Date: 2020
Field: Motion Design
Title: GusGus - Higher ft. VÖK (Official Music Video)
Artwork by: Elín Edda
Collaborators: Elín Edda, Siggi Kinski & Stefan Arni (ARNI & KINSKI)
Client: GusGus - Higher ft. VÖK
..................................
My first commercial Motion Design Project
In 2020 I was approached for an assignment that turned out to be my first commercial Motion Design Project. The directors, Sigurður Kinski and Stefán Árni (ARNI & KINSKI) needed to animate an illustration by my friend Elín Edda, for the art-collective / electronic music band gusgus. The motion artwork would be featured in their latest music video single, Higher, which features the Icelandic indietronic band Vök. The motion graphics are also set to be displayed in concerts, tours and other marketing material for their up-coming album.
Concept
The illustration is inspired by the tower of Babylon and the Tatlin's Tower. It forms from a winding path that gets elevated by tower segments and then continuously loops as new segments get added to the construction. We wanted to construction of the pillars of the tower to synchronize with the music to some extent. This created a hypnotizing, ever expanding tower animation that loops every 10 seconds. The abstract design and color use form a contrast to the dance sequences and the 3D tower designs featured in the music video. The animation has an appropriate start in the middle of the video, where the music has a short break before winding back up and can be thought in the terms of a diagram, metaphor or as a concept art for the music video.
About GusGus
GusGus is an electronic music band from Reykjavík, Iceland. Although initially a film and acting collective, the group is mostly known for its electronic music. The group's discography consists of ten studio albums. GusGus has had a span of nearly two decades in which they have done nearly every style of electronic influenced music. From techno to trip-hop, from house to progressive house/trance to pop, this collective has made each style their own. The current line up consists of founding members: Biggi Veira and Daníel Ágúst.
..................................
Date: 2019
Field: Illustrations / Motion Design
School: Hyper Island / Karlskrona. Sweden
Program: Motion Designer / 2021 KNA
Course: 02 - The fundamental crafts and tools of motion design / 07 Intro to Character Animation with Morten Niklasson
Instructor: Morten Niklasson
..................................
"A walk is the first thing to learn, ...cause walks are about the toughest thing to do right." Ken Harris
For the course "Intro to Character Animation" with Morten Niklasson we were able to explore and design our own character animations and create a walk cycle. This entailed making a walking puppet and creating a "rig" for them to come to life. The animation was an exercise on the aspects of hand drawn illustrations (line art), combined with vector shapes.
I think a walk cycle is the simplest, complicated animation you can make. We have a deep, primitive understanding of people and their movements and we are programmed to look for social cues and characteristics, however subtle. The same goes for an illustration or when drawing anatomy, the eyes somehow know these shapes of the human body.
The movements of someone's walk can tell a lot about his state of mind, character and mood. The movements are loaded with meaning, every subtitle is important and you can endlessly interpret those movements. In this project I really got the sense of the magic of animation, as cheesy as that sounds. The character comes to life on its own.
The glaring context of passing time in an animation becomes very obvious. You can't look at the character as a set of frames, you have to get the full context of the walk cycle to understand the moment that is being conveyed. Up to that point I hadn't realized how big of a different medium an animation was to an illustration or a painting. You are defining a moment. This moment is also adherent to once perception of people and their body language. Your perceptions or experiences can also change with time and for that reason I feel that a walk cycle is a thing you will never be able to complete, it's always changing. And then there is the physics of it all, which is a thing-in-itself.
"Walking is a process of falling over and catching yourself just in time. We´re going through a series of controlled falls." Richard Williams
..................................
Date: 2020
Field: Story / Illustrations / Motion Design
Title: Personal Project
Story, Illustrations & Animations:
Pétur Stefánsson
Music: Ármann - “Swift Summer”
Sounds: Recordings & freesound.org
Thanks: Hrefna Lind
…………
School: Hyper Island / Karlskrona, Sweden
Program: Motion Designer / 2021 KNA
Course: 13. Personal project
Supervisors / Instructors: Guðrún Jónsdóttir & Sigrún Hreins
Feedback: Dan Castro, Erik Hellmouth
Industry leaders: Dev Joshi, Dorca Musseb, Emily Suvanvej, Jordan Bergren, Júlía Skagfjörð & Sharon Harris
..................................
The short film "Personal Project" is about the journey that led to the making of the animation itself.
In the last course at the Motion Design Program at Hyper Island, called the "Personal Project", we were tasked with making our own animated short. I wanted to accomplish making my own animation, one where I would explore the story aspect of Motion Design as well as making my own illustrations and animations. I wanted to approach the project as an individual, personal perspective on the historical moment that we experienced in the summer of 2020. This was at the time when I was ideating for my final project, the "Personal Project".
