There is a shift in perspectives on what design is and its role in designing our future. This particular talk from Anthony Dunne above, presents not only a field of design that is gaining greater importance, he shows the underlying need for future designers to be able to extrapolate on deeper levels of thought.
More videos can be watched over at Vimeo from the Innovationsforum Interaktionsdesign conference which took place in Spring 2007.
The blog gets a new ’skin’ ! Nothing fancy as I have yet to upgrade to something more professional but change is in the air. Indeed, Spring may not quite have arrived here in north-west Europe but I’m always a tad early when it comes to the Spring cleaning. The reason for change may well be uniquely some subconscious force. I like that reasoning - very French. There are of course underlying currents that come to mind as to why I decided to press all the correct buttons in WordPress and change the face of my research blog. I’ll spare you the details of justification however and finish this short entry with news that Motion Design has made some changes for the better and will continue to do so.
“Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, dynamic surface that provides effortless interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Beginning at the end of this year, consumers will be able to interact with Surface in hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues. ” Press release 30 May 2007.
Research on Surface dates back to 2001 with Stevie Bathiche of Microsoft Hardware and Andy Wilson of Microsoft Research convincing Mr. Jobs to develop the project. A first prototype appeared in 2003, built using an Ikea table and a sheet of architect vellum.
Microsoft hail the beginning of a great future for this kind of technology, and indeed with the various announcements of multi touch screens of last year and the birth of the iphone, it would appear this is where the future for another breed of screens is taking us. What this will mean for motion designers is a completely new rethink about how they work with image & text. It will no longer be about animating content in a communicative way across the screen. The designers of the future will be developing new skills, and they already are.
Interaction design is becoming an increasingly popular choice at schools and colleges and students are all hard at work designing their own Ikea tangible prototypes. Some already having took their creations beyond simple prototype - Reactable is a successful example.
Motion design has just got a whole more interesting and I’ll be keeping a close eye on the evolution of the image as interface and how this perspective will change the way motion designers will create for the screens of the future.
Gitane Catch… 1961. Production La Comète. Dir. André Sarrut et Jacques Asséo
Where would the advertising World be without animation ? That is obviously a question to be turned around too, each having fed and nurtured their forms reciprocally throughout their long collaboration. The communication and advertising agencies of today are more or less tightly linked with design and animation studios. Their history is a fascinating perspective on how animation has developed and may help pinpoint a particular shift from what was initially pure character driven cartoon animation to the more graphic design informed domain of motion graphics which seems to have taken hold as the dominant force in the advertising World of today.
After a return visit to the exhibition in Paris, ‘La Pub s’anime’, (Animated Ads), I wanted to jot down a few key moments along with the people that paved the way towards our present day marketing World. This is obviously a focus on the history in France but the question begs : How did advertising and animation develop in other developing countries ?
Gitanes La logique de Toto 1926. Robert Lortac & André Payen
** 1918 - 35 **
Robert Collard (1884 - 1973),often named Robert Lortac, sets up Europe’s first animation studio in Montrouge in 1919. The studio is reputed to have created quantitatively the greatest number of animated films in France and remained active up until 1945. Amongst the first 15 employees, a certain Raymond Savignac who was already a well known poster artist of the era. To begin with, animated ads were informed by graphic design and the poster format. Illustration and typographic elements were often taken from existing poster ads and animated, finishing off with a fitting slogan and the name of the product.
Gitanes La logique de Toto 1926. Robert Lortac & André Payen
** 1936 **
Animated ads were first screened as intervals for the cinema, however ad agencies wanted to keep people in the cinema during the breaks. Enter the cartoon character and storytelling. From this point on commercials become closely tied to
traditional cartoons and develop into saga long commercials that entice as entertain the public.
Paul Grimault (1905 - 1994) and André Sarrut ( ) set up Les Gemeaux production house. However….
** 1950 - 68 **
….in 1952, after misunderstandings, the two associates split and Paul Grimault opens, Les Films Paul Grimault and André Sarrut starts his own studio, La Comète, with animator Jacques Asséo.
