Rubber House

Every so often I come across an animation house that has a body of work so fun and different that it makes me envious. Rubber House is one such place. Their work is edgy, weird, sexual, and sometimes even a bit creepy, but the way they pair it with their classic cartoon style makes for dark humor I truly enjoy. Their music video for Gotye's song Seven Hours with a Backseat Driver is the best example of this. A story about a sexually naive elephant and his co-dependant crow that left me feeling a little dirty on the inside. The arc of the story is slow, much like the song, as we see the world shift from butterflies and rainbows and toads and grime.

Tick Tack Ewww!

Scott Benson has been given a job that I would really like to have someday. Lately he's been developing design and animation for a game exhibited at The Pacific Science Center. The game is a tic-tac-toe kind of thing where kids watch 90 second animations of different environments full of animated characters exhibiting various behaviors. When they spot a bit of bad hygiene (such as nose-picking or spitting), they cover that behavior with a tile on a gameboard below the screen.

Photo of the Moment - Untitled

Untitled, a photo by cloudsfollower on Flickr.

Biomasse

I don't understand the language, but the visuals in this animation from Julien Nantiec are enough to keep me engaged and entertained. I love how all the elements work together in this piece - the simple icon design, the narrator and his floating gloves, and the transitional elements all make for a really sharp animation. I also think Julien's style in this piece really lends itself to learning; it reminds me of an old 70's science textbook. Righteous.

Photo of the Moment - At The Lake

Today's Photo of the Moment comes to us from Alex Roulette, and isn't actually a photo. Alex paints very photo-esque pictures. I even love that some of his paintings have elements that would only be found in a poorly exposed photo. To check out more of his work go here.

MeanMug Loves Guns

I'm not sure where it began, but I'm pretty sure it was a combination of Adam Simpson's series-like illustrations and the Dumb Ways To Die music video...I'm talking about what drove me to make two new MeanMug and Slim shorts this weekend. I've had the idea to do a series of MM&S series for a long time, but just hadn't gotten around to animating it. But after seeing those two examples I named at the top of the post I was inspired to actually put down the videogame controller and get back in the game. My goal is to at some point create 10 of these gun animations and put them all together. I'm thinking about doing 1 every 2 weeks, and maybe quicker if I'm feeling exceptionally frisky one week. While creating the first two shorts, The Bazooka and The Revolver, I really started to feel as though I am finally making the MM&S I've always wanted to. The style is where I want it and the animation is becoming more fluid. Now it's just a matter of coming up with funny shorts. Ok, now you can enjoy the shorts, and wear headphones for a better audio experience.


The Bazooka from Chris Koelsch on Vimeo.



The Revolver from Chris Koelsch on Vimeo.

Dumb Ways To Die

At first I didn't know what to think about this, but the catchy song from Tangerine Kitty and the sheer amount of deaths eventually won me over. What I find even more interesting is that this piece was created for Metro and their campaign to educate people about safety around trains. To create a catchy tune and a funny animation to promote what could have been just another boring PSA is a brilliant idea. Makes me glad knowing that there are options out there like this that clients took a risk with.

Adam Simpson

It was Adam Simpson's Ray Gun series that first caught my eye, but after visiting his site I found much more to enjoy. I love the way he seems to make one piece out of many little pieces; his work gives you a lot to explore.

Portland/CreativeMornings - Aaron James Draplin

An extremely inspiring and engaging talk from Aaron James Draplin, respected designer and founder of Field Notes, that had me thinking and laughing all at the same time. In this talk Aaron goes over his 50 point plan on how to wreck/save your career.

Cartegraph

Scott Benson is at it again. This time he's created an educational animation for Cartegraph and their management system. It's nice to see some work that isn't particularly in his normal character style. I really love the way he animates smoke in this piece as well as the long shot down the street. These learner animations can have a tendancy to be pretty flat, but Scott has done a great job taking this learning and wrapping it in an environment so we can see how it all fits together.

Eco Justice // A Tale of Two Valleys

A very beautiful animation from Giant Ant about a very serious problem in Canada. This piece is promoting Eco Justice, which is a legal organization that fights for change on issues such as the right to a healthy environment. I love the liquid transitions and design of the the towns, specifically the wide shots.

Controller Evolution 2

Seeing as how my Controller Evolution animation is the top played video on my Vimeo, I found it fitting to update it with the recent addition of the Wii U controller. I've updated the art style, incorporating the true colors, seeing as how the old ones were pretty terrible. I love recreating the controllers because I get to see the subtle differences in the D-Pad and button placement. It also gives me a hands on feel for how the controller has changed over the years. I plan on updating the animation in the very near future. Click the image to enlarge.

Boiled

A very original style lives within the work of Jack Cunningham. This little loop is particularly mesmerizing.

João Gilberto - Águas de Março

I'm always looking for good music to work to. I'm going to start posting more songs I like so that you too can enjoy the tunes. I will tag all the posts muzak. Check out this latin vibe from João Gilberto called Águas de Março.

Photo of the Moment - Streefighters

Wonderful photo from Luca Sage.

A Pocket Companion to Books from The Simpsons

I love things like this. French graphic designer Olivier Lebrun has collected stills of the many books in the 600+ Simpsons episodes and with the help of Rollo-Press they have published 174 of the best images in this pocket companion book. Perfect for any dining room table and you can purchase it at Rollo-Press here.

Moustache Projection

I've projected my moustache growth 200 days and created this .gif. Science tells me it's 99.9% accurate.

Photo of the Moment - Untitled

Untitled, a photo by Jaⅿes on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Pentax LX
Fuji Superia 200

2012 Reel Preparations

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and with that comes my new animation reel. I just started putting together a list of all the projects I worked on this year and I am pretty proud of the hefty amount of work I produced. After last year I sort of subconsciously told myself I wouldn't create anything that didn't at least have some element in it worthy of my reel, and I think it's paid off.

Malcolm Sutherland - Star Wars Uncut Scene 126

Malcolm pushing his style in this scene for Star Wars Uncut. He's added a little bit of live action for the environments which I really enjoy. The POV from the cockpit with all the little guys running around on the ground is pure excellence.

Leif Parsons

Check out the wonderful, almost dream-like work of Leif Parsons.

Photo of the Moment - Cottage, Cape Cod, MA

Cottage, Cape Cod, MA, a photo by val_ny on Flickr.