Premise & Intention
WHAT An animated short film (2D, 2,5D), a culmination of my study at Hyper Island.
WHY To showcase my skills in storytelling, illustrations and animation
HOW By delivering a story that reflects my interests and personality
The short film became a sort of summary of my experience of the changing political landscape that we have witnessed in the last couple of years as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. It's about that question "Where were you when.." and the challenge of defining or putting that history in perspective, when you're living it. For me this was a trip from Sweden to Iceland, mid pandemic, in the summer of 2020, where I witnessed an empty, almost dystopian, International airport. For me it summarized the impact of the pandemic and made a big impression. I wanted the film to be reflective, or something that I could look back on in years to come and see where I was at that time, both in my skills in motion design and in my thoughts.As the project grew it became clear that it was also a story about going through challenging times with our loved ones.
THEME Getting through challenging times together
PLOT A couple on a journey experiencing the effects of historical moments
TONE Reflective / Humanistic / Surreal / Dystopian
..................................
Date: 2019
Field: Illustrations / Motion Design
School: Hyper Island / Karlskrona. Sweden
Program: Motion Designer / 2021 KNA
Course: 02 - The fundamental crafts and tools of motion design / 05 The 12 Principles of Animation with Kajsa Råsten
Instructor: Kajsa Råsten
..................................
A “bouncing ball” has to be the ultimate starting point for an animator as it entails most of the principles in one action. I wanted to expand on that exercise and in the course "fundamental of crafts and tools of motion design" at Hyper Island we had the first real opportunity to create our own animation from start to finish.
I wanted to create an animation that explored some of the early learning experiences in "the first 3 weeks" of Hyper Island. It turned into a sort of "meta video" that explained the structure of the classes at the school in Karlskrona, as well as the bonds and group dynamics that form between the students working on projects together.
Initially I thought of this animation as a way for me to interpret and explain, in my own words, some of the core approaches to work. Something which Hyper has developed and honed through the years. I saw this as a method for me to grasp the theories (the soft skills), as a useful way to learn the "hard tools" (the programs), and in so doing "kill two birds with one stone." It would also be a fun way to memorize the names of my classmates.
I found it fitting to do our class list as a periodic table, as we all have our own different personalities and attributes. In projects we would be working on creating new stuff together, compiling and forming new elements. I noted down and wrote scripts for some of the main lessons and figured I might do a series of them. They were meant to have an old school explainer video feel to them.
This animation was the first one in that series and coincidentally my first "real" animation.
..................................
Date: 2020
Field: Illustrations / Motion Design
School: Hyper Island / Karlskrona. Sweden
Program: Motion Designer / 2021 KNA
Course: 06 - Concept, brand, treatment and production
Instructors: Rickard Bengtsson, Kamran Ghodsi, Fredrik Lundqvist, Kajsa Råsten & Mikael Hall
Client: Supergrid / Fredrik Billing & Tore Atle Stenbock
Collaborators: Lisa Lennartsson, Miriam Muelle, Henrik Lidén & Ruxandra Nedelcu
..................................
Our task for the course "Concept, brand, treatment and production" was to create a short, one minute animation that would entirely be up to the animation team and the clients to decide and develop. We had some great lectures about the working relationship with both team members and clients.
About Supergrid
Supergrid enables the future of sustainable communities by making green energy accessible for everyone. Neighbourhood can become an independent energy producer by installing PV panels, local energy storage, EV charging and smart meters. The locally produced energy is distributed through a "microgrid" system. Supergrid allows citizens to produce, consume, share and sell energy, and thus be part of the green energy transition.
We were all pleased and excited to work with such an interesting, visionary company. The client showed great trust, support and engagement, regarding both our process and our skills as storytellers and animators. It was especially rewarding working with a client and a product that has such a beneficial and positive impact on the world. It was also exciting to work on a project that addresses big, global issues and that offers a viable, future solution, which will most certainly become the new way in which we gather energy in the future.
..................................
Date: 2020
Field: Illustrations / Motion Design / Marketing
School: Hyper Island / Karlskrona. Sweden
Program: Motion Designer / 2021 KNA
Course: 13 - Personal project - (Marketing)
..................................
Exhibition Identity
The “Personal Project” is the final course that students of the Motion Design program at Hyper Island take part in. The "Personal Project" gives the students a chance to exhibit their skills in Motion Design by creating a short animation of their own. It is optional for the students to work on the project by themselves or in collaboration with other students.
At the end of the course the students host an exhibition where industry leaders and other interested parties can join in the screening of the projects. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided to host the event online.
