistic style which works really well.

It looks to me as though she uses a mix digital and traditional mediums. I particularly like the designs she has done for the birds, because I think the stained texture they have works really well. This has also reminded me that it is okay to design characters sometimes that are more simplistic than others, and that in some cases, less is more. Also this has made me more keen to experiment more with brusho, and to see how i can combine that with digital drawing, because I think this could produce something really cool! 

I have noticed that her work is very shape based, and and the edges are very crisp. I haven't actually designed a character in this way before, so I am up for giving this a go. This has just made me more eager to experiments with different shapes and medias, because I do have a tendency to over think!

It has also got me thinking more about colour, and that sometimes using very dark colours can work just as well if it is done right. This is certainly something I will be thinking about over summer. 

Creative Research - Cold Caller

One of my favourite animations from Kilogramme Animation Studio, that I came across after Manchester Animation Festival, is their 2D animation "Cold Caller" This animation was for a TV add, about the danger of cold callers and people on your door step not being who they say they are.
I really love the design work that has gone into this animation, because even though it is a short add, the nature of the characters is conveyed very quickly, especially through their visual appearance and body language. This is a particular factor with the character of the cold caller himself.

The long slim features and confident body language help him to establish some threatening presence. 

Also, the very pointed jaw line, suggests he is somebody to be feared. This is a factor I have found quite common in evil characters, especially with the extended sharp nose.

The background design for this animation works really well with the design of the characters. The outside environment where the cold caller is, has a colour scheme that is centered around blue and purple, which goes well with his very blue, cold complexion!

I also love the concept sketches for the cat, despite the fact she is only in screen for a few seconds, I like the fact that a lot of thought has gone into his/her expressions and movement. 

This sheet below is a really useful one for me because it shows progress and development of this character. This animation is one of the best TV add animations i have seen, and I think one of the main reasons for this is because of the amount development and design work that has gone into it.  

Creative Research - Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Over the past few weeks, I have spent a good amount of time just sitting and searching tumblr and other sites, looking for practitioners and studios to follow or potentially get into contact with. Whilst I was looking about, I stumbled across Nickelodeon Animation Studio. I was surprised at the feat that I hadn't already been following them, especially since I am familiar with a lot of the stuff they produce! I didn't used to like the idea of working for a studio that was focused on producing animation for kids, however over the course of this year, I think this has changed because I have realised how interested I am in concept design.

They are such a character driven studio, which is a no brainer, especially since their audience is children. Although they produce such a huge range of shows, therefore an insane amount of character, they do a really good job at keeping all character appealing and likeable. 

I think one of the main ways they do this, is through the use of colour. Also, they have a lot of examples of shape driven character design, which has proven to be very effective in many cases, because certain shapes give off certain vibes. One of the most popular examples of this would be spongebob! 

I'm really glad I that I've started keeping track of this studio and what they are up to, because I love their style. Their style is so adaptable, which i think is part of the reason they have produced so much great stuff. This is a US based studio, so I don't think i'll be going to see them anytime soon, however I plan to keep following them, and hope that one day I will win the lottery! 

Creative Research - "Sweet Cocoon"

Whilst I was searching the web for some new animations, I came across this 3D Short by ESMA called "Sweet Cocoon" The reason I decided to blog is because there were a lot of elements in this animation which help make it funny, appealing and well animated. 

Firstly, I must point out the obvious and say that the design of this caterpillar is wonderful, because it is so chubby! The animation of it's movement is so well done, there is some really good anticipation and secondary motion in there! This makes it all the more enjoyable to watch because it is a reminder of how chubby he is! 

Also, from the start we see that this character has one particular desire, which is to simply get into the cocoon! The fact that this character has something he/she values and has an aim to work towards, makes them all the more appealing.  Also, I love the character design of the other two creatures who try and help the caterpillar get in the cocoon. Each character is totally different, however they are still compatible with one another because the style of their design is consistent. This is an example of a 3D animation that I love, not just because of the great character and environmental design, but also because of it's storyline. From the beginning, I found myself rooting for the caterpillar, and just found it to be such a funny, light hearted animation that made me laugh a lot.

