emojinal Times

 Bit of a throwback to when I worked on emojitown in 2022. I came on board as a creative producer around episode 36 - helping to shape the interpretations and animation from the scripts, sadly not able to write on the show (although that was the plan if the second season was greenlit!)

I did get to do a couple of voices - but a lot of my creativity went into the thumbnails, especially for the compilations (as they tended to be thematic rather than episode specific) some of my favourites below.

The idea was to create imagery that worked as an engaging YouTube thumbnail, whilst also working as a standalone piece of art or titlecard.

(I didn't 'create' these - they were made by the wonderful animation studio, but I would brief them and sometimes give preliminary character designs and layout sketches of what I was imagining.)

A bit of a Souls-like themed bossfight thumbnail - with a touch of Monster Hunter.

Horror thumbnail, some Stranger Things references as well as the Mystery Inc. gang from Scooby Doo

Superheroes - I designed most of these personas from scratch (Jo's came from E33 Superheroes and Jess' was loosely based on her look from the same episode.)

More superheroes - again, only Unicorn Man and Poophead had existing designs (from a previous compilation thumbnail.)

A really fun Spider-Man reference in this one for the Fleas episode.

Thanksgiving compilation. I just thought what is the most disruptive thing Poophead could do for the holiday.

Julia compilation - had fun leaning into her artist roots for the different styles in the background.

Far from the only thumbnails I worked on - but it's fun looking back on the show after so long.

Utter Balls

Been working on a classic "bouncing ball" animation for a sing-a-long video.

Client provided the video, I merely transcribed the lyrics and overlaid them with the custom animation.

WiP screenshot w/ Onion Skinning

Sample of the finished animation

News

I recently took on a commission that's a little exciting. I've finished the first part of the overall workload (unfortunately it's the smallest part) but it should be complete in around a month.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the project, I can't reveal any of the details until it is made public. As soon as it is I will put all the material on here, but in the meantime, sit tight.

Hotting Up

I was pitched a brief, by a company, based on an pro-NHS campaign. They wanted me to come up with some ideas on how to animate the script they'd written.
I sent a written treatment and they requested some style boards for further consideration.
Below are my rough designs (they wanted a specific style):

 

Strolling

As part of an application for an animator position, a company asked me to complete a walk cycle, based on a character they'd already drawn up.
I didn't get the job, in the end but I thought I'd post the cycle I did anyway.

The art was copyrighted to them, so I've created rough alternative parts to replace their original pieces. This is purely for the purposes of showing off the animation I did.
Because I've replaced the parts, everything looks a great deal rougher.

I'm not sure if they choppiness is due to lag or the difference in framerate between the original and the .gif.

 It was interesting, because I'd not really done such tween-heavy animation before, but I was pleased with how it came out. Especially for only about a day's efforts.

Fight For Your Right...

I recently applied to work at another company that responded asking me to complete a design exercise audition type thing.
I just learnt today that I didn't get an interview, so I've decided to publish the design I did for them.

I had to jazz up a plain text television pitch, for a new show, ready to be sent to a major network. The content of the document is strictly confidential (so I've blurred out the details) but, for context, I will say it was a kinda "teen tropical holiday/party themed reality show".

 

I wouldn't normally use such a garish colour palette, but it fit with the subject matter of the show.

Preliminary sketches & ideas.

 

Tiny Twelve

It has been some time since I've heard from the company that requested this test commission, so I'm assuming I have not been selected.
To that end, I am publishing my design.

It's a likeness of Peter Capaldi (in costume as the Twelfth Doctor) in the established style of the company. I'm quite pleased with it, even if they obviously feel it's not enough to hire me over.
 

Face Off

I applied to a company that creates stylised likenesses of celebrities for use on a variety of products, their response was to request that I demonstrate my capability to create imagery in their established brand style.

I have begun working on something.

Having tweeted it without context, people have managed to identify the individual in question. Which is a good sign.