In the fifties, France develops as a consumer society and the budget for ad agencies doubles. Consequently their is a mushrooming of production houses, some of which dedicate their activities purely to creating commercials. This is the case for Sarrut’s La Comète which made more than 2000 commercial films exporting 80% of their output and became the most important film company for animated commercials in Europe at the time.
Air Wick Pour ceux qui ont du nez 1955. André Sarrut & Jacques Asséo
In 1953, Jacques Forgeot (1923-1969) opens Les Cinéastres Associaciés and employs some of France’s and indeed Europe’s leading animators : Raoul Franco, Etienne Rajk (1904-1976), Paul Casalini (1933 - ) and the Bettiol brothers. Not forgetting Alexandre Alexeieff (1901-1982) who had just come back from a passage in Amercia and had already a rich and innovative background in working for commercials.
Le Parisien Concourt 1960. Production Jean Mineur. Dir. Raoul Franco
EDF/GDF. Eau Chaude 1961. Production Jean Mineur. Dir. Raoul Franco
** 1970 **
Remains a minor period with struggling output due to high costs, competition from television ads and a return to live action.
** 1980 **
This is a major period of technological change - the arrival of digital imaging and the development of 3D. Exmachina becomes the third largest production house in special effects in the World. The likes of Pierre Coffin (1967..), Pascal Vuong (1960..) and the H5 Collective push forward the form and major production houses such as TBWA and Buf set up business specializing in CGI visual effects and animation.
Restore L’homme moteur synthétique 1984. Agence Hautefeuille. Dir. Jerzy Kular
onedotzero linked up with MTV to inspire new perspectives and present new talent. The result was Bloom and is 10 new talents from around the Globe.
“Bloom was a worldwide competition that searched for the very best up-and-coming creative talent. New filmmakers, animators and other creatives were invited to send in a treatment for a one minute film that explored the identity and community of their hometown, in a fresh way.”
Entries were judged on innovation, style, technical skill and interpretation of the bloom brief.
onedotzero is the cross media production company that enjoys renowned fame for pushing boundaries in moving image creation. MTV are of course the home to all budding and aspiring moving image directors - a must have CV entry in climbing the professional ladder.
What I liked about the brief for Bloom was its final phrase, “in a fresh way.” The ten winners all shine with their particular sparkle yet their freshness, a difficult quality indeed, left some questions. To be new, fresh, innovative is to be purposefully risky, bordering upon the outer bounds of experimental. Otherwise we are repeating past form and formula which in my demanding eye was pretty much in evidence amongst some of these works. Beyond that rather pedantic detail though, Bloom succeeds in presenting a handful of young and creative talent that are smelling sweet and for whom I hope will continue to bear future flower.
If there is to be one outstanding piece, for me it would have to be the work of The Holograms. The Holograms takes the title as freshest amongst the freshest - bold in form, communicative, simple yet intriguing with its keen eye for contemporary typography and good solid graphic composition that takes on architectural space. The piece is pushing the boundaries in terms of aesthetic. Its Pierre di Sciullo in motion. It’s what I’d love to see in full HD reality - the animated logo upon a building’s façade - its pure motion graphics taken to another level of sleekness and freshness.
Submarine Channel : Interview with Olivier Marquezy 2008
The French studio, Deubal have created a handful of carefully crafted film titles all with a particular ‘French touch’. Submarine Channel takes us to Paris to meet with one half of the creative set up, Olivier Marquezy. A little insight into the World of the lesser known art of title design.
Be sure to check their broadcast design for the French/German channel, Arte. The motion graphic piece for Metropolis remains a classic !
This beautifully designed dvd collection presents 19 films by Pierre Hébert, a cutting edge artist and film maker continuing in Norman McLaren’s & Len Lye ’s footsteps. A journey through five decades of film presented by the National Film Board of Canada. Yet another stunning retrospective on rare and often forgotten artists.
This is a research blog on the subject of Motion Design. It serves as a means to discuss, share and develop ideas that will be used for a feature length documentary film.