A huge amount of the comedy element was achieved through the animation of these characters, and the way in which they conduct themselves.  The next time I animate in 3D, I will refer back to this. Even if I was animating in 2D, I still feel it would be helpful! 

Creative Research - Blue Zoo

After discovering Blue Zoo animation Studio which is in London, I noticed they had an opening for 2 internships. One of which was focused more on the design element and pitching ideas, which would then come to animating later on. I didn't end up applying for this, because firstly, my showreel was not up to date at this point, and I did not want it to be sent out if I was not happy with it. Secondly, they seem to be looking for people who specialise in 3D animation.

However, I do plan to get into contact with them over the summer period, to find out what exactly they would look for in a showreel, because I figured it cant hurt to try! 

This studio, is very character driven which is clear to me just on their homepage. This is why I am interested in this studio, regardless of the fact that it specialises in 3D, because I don't think this matters. However, my showreel is almost all 2D, so I am aware that they most likely wouldn't want me anyway, however at this stage I am just merely curious!

I like the sound of the placement that was available, because it didn't sound as though it was just centered around animating. It offered the opportunity to attend meetings and pitch ideas and well as producing designs. I will continue to keep a look out on the site, and the other social media pages, but in the mean time by aim is to find out what they look for in a showreel, and see if my reel can be adapted, or if I should think about making a second one that is more 3D based during third year. 

Creative Research - Studio Distract

Studio Distract is an Manchester based Animation Studio, specialising mainly in 3D. I was quite surprised to find myself so intrigued by this studio, because I usually lean more towards 2D animation. However once I had realised that my interest was more in concept design that it was the animation itself, I found myself excited about the thought of doing concept design for all form of animation.

The animation this studio produces is so enjoyable to watch because not only is it well animated with great design, but a lot of the animation I have seen is very colourful and gives off the happy vibes, which is always a good thing!

They have a hug range of clients, including Disney and Pixar, however some clients that are't actually in the animation industry, such as the NHS. I think having a wide range of clients like this is a good thing because it shows how capable this studio is, and that they can meet the needs of different clients, regardless of what is asked of them. I have recently got into contact with the studio to ask about studio visits, however nobody got back to me. I plan to try and contact them again soon, on a different email address or by phone. 

I am not hugely experienced in 3D animation, I have only produced the one, so I am curious to fin out how much 3D experience they want people to have, especially if they aim to work in concept design. 

Creative Research - Character Encyclopedia

I have found myself getting ideas, and inspiration from a lot of books this year, and one of them is "Pixar Character Encyclopedia" This was something that my mum actually saw when she was out one day, and thought i might benefit from it, and she wan't wrong!

To begin with I wasn't sure how helpful it would be, because it is just about 3D characters, however the information in this book was super helpful and could even be applied to 2D characters as well.

The book provides detailed, up close pictures of specific characters, with character descriptions and highlighted features and body language which influence their personality and demeanors.

 I particularly like the examples from Ratatouille, because I really love the character designs in this animation, particularly the rats! The diagrams highlighted the individual features given to some of the rat characters, to make them more distinctive and likeable.

 Even the incorporation of "Mabel" who isn't a main character and isn't on screen for a log time, was still very interesting. This was an interesting one because she is portrayed a such a sweet lady but turns out to be rather scary and defensive when it comes to rats. Features such as her small frame, pink clothing and hat, make her look quite timid, especially with those huge eyes. However, I do think a good amount of the appeal she has also comes from her desire to shoot rats with a shot gun, because this adds a lot of comedy.

After looking through this book a lot, especially when trying to come up with new designs, it has helped me a lot. It has helped because it has got me to spend more time always actively thinking what could make a certain character appealing and pleasing to look at? And how can their visual appearance and body language help their role in the story?

This is definitely a book I will be keeping close for now, because I have found it not only helpful, but also really interesting. It's the sort of thing I can also flick through just for the hell of it. 