I offered to take part and lead the creative team behind the marketing of the "Final Exhibition" for the Motion Design Program at Hyper Island KNA. I created multiple teasers and trailers for the marketing, some of which can be seen here. This content was then shared on social media as well as in bought ads on instagram
Brand Experience & Characteristics
In line with the education that the students had taken part in, over the course of 16 months, we felt it was imperative that all of our marketing material would be done with motion properties. Invitations, advertisements (social media, google ads and other platforms) as well as trailers and exhibitions were made as gifs and in MPEG-4 formats. We suggested that all the material would be done in square format for easy use on social media and other online platforms.
The "Personal Project" is a collective exhibition by the students of the MD-21 program at Hyper Island. Therefore the design and aesthetics of the exhibition itself, the graphic profile, marketing and web page should try to be a neutral backdrop for all of the projects. We suggest the following:
ꞏ Typography is limited to classical and widely used typefaces such as Helvetica and/or Times New Roman. These typefaces are known for their neutral and/or expressionless characteristics.
ꞏ Kinetic typography instead of custom made icons with motion properties.
ꞏ An emphasis on black and white colors, with the additional usage of Hyper Island brand colors.
Titles, Slogans & Invitations
We started out by idating on the information that we wanted to express to the viewer. These were the titles, slogans and Invitations
The title for the "Final Exhibition" is meant to be displayed, moving around the border, framing the message of the marketing material. It is the unofficial logo of the event.
Final Exhibition - Motion Design - Hyper Island - November 27th 2020
The slogans are meant to function as the catchphrase/tagline to the event and can be thought of as a secondary icon for the event, suitable as stickers or short gifs.
WE ARE THE CLASS BC-AC Slogan 2. REAL WORLD READY- MORE THAN EVER
Invitations were done in collaboration with the event group as we concluded where the exhibition would be held at.
Welcome to the annual Final Exhibition in Motion Design at Hyper Island. Online on the 27th of October 2020
Graphical Profile
Format - Square 1:1
Invitations, marketing material such as advertisements (social media, google ads and other platforms) as well as trailers and exhibitions will be in gif and/or MPEG-4 formats. We suggest that material should be done in square format for easy use on social media and other online platforms. The reference for the square format also hints to Hiper Island's sticker motive found in the brand book.
Typography - Helvetica Neue
By utilizing two of the most recognized and widely used typefaces we get the aesthetic hint of neutrality in the graphical representation. These fonts can then be altered by the use of rasterization and distortions to give some appeal.
Kinetic typography
Kinetic typography, "moving text" is an animation technique mixing motion and text to express ideas using video animation.
The Exhibitions brand Identity is not meant to have a specific logo. The unofficial icon of the campaign is only the title of the Exhibition itself, executed kinetically around the border of the information being conveyed. The title moves counterclockwise around the center of whatever message is being conveyed. The title is meant to be the frame in which the message is being conveyed, just as the exhibition venue for which we showcase our work.
Additional text that appears within the frame is also meant to be done in a similar style as the title and can have kinetic movements.
Color
In keeping with the neutral motive of the Exhibitions brand Identity there is an overall emphasis on the use of black (#000000) and white (#FFFFFF) to form a visual representation of neutrality. Additionally the campaign adopts colors from Hyper Islands brand identity: Teal (#04C3A5), Orange (#FE3F00), Pink (#EC1A6D), Purple (#673D9F)
Brand Book
After the Exhibition Identity had been established and summarized in an pdf brand book, accessible in a shared google document, other teams used and incorporated our designs for a web page and online exhibition, live event page.
View all of the MD21 Projects on vimeo: MD21 Personal Projects
View our online, Exhibition event page: www.md21final.com
..................................
Date: 2020
Field: Illustrations / Motion Design / Production / Project Management / Concept Development / Character Design / Animation
School: Hyper Island / Karlskrona. Sweden
Program: Motion Designer / 2021 KNA
Course: 08 - The Motion Studio
Instructor: Deni Dimovski, Henrik Svilling & Romeo Vidner
Client: MARINMUSEUM
Contact: Malin Jogmark & Veronica Westerblom
Collaborators: Giancarlo Mitidieri, Julian Briland, Lena Klimova, Mathias Bilevits, Miguel Evangelista, Miriam Muelle & Nahom Zerai
..................................
Introduction
For the course "The Motion Studio" we were tasked to work with one of Sweden's oldest museums, the Marinmuseum, situated in the city of Karlskrona. Established in 1752, it functions as Sweden's national naval museum, dedicated to the Swedish naval defense and preservation of the country's naval history.
