String Theory has launched yet another impressively creative short film to promote not-for-profit organisation Good Books, using production company Plenty. The result is an ethereal rendition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which is a hearty and satisfying feast for the eyeballs.
For sometime now the general consensus behind website design (and many other kinds of design) is that less is more. Web designers aim to make sites as easy to navigate as possible, rather than assaulting visitors with flashing green neon and trillions of different icons like early websites did in the late 90s. But like many things in life with a cyclical nature (fashion, music and food trends to name a few), perhaps websites are no different. And while we’re not sure if we can call it a trend, we have noticed a few more web designers and developers cramming more into their website designs, creating a retinal overload which is surprisingly pleasing. Digital agency Resn is one of them, making a name for itself by thinking a bit differently and capturing our attention through its creative, animated website designs.
Colenso BBDO and Assembly have borrowed a few tips from The Incredible Hulk in a new Just Juice campaign that shows a series characters drinking juice and then transforming into different, more colourful versions of themselves. But rather than turning into a massive green monsters with temper problems, the black-and-white, 2D characters simply change into happier, colorful 3D versions of themselves.
Airbnb has made some quality ads in its time, with everything from the charming and inventive crowd-sourced film Hollywood & Vines to the rather enticing spot for its recent—and slightly controversial—rebrand. And now it’s made another stunner with the help of Kiwi animation house Cirkus.
What makes people do Dry July? Screaming headaches and lowered IQ, greasy breakfasts with two days’ worth of calories, smartphone picture evidence of bad nudity ….and maybe even a goat inexplicably resident in the kitchen? Or is it because they want to see what they could achieve without a hangover?
Toybox, Clemenger BBDO and many freelancers have created the mesmerizing animation for the 2014 Dry July launch video.
Auckland-based Media Design School says a new collaboration in the US will provide a talent pool for blockbuster filmmakers and games studios in California. It’s launching Media Design School of Digital Arts at NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego.
The mobile apps that virtually put you aboard America’s Cup boats hint at the immersive experience sports events could become, says Ian Taylor, head of Animation Research, which collaborated to make them.
When Terry the Bi Bipolar Polar Bear first appeared online five years ago, he “was a minor internet hit amongst bi’s, bipolars and bears”. And now, thanks to creator/writer/performer Jeremy Dillon, Pukeko Pictures and Yukfoo Animation, he’s back—and he’s better than ever.
Yukfoo is now in its teens and all the pimply awkwardness it implies. To celebrate, the studio has released a showreel of its earliest works – including this infamous bunny-laden piece for Vodafone New Zealand.
New Zealand-based photography and illustration house International Rescue is setting up shop in Australia, with a new office in Sydney.
Lazy robots and steampunk curios win Media Design School seven awards at the Los Angeles Movie Awards over the weekend.
This Sunday saw the inaugural Chromacon illustration and animation convention hit Auckland City, bringing with it a host of talented illustrators, designers and world creators.
As someone whose illustration prowess goes only as far as drawing shaky stick figures, I was awed by all the artwork crammed into Aotea Square. Not so awed that I couldn’t ask a few of the illustrators who caught my eye a question or two.
NZ Herald and NZ On Air have given new life to a cartoon strip from the Herald’s now defunct music magazine Volume, taking it from paper to an animated web series called Hook Ups on the Herald website.
Behind Nickelodeon cartoons such as The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legend of Awesomeness is a team of animators who just happen to be based out of New Zealand. We look inside Oktobor Animation (formerly Omnilab-owned visual effects house Oktobor) and talk to head of production Rob DiFiglia and managing director Bruce Everett about New Zealand’s blossoming digital creative scene.
There is perhaps no greater force in the online world than cat videos. Wired recently delved into what it called the online cat-industrial complex, ad agency John St spoofed the feline fascination brilliantly with the world’s first cat advertising agency, and a recent cat video film festival in the US drew 10,000 people (it was won by Henri 2: paw de deux). Now Orcon is embracing the zeitgeist with a new campaign starring animated cats Daisy and Gav.
Two New Zealand soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines in western France during World War I. They find a crying baby in a ditch, lying under its dead parents. What happens when one man wants to save it and the other doesn’t? Not only is this based on a startling true story, but the CG animated short film version, Poppy, has won two top awards at the SIGGRAPH 2010 Computer Animation Festivals.
Auckland-based artist agency International Rescue is now representing animators in addition to its list of photographers and illustrators. And co-director Rob Finn says the move will not only allow clients to save costs and time by working directly with animators, but it will also offer access to a wider range of animation styles because the work of the 17 existing illustrators can also be animated.
Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 opened in Kiwi cinemas yesterday. How serendipitous, we say, because Andrew Gordon, an animation guru who started working for Pixar in 1997 and is now a senior animator, will be one of the 15 international creatives speaking and teaching at the upcoming Semi-Permanent design fest.
HoverLion is brothers Ned and Rollo Wenlock and producer Rebecca Moore. They are the new animation and motion graphics kids on the block, up and running for just over a month at their Willis St locale. Their impressive CV makes them fresh candidates for TVC creation and production, title sequences …
Come in, take a pew, welcome to Export Figures, the first in a series of profiles of talented NZers living overseas and making a crust in the marcomms biz.
Glen Hunwick’s one of those Kiwis who’s been in Melbourne for years but we’ll still claim him as …