Creative Research - The Fundamentals of Animation

During my research process for my essay, I made a trip to the library and got out Paul Well's "The Fundamentals of Animation" Once I had finished with it in terms of essay, I decided to keep hold of it, because it contains a lot of really useful information in terms of character design and storyboarding.
                                                                                   

As well as the importance of appeal, their was a lot of emphasis placed upon the importance of character designs being accompanied by character notes. This is important for the individual designer, but also the animator, weather it be an individual animator or a team. Because they will refer to the "Bible" of information provided for them by the designer. There were also examples of rough development sketches which were also accompanied by rough notes.

Also, in terms of sequential drawing, there was some very helpful information about storyboarding. There was the mention of pretending that your eyes are a camera, which is filming the footage. This therefore encourages you to see things from a bigger range of angles, as well as zooming in and out. I think sometimes it is quite easy to do a first draft of a storyboard and then find that the there isn't enough variety in the shot framings. This is something I will definitely apply to my future work, because I am definitely somebody who has trouble creating a range in shot angles and perspectives.  

Creative Research - 2D Animation

I have recently started following a page on tumblr, which is a collective of work from different animators and studios. However all of the work is 2D. I have found myself scrolling through this page for ages at a time, because some of the traditional animation and drawings that are on there are amazing and fantastically animated.

The page only shows snippets of animation, some of which os even from the old classic disney films, such as Sleeping Beauty and Jungle Book. I have really enjoyed being able to see some of the concept work for these films and others in one place, because I think nowadays it can be quite difficult to find test animation and concept work from years ago. Also, I think having a space dedicated to just 2D animation is a good call, because 3D animation is such a growing technique in itself, that sometimes 2D can be forgotten about, especially when it comes to big feature length movies. 

I especially love some of the animal concept work that has been produced for Disney's Sleeping Beauty. This was by far my favourite animation when I was younger. I think these squirrel sketches are brilliant, because artist has done a great job of making it look cute and appealing, but also designed in a way that allows easy mobility. The huge tail and ability to stretch allows lots of room for secondary motion and anticipation. I have found myself going onto this page if I need either inspiration, motivation, or if I just want to look at some amazing stuff. 

It has also helped me become familiar with some amazing animators and concept artists. 

Creative Research - Studio Visit

After getting into contact with Jon Turner, the Director of Kilogramme Animation Studio, he soon got back to me. He told me that he couldn't promise a work placement, however he was happy to let me come and visit the studio. I jumped at the chance straight away, and we agreed on a date in mid June! I have decided that, when I go to visit, I will make sure I have my laptop on me, incase he wants to see any work, however I have also put my showreel on my phone, so this too is also an option. I will also take a long my concept design sketchbook. I have been told by somebody in third year who visited the studio, that he offers good feedback on work, so hopefully he will be willing to have a look at my reel and let me know what he thinks! After having that conversation with Emma Reynolds, I have adapted my showreel so that it is appropriate and obvious that I would like to work in the area of concept design.

Weather this ends in a placement or not, I am still really pleased I have the chance to go and have a chat with him, and see what the studio is like!

Exciting times!

Creative Research - Song of the Sea

After Manchester Animation Festival, I became familiar with Cartoon Saloon and their recent release "Song of the Sea" This films has been a massive inspiration to me, for many reasons. Firstly, the storyline is great, however the main thing I have found so inspiring, is the visual side. The environmental and character design, and the animation itself are all stunning.

This film is not purely digital, watercolour textures have been composited in. I found this film so satisfying to watch, because the colours and textures were just perfect. It really helps set the scene, and makes this movie distincive and unique. This animation took years to make, which doesn't surprise me at all, because I can't fault it. This has made me want to think more about environmental design, as well as developing further with character designs. This is an animation that is very driven by it's scenery and settings, so this reinforced to me how important and effective this can be!

Another aspect of this animation that I loved, was the variety of character design. All of these characters look totally different, however it is clear that they are all from the same story. The style is very consistent, and works well with the environments too. I sometimes struggle with making more than one character from the same narrative look compatible, so I will definitely take inspiration from this animation.  I also love the fact that the character designs aren't too complex or over the top. Therefore they don't clash with their surroundings. 

