This is a project I worked on for Baird, in which I created different concepts, illustrated, and built their annual holiday animation to be sent out to social media platforms and to clients. I thought creating an ice skate concept could be very playful and exciting, as the skaters could write out the words 'Happy Holidays' as they skate on their paths. I storyboarded to give a good understanding of the key transition points for the initial idea and then went into building it out in AfterEffects with all of my assets.
While initially designing the ice skaters in Illustrator, I explored texture and gradients by giving it a slightly grainy look to add visual interest. I also used a typeface that looks drawn out in continuous lines because I knew it would work well for the functionality of the ice skaters as they were to draw out each letter.
This project really helped me be able to understand how to create individual motions, as it is a very different way of thinking than layout designs in InDesign. There were a lot of parts to connect to make this a successful project, but in the end, my vision came to life. Because of how time intensive this project was, I created a slightly simplified version for the UK, which states, 'Happy Christmas' versus 'Happy Holidays'. You can view both versions of my final animations below.
