Corporate Animation Showcase 2 – Character Design
Designing characters for corporate animations can be one of the most difficult processes to get right. The client has an idea, sometimes not the greatest, while you’re just trying to push your new idea and personality forward. Compromise is nearly always the outcome, leaning more towards the uncreative client. This month I’ve tried to collate a few examples where it seems the studios have had the upper hand.
My top pick this month comes from Matt Smithson with Mentor Up. It is one of the most original corporate films that I have seen in a very long time. Either a lot of hoops needed to be leapt through or Matt had a really open client. The originality of the characters don’t just make the film, they also give the audience something to relate to – a personality. His striking use of colour really helps to differentiate between varying character roles and locations, whilst limiting their palette nicely sets them in the same world. The story seamlessly progresses in the beginning with a clever use of the main character growing up. From one shot to another he seems to flow through different situations and milestones. It’s this fluidity joined with Matt’s powerful imagination that bring this out of the realms of corporate, making it a great standalone film.
A style that was often applied to animation in the late 50s and early 60s was what we now refer to as ‘Cartoon Modern’; Simple characters based around graphic shapes. This was sometimes used so that animation could be easily read on smaller black and white TV sets. The same, once revolutionary approach is still applied to this day in countless corporate films to quickly and effectively get messages across. A great example of this comes from Slurpy Studios with Remember It’s Waterproof. The simplicity of the characters here really help the viewer focus on what’s going on, blending in and not becoming an over-the-top distraction. Strong graphical shapes make the expressions easy to read with actions being exaggerated, yet still holding form. Both characters clearly live in the same world and share similar traits and looks. This is vital in linking them both to a single message and easily identifying them with the brand. A wonderful cartoon that cleverly reflects a key message with carefree animation.
The final showcase film comes from Estudio Animatura and their film PingoBox. Their expressive and original design is obvious from the outset. It is daring and confident, with quite an abstract design not always seen in a lot of corporates. The amount of character animation compared to the other films is relatively short, yet the graphical elements tie in nicely with the somewhat thin, tangled line of its character counterparts. The heads are clearly enlarged and vital to the designs in my opinion; If they were smaller they would become less defined and harder to read. Using these proportions has helped them to show their technique to best effect, demonstrating that simplicity isn’t always the road to go down. Sometimes it takes guts and a little bit of swaying but in the end you can wind up with a film that is original, exciting and, most importantly, stand out from the crowd.
To be brave with character design in corporate animation can be really tough, often clients want the same old hat they’ve seen on another corporate videos. This chain continues on and on until everyone has a slightly altered design based on a generic character. Saying that, I’m sure there’ll be a lot more creative approaches to this expansive field and hopefully we’ll be able to do another character themed showcase soon.
Don’t forget to head over to the Corporate Animation Showcase Vimeo page to add your films and you never know you could be featured in the next showcase. https://vimeo.com/groups/corporateanimation