Creative Research - Environmental Design

After focusing a lot on character design this year, I have realised that I have found myself not focusing a lot on environmental design. And this is something I am also eager to do, because characters and environments go hand in hand. Recently on tumblr I have started following a character designer and illustrator from Germany who goes by the name "Ira"

After scrolling through her feed, I found that she also produces some really amazing environmental drawings. However, the first example of environmental design I saw on her page was on her header photo which I loved!

These two examples above, really stuck with me, and left me feeling really excited about coming up with some of my own environmental concept art. It has also made me want to experiment with different media, which as watercolour, and inks, as well as digital. After seeing these examples and many other, I have decided that one of the things I intend to do over summer is produce more environmental work, because I think this year I have become very caught up in just character design alone. 

Creative Research - Guillermo Del Toro

Earlier in the year, I decided to treat myself to Guillermo Del Toro's "Cabinet of Curiosities" This has been an extremely helpful and interesting book, because it includes actual pages from his notebooks. These include concept sketches and notes for many of his films. The reason I have decided to blog about this is simply because, I love this book.

As somebody who wants to spend my time designing characters and concept art, this book was very useful to me. It allowed me to realise that development work and idea generation, doesn't always have to be neat and tidy, as long as the idea is conveyed. I have spent a great deal of time time stressing and trying to force myself on a singular style, however flicking through this giant book has put me off having a singular style. So I have decided just to go with the flow of things. 

Through out the book, there are countless sketches, some detailed, some not. Some of them aren't even done too preciously, however with the incorporation of diagrams and annotations, it is easy to see the development work that has taken place. Also, there were lots of development sketches for quite a lot of well known characters. The sketches for Pan's Labyrinth proved to be very interesting, because this is one of my favourite films, so I loved being able to see the development work that has gone into it. Having this book has encouraged me to make more notes ad not too overly stress about making everything in my sketchbook look perfect. 

   

Creative Research - Lip Syncing

After one of our seminars from Martin about lip syncing, I realised that I wasn't very experienced in this area. The thought of lip syncing seemed like quite a tricky one to me, however Martin let us in on a secret. He said that it is possible to get away with only using a select few phonemes. At this point I was preparing to start work on my applied animation with Emma, and we were going to need to include lip-syncing. For some reason, before this point I had imagined it to be very long, difficult task.

However, I didn't think about the facf that some phonemes can be reused for more than one sound, which saved a lot of time! This seminar was very useful because it taught me some key facts:

• Sound can come a couple of frames early but NOT LATE
• If it looks too jittery, just include the vowel sounds only

This was definitely very useful for me, because I actually found the lip syncing process to be quite satisfying and enjoyable. I have also found that it has made me more aware of lip syncing in any animation I watch. 

Creative Research - Making Connections

After becoming familiar with Kilogramme Animation Studio I really wanted to get into contact with them to inquire about a possible placement of even just for a studio visit. I became familiar with a girl that works there through twitter, called Emma Reynolds, or EmmaIllustrate. She is an illustrator and an animation art worker. After visiting her site, I realised the area of work she focuses on is very much like the area I want to end up in. I decided to get into contact with her, to ask about what people look for in a showreel, and to see if she could give me any pointers.

I found her design work very inspirational because she clearly knows how to design characters with a great amount of appeal, as well as environments that work well with the characters and voce versa. I also liked the fact that her work is quite light hearted, and pleasing to look at, so instead of feeling panicky or overwhelmed, I felt simply inspired and wanted to spend the time looking through her work. She produces design work for different clients, because she is also free-lance. This was another reason I wanted to get into contact with her.

The reply she sent me was extremely helpful, and made me feel much better about the whole idea of leaving uni and going out into the world. She gave me several pointers to think about:

• Walk Cycles 
• Turn Arounds
• Life Drawing
• Networking 
• Enjoyment

She stressed to me the importance of life drawing, in order to keep my skills sharp. She also mentioned that employers (including Jon) look for good walk cycles. This encouraged me to work o this for my COP Module, because I wanted to have work in my showreel that would be relevant. 

Also, she simply refereed to networking as "just talking to people" which made me feel slightly more at ease, because I had been quite stressed out at the concept of networking. She also provided me with a number of books that would be useful, as well as mentioning that at the end of the the day it comes down to being good, and enjoying what you do. She told me that if I need anything else, to just let her know, which I was massively grateful for! She advised that I email Jon and then if he didn't reply in a month, to just send another polite one. 

