The design X factor

It seems September and October had been declared the unofficial months of the pitch. Courting new and old clients with stunning storyboards and competitive budgets. A traditional part of the designer and client relationship now re-invented by numerous competition based websites.

With these websites the brief has often to be fully realised and a final version submitted against sometimes hundreds of competitors.

By the standard working model it can take months to reach a pitching stage. Establishing a pedigree, garnering kudos and establishing a rapport with prospective clients  and then finding the right project for the potential partnership is a lengthy process.

The upside? It creates trust and cements working principles of a mutually beneficial commercial venture. And although design is a creative industry, it is still industry and business rules apply. Yes, we do it for the love but we are there to make money for the clients and in return to make money for ourselves.

Being labeled a competition winner as opposed to a professional seems to diminish the years of experience and training (not to mention talent) that respected professionals posses. So why this competition business model?

The benefits to the client are clear. Hundreds of near complete submissions with sometimes a less than professional budget and without the protecting professional arrangements of an established business relationship.

The lucky winner can benefit as an entry level to the professional world. Gaining exposure and a hopefully impressive client name to add to their burgeoning portfolio. Offering a much needed break.

A seasoned professional with the luxury of time may also be able to expand their client base or perhaps be attracted by a particular type of creative challenge offered by one of the competitions.

However for the professional, marketing and brand knowledge, analytical creativity and the craft to realise ideas are our commodities. In demand and rarely given for free. Clients turning to this competition model, which perhaps plays on the eagerness of the entry level candidates, may turn design from a profession into a hobbyist pass time. With constantly renewed, low paid and inexperienced talent.

The prospect of work is hard to ignore and as a creative you may be for or against, but you can bet that the hosting websites have they’re own business model. And it relies on you as their commodity. As an individual I am still undecided if that is worse than any other agency or employer, and if it is worth devoting time too.

There are plenty of testimonials online for consideration, along side a backlash from designers. Two related articles representing the for and against arguments respectively;

Yannick Puig – Winner of the Saatchi & Saatchi Nothing is Impossible Challenge

Dear Sesame St.

Some stop motion genius

Patrick Boivin demonstrates some more stop motion brilliance in this video At-At Day Afternoon. More geek chic skillfully mixed with genuine nostalgia results in a thoroughly entertaining short.

Represented by Woolf and Lapin, Patrick is possibly best known for the Google Nexus One advert, Ninja’s Unboxing.

For more information, there is an interview with Patrick at openfilm.com.

Proving a point we have long suspected – compare Big Dog (Harryhausen works for the military now) to see how far behind animators the military currently are.

Pixel Perfect?

Patrick Jean of One More Production, chooses one of the signposts of our design zeitgeist for his latest short film, Pixels. 8 bit graphics come to life again. This time with destructive tendencies.

Some of the shots work more than others but the novelty of the destruction using each game’s particular mechanic sustain the film and make it worth watching. There is also some apparent affection for the subject matter beyond the usual tired resorting to retro cool. The One More Production logo redesigned in a nineties style reminiscent of Ocean Software and Atari logo hiding in the background are nice touches.

Having said that Pixels, does not feel fresh in the same way as other retro influenced work (see post on Encounters in Bristol), and Space Invaders is perhaps a too well worn cultural icon.

Harryhausen works for the military now

The jerky, stop frame visions of Ray Harryhausen have inspired generations of animators to create overacting creature effects. Some of the CG reptilian cast of BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs deserved Oscar nominations for their histrionics.

Although machines also fall foul of animators eager to make the most of their two or three shots in the limelight, it seems science fiction is a self-fulfilling prophecy as this video demonstrates.

In places this video could be a deleted scene from The Empire Strikes Back and the charm of Big Dog’s jerky movements are far more endearing than any of the performances the robots of Transformers have to offer.

I suspect that hidden away in the Boston Dynamics reference library you might just find a copy of Jason and the Argonauts.

Encouters in Bristol

Stylistically diverse yet linked by their originality. Two films with very different approaches received high praise at Encounters in Bristol (UK).

Rabbit Punch is the work of Kristian Andrews. There is a distinctive counter culture illustrative approach reminiscent of underground album artwork and indie urbanite’s t-shirts to Kristian’s work. No doubt nurtured by his Royal College of Art training. It’s refreshing to see this style sensitively realised in animation with often involving and humorous narratives to match.

The failure of Modern Toss to translate successfully into the medium should be a lesson to all.

Please Say Something has already completed the rounds of design news websites and seems to be making headway in the more traditional animation world. By renowned animator, David O’Reilly, it is a different bread of pop. Dipping into 8-Bit computer games and isometric graphics. Mixed with the distilled, manga cool of modern collectible toys such as Kidrobot or Hello Kitty. With a suitably off the wall narrative style and soundtrack.

Global chicken should know better

Opening tag reads “KFC’s cricket survival guide”. A lone Australian cricket team fan is sitting on the rival team’s cheering section at a cricket match. He comments “Need a tip when you’re stuck in an awkward situation?” before handing out KFC from a large bucket to the rival supporters.

On paper it doesn’t sound too bad. However because the rival team is the West Indies, the big question being debated is, “Is this KFC ad racist?”.

Racist or not, it is rubbish. Could they not have spent the budget hiring all those actors on something better?

Gameswipe Titles

A Promising introduction on BBC 4 including dancing zip sticks (a type of joystick – for those under 25, that is an old style games controller ) was only mildly ruined by the patronising voice over telling us to “top up our life force”. Ironic considering the tone of Charlie Brooker’s Gameswipe.

The subject might not be to everyone’s taste, and I’ve certainly met designers who only recently pretend to have held a lifelong computer game obsession now that 8 bit graphics are back in vogue. It is the history of computer game graphics (and retro gaming) that provided Flush Draw with the basis for the reworking of their usual Charlie Brooker titles.

Short and sweet this one, and maybe not the best example of this sort of work – the 8 bit style at the start of The IT Crowd springs to mind. Its authenticity is enjoyable nonetheless and I highly recommend sticking around for the programme itself for a refreshing approach to gaming journalism.

For extra points try naming as many of the games as possible that inspired each style.

Fun Theory

The Fun Theory is the viral work of ad agency, DDB Stockholm, on behalf of Volkswagen.

Followng in the current trend of accessibility, craft and real world interaction. In this case expressed through the jazzing up of socially conscientious activities to encourage participation.

All the elements just hit the mark. Playful idea with good execution. The viral works as the documentation of the events. Only the occasional slightly over contrived endings interfering with an otherwise straight forward approach. Viewers are not isolated by over branding either. The volkswagen logo only appearing at the end. Pure internet hit figures and the sheer number of times friends have emailed it to me demonstrate it’s success. Lovely stuff.

Fuel Your Motionography

New motion graphics news website Fuel Your Motionography, is launched today. Featuring an interview with various design professionals (including myself) about the effects of the credit crunch on their aspects of the industry.

Two Dots

Britta Johnson is one of the better examples of the current trend towards craft and the folk video approach. It works nicely here juxtaposed with the mathematical symbology in a music video for Lusine‘s new single Two Dots.