Feature Stories

From motion design to game design: In-depth process behind Specimen

“I wanted to be a beginner again and feel like I was growing.”  Those words from designer/director Erica Gorochow encapsulate the primary motivation behind deciding… Read more

The long journey to “Lostopolis,” an interview with PandaPanther

While many commercial animation shops dream of developing feature length films — and building valuable intellectual property in the process — very few actually get… Read more

Interview: The Lessons Behind We Are Royale’s Manifesto

Surviving eight years as a motion design studio is no easy feat. In addition to riding the unpredictable ebb and flow of service work, motion design… Read more

User interface design: Why motion matters

For a presentation at CSSConf Australia 2015, Benjamin De Cock (no jokes, please) shared insights gleaned from years as an interactive designer with a penchant… Read more

Creative Parents, Creative Kids

In collaboration with reader Joe Linton, we conducted an informal survey in May asking parents about the role that creativity played in their parenting. We… Read more

Behind the Scenes: “Donning the Digital Mask: Anonymous”

The infamous group of hackers that identify themselves as “Anonymous” are, as their name suggests, incredibly hard to pin down. They’ve targeted racists, terrorists and pedophiles. They’ve brought… Read more

How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Start Loving the Graph Editor

Editor’s note: As part of our ongoing education series, we present a guest post from Nol Honig, co-founder of The Drawing Room and part-time professor… Read more

How a husband and wife team took a startup from brand to product launch

What makes “IMANDRA” a fascinating case study in the world of explainer videos is not its intricately detailed but elegant animation (although that’s very nice),… Read more

How Firstborn became an agency without losing its soul

When I stepped off the elevators and into Firstborn’s headquarters, I thought maybe I’d made a mistake. I’ve been to quite a few agencies. No… Read more

Working backwards: From rig to character to story with Andrew Vucko

Editor’s note: This animation features cartoon-style nudity and sex, and therefore might be NSFW for some office environments. As any experienced animator will tell you, character animation… Read more

In-Depth: Making the Best of Motionographer with Aran Quinn and Mill+

With the word “motion” emblazoned in white block letters on its back, a blue, muscle-bound creature deadlifts a barbell and turns to face the camera,… Read more

Process: Making the F5 Opening Titles with Block & Tackle

Over the last several years, conference openers have joined music videos, film titles and visual essays as ideal showcases for ambitious motion designers and visual… Read more

Motion design education: MoGraph Mentor

My recent op-ed post, “6 Problems with Motion Design Education,” looked at challenges facing students and educators through the lens of brick-and-mortar design schools. But over the last 20… Read more

Jimmy Simpson: Modern Love

This month’s installment of The New York Times’ Modern Love column was done by none other than the amazingly talented Jimmy Simpson, who was recently featured… Read more

Artist Profile: Joshua Harvey

After 4 years at Buck’s LA office, creative director Joshua Harvey has struck out on his own, signing with Passion Pictures for representation. The body of… Read more

6 challenges facing motion design education

This post is the first in a series exploring the state of motion design education. We’ll look at the issue from multiple angles, asking ourselves and the… Read more

Motion and code: Getting to know Lucas Zanotto

Italian-born designer/animator Lucas Zanotto’s career is as varied and playful as his creations.  Moving seamlessly between analogue and digital techniques, he’s created commercials, short films,… Read more

Q&A: Gergely Wootsch demystifies the Magna Carta

For the British Library’s “Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy” exhibition, director Gergely Wootsch explains the history and importance of the document with his trademark wit and style.… Read more

Artist Profile: Graham Elliott

Everyone finds their own way into the ever-expanding house of motion design. Side doors, back doors, parachuting onto the roof — it seems any entrance… Read more

In Pieces: A rare specimen of CSS-based animation

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) started as a way to conveniently manage the appearance of images and type across an entire website. Since 1996, CSS has… Read more

Tendril, relaunching and repositioning in a shifting landscape

Toronto-based Tendril relaunched their web presence today, joining the growing number of nimble, mid-sized shops repositioning themselves in response to the hand-writing on the wall: … Read more

Code and motion, exploring new frontiers with Marcus Eckert

The video above is an iPhone screen capture taken from Reuters TV, an on-demand news app created by one of the largest news agencies in… Read more

Hybrid by birth: Getting to know Animade

I first became aware of London-based Animade via their iOS game Ready Steady Bang, a twitchy dueler packed with charming animation. They popped up again on… Read more

Crafting graphics for the Oscars: An interview with Henry Hobson

Like people who tune into the Super Bowl just to watch the ads, I turn on the Oscars just to watch the graphics. The opening… Read more