Safe to say, this lady has been a saviour!

Creative Research - Manchester Animation Festival

Near the start of the year, I attended Manchester Animation Festival with the college. This was great opportunity to become familiar with new practitioners and to see ones I was already familiar with. Over the three days, we attended a number of talks and screenings, which all proved to be extremely inspiring. There were some specific speakers, and animations that I took a particular interest in and feel I have gained a lot from.

Firstly, during one of the talks, I became familiar with Kilogramme Animation Studio, which is based in Manchester. Jon Turner, the Director of the studio talked about the studio itself and the work they produce. I became very intrigued, because I loved the look of the work they produce. They studio produces a range of 2D and 3D, which is something I found appealing, because I find it difficult to choose a favourite. We watched some examples of their recent work, one of these being an episode from the "Tall Tales" series.

I also became familiar with the work of Tom Moore, who runs the studio CartoonSaloon. I had not yet seen "The Song of the Sea" so getting to hear about the processes behind making this animation, made me all the more eager to see it!

Even before watching the film itself, I could tell this was one of the most visually stunning animations I had come across in a long time. I loved the fact that they brought traditional mediums and digital animation together. This is something that influenced the idea behind one of my collaborative projects later on in the year. 

Another reason I found this Festival so beneficial, was because it made me realise that networking and talking to people in the industry doesn't have to be scary. I wish I had plucked up the courage to talk to more people in person at the time, but I felt very unprepared as I didn't have my sketchbook or anything i could show or give to anybody. However this has made me realise what I need to do next year and it has made me all the more eager to go!

Brand Me - Ident

From the start, I knew that I wanted my ident to be quite simple and quirky, and to have a direct link with my final logo design. Since I have a love for drawing and 2D animation, weather it be hand-drawn or digital, I had the idea of the text writing itself in. This was something I knew was possibly to achieve using After Effects, but I wasn't quite sure how. After research and getting some advice from a friend who is very experienced with After Effects, I decided to create a mask over the text, which could then be key-framed at the start and the end.

To begin with this seemed like quite an odd method as it was new to me, but I soon got the gist! I placed the motion paths over the text and this would determine how the text would write itself out. I didn't want this ident to last any longer than five seconds. 

I was unsure how this would be achieved with the head icon, however, I liked the idea of it popping into appearance. I thought this would add a bit of a bounce to the ident. This was achieved by simply increasing its size from 0 and then adding in some alterations in size to give the illusion of bouncing. This process didn't actually take that long, to my surprise. 

Audio

I knew that I wanted a penacil sound effect to accompany the text appearing, so I had a look online at some different pencil soundtracks. To my surprise, there were loads, because (something else I learned during this process) pencil sound tracks are very  popular because they trigger ASMR which is a sense of relaxation caused by certain noises. This did not do anything for me! 

After having several examples to choose from I knew the pencil sounds for the upper and lower text needed to be different because they differed in size. 

Final Ident

Brand Me - Logo

Creating my Logo was something I got started on very early on in this brief, because I didn't want it to drag out for longer than it needed to.  To start with, I was very unsure about what direction to take with this because as somebody who has a particular interest in character design, I didn't know weather or not to create myself in character form. However I don't have a particular style so this made the whole process much more difficult. However after much sketching and frustration, one of my house mates very wisely pointed out the possibility of just focusing on my main features. She said that these would be my hair, eyebrows and glasses. I decided to create something quite simple that could be  then incorporated into an ident later. 

This first example above, was drawn in photoshop. I used kept the background a cream colour so that it would work with the colour scheme of my hair. I take great pride in my eyebrows, so the pressure was on! I decided to colour the hair realistically, so this took a while, but the over all aim was to keep it quite simple and not too complex. That way it would be easily remembered and the emphasis was put on the features that represent me. 

After some further development in terms of ident, I decided to alter the colour scheme for my logo, to make everything more consistent. The background would stay pretty much the same, however Everything else would be a teal colour. Firstly, because this is my favourite colour, but more importantly, I have always found this colour to be very gender neutral, and I didn't think the original colour scheme was.  

