Motion Plus Design: “What is Motion Design?”

I’m pretty sure my mom still doesn’t know exactly what I do. Mom, if you’re reading this, please watch the video above (French version here). It gives a nice overview of motion design with a healthy dose of history thrown in for context.

But that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Paola Boileau and Kook Ewo, who edited the video, are using it to raise awareness for a project they’re leading in Paris. I picked Kook’s brain for some more details, and here’s what he had to say.

Even though this information is on the Motion Plus Design website, can you tell me in a couple sentences what you are trying to achieve? What’s the goal of your project?

Our main goal is to open the world of motion design to the public. The little film you watched is the first step: We tried to define what motion design is and we tried to say it in a very clear way.

The second step is to create a center dedicated to the motion design world, a place where people can discover, meet and learn. The entry will be free and we will set up monthly exhibitions dedicated to an artist, a studio or a theme. We would also keep a section for exhibiting other artists (photographers, graphic designers, typographers, small editors … ) so people from different worlds would cross in the center.

We want to do that in Paris right now, but we would also LOVE to help that happen in other countries/cities …

Why do you feel this project is important?

We think motion design is not considered at its right level now. This art form is creatively exploding. It is very important for us to consider that right now and not wait until all these brilliant artists are dead to be exhibited.

We want these artists to share their knowledge, their reflections, their analogies with other arts; we want these artists to meet people who love their work, and we want to try to define more and more what motion design is. Also, it can be very encouraging for young people to have a place to build and share their passion.

Are you asking for donations?

No, we won’t ask for any personal donations. Money will come from public or private sponsorship. One or another will be fine with us as long as long as we are 100% free to exhibit who we want.

Who will curate and manage the museum space?

Paola and I will curate the center. We’ll also need at least four people to organize sessions, keep the place open and do artist interviews.

Good luck to you guys!

Call for Entries: The 58th Annual Type Directors Club

Call for Entries: The 58th Annual Type Directors Club (deadline December 16th)

Mikey Please: Seven Legs

Dragonframe software updates to 3.0 with Seven Legs, a stunning new promo from Mikey Please. A welcome treat while we’re waiting for The Eagleman Stag to make its online debut.

Kijek/Adamski: We Cut Corners’ “Pirate’s Life”

Polish directing duo Kijek/Adamski (aka Katarzyna Kijek and Przemysław Adamski) have made lovely music videos using yarn and paper shredders. Their music video for We Cut Corners‘ Pirate’s Life is “As simple as it looks. The whole video is hand drawn frame by frame – markers on paper.”

We caught up with Kijek/Adamski to find out more about the video and exactly how many marker fumes produced this fluid gem. Read the interview here.

Spike Jonze and Olympia Le-Tan: Mourir Auprès de Toi

Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die By Your Side) is a fantastic stop-motion film, the result of a collaboration between Spike Jonze and the French designer Olympia Le-Tan. Check out also the making-of.

Fleur & Manu: M83 “Midnight City”

Fleur and Manu create an incredibly beautiful and filmic music promo for M83.
Children of the Damned circa 2011 with a beautiful soundtrack.

Work/Life: Kids

“Yes, I know I’m supposed to be bathing him tonight, but … Yeah, I know I didn’t bathe him last night either, but tonight we’ve got a hell of a lot to get through, client changes and … What time? I really have no idea, you know I can never tell until we … Dinner? No don’t worry about dinner, we’ll call out for take-away from here … Yes, I miss you too … He’s asking for me? Tell him I love him and I’ll definitely bathe him tomorrow night, I promise … .”

Anything in the above bit of fictional dialogue sound familiar? Yes, it does for me too. You see, we are creative people us motion folk and perfecting a design, a texture, a storyboard, a render or whatever it may be takes time. And despite working like demons all day to be “out the door”-bang on leaving time, fate and clients all too often conspire to derail our best intentions.

Now, when we just have ourselves and perhaps a willing “other half” (who has decided to throw their lot in with us) to consider, late nights at work are bad enough. Bags under the eyes and cold shoulders in bed are no fun. But throw kids into the mix and it’s a whole ‘nother ball game. Concerns and neuroses multiply and multiply again: My folks were around for my bedtime, and so should I! If I don’t see her all week, will she still know me? Is my patchy bedtime attendance causing her long-term psychological damage?!

But all the while, perfection is drumming its fingers on the desk and we can’t let something half-assed go out the door. And there you have it, the classic creative parent’s tug-of-war: Do I rush this thing and leave on time to see my kid or do I do myself justice as an artist and give this the extra four hours it needs? Do I leave my design baby screaming in the cot whilst I rush home to bathe and put to bed the human one?

Well here at the Motionographer Work / Life Think Tank (disclaimer: “Think Tank” may in reality refer to a couple of casual email threads), we have decided to throw this open to you, the readers. Why struggle on your own when you can take solace in the fact that many others are having the very same problems? To this end, we’ve created a questionnaire to see how work life after kids is shaping up for you. And those of you without nippers, we want to know how you think becoming parents will change your working lives.

When the results are in we’ll pump out a couple of fancy looking diagrams which will show us what you the Motionographer readers think about work/life with kids.