About Marinmuseum
In its exhibitions, the museum tells the story of the men and women who built and sailed the ships, and whose lives were affected by war and the threat of war. Through film, objects and personal stories they cover 500 years of naval history. To make this comprehensible to a younger audience they have special family and school programs in which they narrate the story from a perspective closer to children. This is where they need additional media in order to catch the children's attention.
Intention
The intention of the project was to create an introductory animation to the Marinmuseum, aimed for younger visitors and families. The animation would address and introduce the permanent ongoing exhibition at the museum, "500 years of Naval history".
The Goal
The goal of the project and the subsequent animation was meant to help the children to get a grasp of the history portrayed at the museum and the museum itself. The animation is meant to be an engaging experience that entertains, educates and raises their interests. It will help the children to understand the procedure and the conduct of the exhibition, as they time travel through different centuries. This is currently done with the use of a puppet character “the louse”, operated by curator guides at the museum.
Treatment Summary
So our task was to make a short animation that introduces the story of Louie the louse. A character that has accompanied humans (in and outside of the navy) for as long as we can trace human history.
TONE Fun / Adventure
THEME History of the Swedish navy and the people who lived it
PLOT A louse that invites the viewers to go along in a time travel through history. The louse travels in a submarine time-machine to different centuries meeting interesting people that they will learn more about in the exhibition itself.
Synopsis
A louse that introduces Marinmuseum and invites the viewers in a literal and metaphorical sense to “dive deep” into the history of the navy in a submarine time traveling machine. We travel to important moments of each century, meeting interesting people, their lives and events that shaped history.
Hi5 Studio
We wanted to approach the process as an official design studio / animation studio, so we created the studio Hi5. We have gotten a chance to experience and learn about the processesses, the production stages of other studios and lecturers, mainly AD-me and Deni at New Presence. We set up a shared gmail account, where we would communicate with clients and host the assets and creations of the studio. On drive we created and organised folders with names for each step of the production we were going through.We made a budget and a schedule in google sheets (excell). There we set up the pipeline / production stages. We noted down our estimated hours and real hours as well as estimations for every category. This is also where and how we kept track of individual workload in the project. This also functioned as a schedule.
..................................
Date: 2020
Field: Illustrations / Motion Design / Production / Project Management / Concept Development
Client: Studyhax
Contact: Davíð Ingi Magnússon
Collaborators: Hrefna Lind
Music: Marína Ósk & Mikael Máni
..................................
About Studyhax
Studyhax is an online learning platform and production studio that specializes in the field of education. Founded in Reykjavík Iceland the company has specialized itself in the production and distribution of learning videos online. In recent years and not least with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic the company has enjoyed an increasing popularity among students that want to reinforce their learning process. The company has grown rapidly and gained a leading position in the field of online education in Iceland.
Studyhax motto: "Live, learn, upgrade".
Studyhax produces and hosts learning courses in varied subjects such as math, psychology, natural sciences and physics, to name a few. Their goal is to prepare students' knowledge in their learning journey through the educational system on all school levels. They do this by sharing the knowledge of exemplary students, so-called "instructors", in high-quality short videos, produced with first-rate recording and sound equipment. Consumers are invited to enjoy the instructional videos in subscription service by logging in to the company's website.
By utilizing the different strengths of individuals from different backgrounds, the company achieves its goal of producing high quality teaching materials, which is useful to students at all school levels. The company works on the ideology that 20% of the work returns 80% of the results. Therefore the company focuses on teaching the core aspects of the material, the most important things that students need to know about the subjects. The company's target group is people of all ages who study various disciplines.
Film premise
The project consisted of making a concept, designing, drawing and producing a short "intro" for the company's multitude of instructional videos. They are meant to give users as well as potential users the impression of a high quality production and an enjoyable learning experience.
The video hints to the journey that students take to educate themselves and to ultimately become productive members of society. In other words, by taking part in the education that Studyhax films in their studio and provides in online courses, they will be better equipped to pursue and take leading positions in society and in life.
The intro video is meant to show the process and the work that goes on behind the scenes and to be a pleasant experience in each viewing.
Video Description
The intro starts off with a beautiful morning and the path of higher learning winding through the landscape. In the landscape you can spot all of Iceland's administrative Universities buildings as well as the parliament of Iceland, the "Alþingi'', the iconic Hallgrímskirkja and office towers. You can also spot “Mímisbrunnur” in the center of the frame which is the fountain of wisdom in Nordic mythology. As legend has it, the one who drinks water from the well becomes enriched with knowledge.
After this scene we are taken into the Studyhax recording studio where we watch as the studio gets installed with all the equipment needed for another session with our "instructors".
Finally, we see the students' laptop opening up and the studyhax logo appears.
..................................