We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Ben & Anvil about their original and creative Animation design work. Ben & Anvil is an award-winning communication designer, that makes our world a better place with their original animation works.
Ben & Anvil ("B&A") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Swift Logistics Animation. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
B&A : The brief for this project was to create a short animation for a logistics company. The animation shows some of the different modes of transport and shipping that a logistics company would use. We see our package, which goes into a van, then onto an airplane and then is delivered to a house. The palette is limited to four bright colours, and these coloured shapes transform into each new image. These four colours then make up the company logo for the last scene. Our inspiration was the modernist use of a limited palette. It makes for a cohesive project and some innovative uses of colour. We kept to bright colours that were different to the colours of the actual items in reality. This helped to carry the idea that the images were symbols or icons, rather than graphical representations. This was to ensure that the logo did not look like a separate element to the animation, tacked on to the end as an afterthought. The palette ensured a running theme.
B&A : The most important aspect of this animation was to transmit the idea of a variety of shipping methods all working together to deliver a package. We wanted to show that each method was distinct but that it was one journey. The use of a limited palette and transforming one image into the next helped to carry the idea. Creating it with simple vector shapes that had similar styles in their angles and simplicity of design meant it was a very graphical look, with an illustrative quality.
B&A : 40 hours from start of concept to the finished product.
B&A : This was designed and completed using the Adobe Creative Suite, first in Illustrator and Photoshop, then composited in After Effects. The element of movement was important, to keep the symbols from looking static. This was to ensure that the viewer would continue to be interested, so we have a bounce or sway added to each element. It was essential to use an audio track that was upbeat and light, to help create a sense of fun.
B&A : The hardest part of this design challenge was creating images that were equally similar in detail, so they looked like part of a set. Also we had to be creative in the placement of colour so that each element had equal proportions of the colours used, to further give the idea of a set. Then choosing how to break up each image and transform it into the next was difficult to keep it looking fresh. We started with a logo design and palette that worked, and moved from there to designing the others.