Updated Version 

In order to save having to draw this out all over again, I simply played around with the colour levels in Photoshop and this did the trick quickly. I really wanted to keep this image as part of my main logo and ident, so I created a range of potential designs. This version above is now my profile picture on all my social media, because I wanted it to become recognisable and consistent. 

I decided to also create some version with just the glasses. As much as I loved these, myself and my tutor thought that just having the glasses and eyebrows could potentially look a little too masculine. Also, I much preferred having the full head and hair incorporated into the design. 

I knew that I needed to have more than one version of my final logo, so that it could be appropriate for different purposes such as showreels, profile pictures and header photos. 

After getting some different opinions, I decided that the image below would be my final, full logo. I preferred this one as did a lot of the people I asked. This version is one that would go at the start of showreels, on business cards, or at the end of my own animations. 

I also created a more abbreviated version, I am unsure exactly where I would use this version, however I figured it would be wise to have it!

For the time being, the version below is being used for header photos, however I do plan to produce some new work that can be used as the same header photo though out all of my social media, to keep consistency. The text, is actually something I jotted down whilst experimenting and actually really liked the result. So I decided to keep it and use it as my main text for the name. 

Pitch Perfect

For this brief, I teamed up with James and Gavin. Gavin was not part of our group at the start, so James and I had already cracked on with trying to establish our Studio.

After a lot of research and discussion, James and I decided that we really liked the idea of having the name of a colour as part of our studio name. This was because, some of the studios we had become familiar with over the period of this course, have the same theme. Such as, Red Kite, Golden Wolf and Blue Zoo Animation Studios.

It could be argued that we were't really thinking outside of the box, but to be honest we really loved this name, but we were also having a very hard time establishing other possible names, and didn't want to spend too long on this.

We decided we would want to stay quite local, so we went with Patrick Studios which is based in Leeds. This was also because Duke Studios seemed to be very popular choice and we thought we should consider space!



James and I both have quite different strengths. He has a passion for 3D animation, and I have a special interest in pre-production, especially Character Design. We decided to focus on animations for children's entertainment, which would include both 2D and 3D. This was because we felt this could potentially widen our audience, and also widen the range of work produced. Also, I am more confident with 2D animation at this point too. However we both felt we had enough knowledge to have an input on both methods! We also were open to the possibility of  creating shorts and commercial work for clients, as this could open up more doors for us.

Once it became apparent that Gavin would be joining our team, we had to think about roles with in the studio that would work well for everybody and would adhere to people's strengths. We also treated this as though we would have seven other employees, to ensure that all areas of work would be covered. However, I do think now that this was quite an unrealistic goal to have, because if this were reality, we wouldn't be wanting to pay 7 extra employees a week at the beginning.

 We decided that Gavin's job would be to create the Logo for our animation, so James and I cracked on with figuring out the finances. After pitching this to the class I have realised that, assuming that employees will bring their own equipment into work is a NO because it would cause all sorts of problems in terms of insurance and ownership of the work. Also, there was a mistake in terms of payment. Around this time there had been some changes to the national living wage and this led to some confusion between James and I, so we ended up stating that we would be paying our animators under the minimum wage, which was a mistake!

In terms of promotion, I was happy to put myself forward because I quite enjoy talking to people and think that I would do this job quite well. Also, we had to think about the social media sites we would have as our main methods of keeping people up to date with our work.

In terms of competition, we were encouraged to not just think of local studios, but also world wide. Of the top of our heads we were able to come up with quite a lot however we also carried more research. We needed to consider studios that focused on 2D animation, 3D animation or both.





Below is the first example of our logo Gavin created for us. We decided that it looked a little too jagged and sharp. We liked the idea of our logo not necessarily being childish, but more child friendly than this, because we didn't feel that this logo below did a very good job of showing what we do as a studio.

After asking Gavin if he could come up with some smoother designs, he provided us wit these 3 examples below. At this point Gavin was in Chicago, and didn't seem willing to create any fresh logos, so we decided to go with the bottom left example. However, he didn't provide us with this in time, so we didn't have it to show in our presentation.