Filler

This place is about due an update I think. I was at Aardman for a good long stretch before Christmas working on an exciting couple of projects, which I'll post about soon. In the meantime here are stills from some recent e cards for Hallmark.

Generalitat de Catalunya

The Spanish TV advert I worked on at Aardman recently has popped up online. It's a public information spot about forest fires, but much more fun than that sounds, and is one of a series designed by Adrian Johnson and directed by Tim Ruffle. I was lead animator but enjoyed expert backup from Tom Evans and all-round wisdom from Joe Wood. Spencer Cross handled the After Effects spit and polish.

Watch it below in faintly crummy YouTube-o-vision:

UPDATE!!!

It's been a good long while since I posted anything here, so I believe those exclamation marks are more than warranted. I've been plenty busy though, so thought I might round up some recent projects in one handy post. Here we go...

First up is Pet Factor, a series of three short animations parodying the X Factor, produced with the guys at Thought Den to promote a pet healthcare website. I handled the design, animation, compositing, music, and sfx on all spots, which were each completed in two or three (rather long) days. Watch them on YouTube here.


Next up is a piece I completed for Bristol's own 3Sixty, for the homepage of the Xype website. This one was exciting for me as it gave me the opportunity to work with designs by Celyn Brazier, one of my favourite illustrators and directors. It was also largely hand-animated, so I got to go mad with the inbetweens as the composite image below should show.


Lastly, I've been plugging away at the ecards for Pixillion again. Some nice varied design work in this batch I think.


In other news, I just recently spent a fantastic few weeks at Aardman animating on one of a series of tv spots for the Spanish government. It was a great experience being part of the team and I intend to post about it more fully soon. Cheers guys!

Booty Juggler on 4mations

I'm rather proud of this one.

Booty Juggler is an original and highly addictive Flash game, one of only twelve projects commissioned for the launch of Channel 4's new animation portal 4mations.tv. I conceived and successfully pitched the game in response to their call for ideas, designed and animated all the visuals, hired and briefed a coder (the very excellent Ben Templeton of Thought Den), sourced all the sounds, produced the music (with the help of my dear dad), and voiced the octopus.

Phew! Needless to say it was something of a labour of love, but the results I hope speak for themselves. Booty Juggler has a unique look, eschewing the slick vectors of most Flash productions and inspired instead by vintage poster and animation design, the nautical tattoos of Sailor Jerry, and the techniques of screen-printing. It's also pretty damn playable, if quite fiendishly hard! Play it on 4mations here and if you're feeling charitable, sign up to the site and leave me some glowing feedback.

Chop Socky Chooks for Cartoon Network UK

This side-scrolling actioner, my second Chooks project with Aardman, really raised the stakes graphically. Many of the character and background assets were rendered straight from 3D, and I was tasked not only with processing all these into useable form but creating new elements that would blend seamlessly with the high-polish look of the show. The learning curve was steep at times with my work taking in Flash, Photoshop, and After Effects, but it all came together rather beautifully. In the shots below all scenic elements and even some of the characters are my handiwork. Click here to test your kung fu skills.



PS: Play my previous Chop Socky Chooks game here.

ecards, ecards

Another batch of ecards for Hallmark, via Pixillion. I like the challenge of these, producing designs and ideas from scratch in one or two days apiece.

Showreel on Vimeo

My 2007 showreel again, in better quality...


2007 reel from Robot on Vimeo.

Gym Jam

I provided in-game graphics and animation for a brace of gym-themed games, produced by Omni Productions for South Gloucestershire Leisure. One is a button-basher in the tradition of Daley Thompson's Decathlon, the other takes it's cues from the likes of Parappa the Rapper, and both have a pleasingly naff 80s aesthetic. Click the post title to test your skills.

Ultimate Dog Racer

A game for the good folk of Team Rubber, promoting the joys of greyhound racing. This was another somewhat short-order project, and I ended up producing all interface and game graphics inside a fortnight. The result is a slick, fun little game that I think recalls the Codemasters classic Micro Machines, but adds an addictive betting element. Click the post title to have a bash.

New Ecards

I'm back on the ecards for Hallmark, via Pixillion. These three had to be turned around pretty sharpish, and were produced from scratch over a long weekend. Animation was necessarily on the economical side, but I was pleased with the individual styling and textures. They'll turn up on the Hallmark site at some point, click above for the link.

Aardman talent showcase 08

This week I attended the private view of Aardman's talent showcase, an exhibition they hold internally of work from their own staff, various freelancers and collaborators, and an international selection of colleges. It was a fun event with some great work on show and a very generous buffet. I submitted the two pieces below, reflecting my personal and professional work. I'm not really one for working the room but I chatted to some interesting folks and shifted a good few postcards and showreels, so let's hope something comes of it.

Chop Socky Chooks for Aardman/Cartoon Network

I just worked with Aardman on this game for Cartoon Network, instantly quadrupling the impressiveness of my client list. The game accompanies Aardman's new kid's series Chop Socky Chooks, soon to premiere on CN in the States, and was a pleasure to work on. I got to collaborate again with some old friends, plus a couple of new ones, and the end result is as frenetic and addictive a game as you could hope for. We got some great feedback from the network, so fingers crossed for more of the same!

The project wasn't without it's challenges though. Fully rendered cg characters faithfully reproduced in lightweight vector? On a tight schedule? With limited reference material available? Erm, no problem! I created from scratch all the in-game graphics, and handled all the presentation screens using what assets we had, see how I did below. I'll add a link to the game when it goes live.


PS: I hope I'm ok in posting these images. The series is still somewhat under wraps, but there are pictures elsewhere on the web so I don't think I'm blowing anything. From what I've seen of it the show looks fantastic, so keep an eye out for it.

Light Up Bristol 2007

Now in it's second year, Light Up Bristol sees the 400ft-wide facade of Bristol's Council House illuminated with festive projections by many of the city's creative agencies and individuals. I've contributed two pieces to the lineup this year: a trip through an enchanted forest designed beautifully by Susie Hetherington, and some zoetropic polar madness of my own devising. Here are some stills, catch the event every evening on College Green, Dec 17-21.

Debug

Debug is a viral maze game promoting Infosecurity Europe 2008, a data security conference. Admittedly not the most thrilling of prospects, so I applied a thick layer of vintage comic book/B-movie styling. This was my first project with the good people of Rubber Republic, and was a pleasure to work on (ie they let me do what wanted).

Belzoni Installation

These are stills from a recent project I undertook for Bristol City Museum, an animation utilizing the paintings of Giovanni Belzoni, a 19th Century strongman, explorer and entrepreneur. Belzoni discovered the Ancient Egyptian tomb of Seti, and my work forms part of an exhibition of his amazing watercolour reproductions of the tomb's wall paintings. It also marks my first foray in to After Effects. The learning curve was steep, and only compounded by the logistical problems posed by character designs several thousand years old, but hopefully it doesn't look like the work of a novice. Click the post title to read more about Belzoni.

Pixillion roundup

Some recent game and website projects I worked on with Pixillion. Click the title above for their site, for which I also produced the swirly, graffiti-style animations.

Big Wow 06

A few photos from my corner of Big Wow, the group illustration exhibition I helped organise last year.

Hallmark Ecards

A selection of ecards I produced for Hallmark through Pixillion in Bristol. All should by now be available through Hallmark's UK site (click the title).

La Freak Boutique

Another slight tangent, this time into print design. This is the flyer I produced for a friend's retro clothing business, designed to resemble the well-worn packaging of the vintage sewing patterns they sell. Interesting to take something to print for a change, and a direction I'd like to pursue.