In terms of motion design fundamentals, primary motion is definitely what makes up the majority of my work. I’m yet to really work on secondary motion but will see how my project develops in the next week. 

Creating motion design projects like this has us “thinking in layers” (Krasner, 2013, pp. 414). The amount of layers it has taken to create what I have so far in After Effects has been a bit overwhelming, but is something I’m getting used to. Within these layers, I’ve been trying to incorporate some of Disney’s 12 Principles of Animation. So far number 9, timing, has been crucial throughout my process. I’ve also created some aspects with number 5, follow through and overlapping action, in mind. 

This project has really sent us back to the basics of graphic design. As discussed by Lupton & Phillips, “point, line and plane are the building blocks of design”. From these three things, we can create pretty much anything. It’s been interesting to see how such simple elements can take on so many forms and come together to create motion projects like this. 

The work I have so far is bright and a bit messy. I’m using a lot of different colours and trying different things with scale and rotation. I have two main experiments that I am hoping to incorporate into my final project. One of these experiments is a four colour swirling gradient I created. I created this using a tutorial I found on Youtube. This really tested my technical skills in using After Effects but it was a good learning experience. The other experiment I have are these 3 layered circles which I have made wavy using a wave warp. This helped me learn how to use key frames as I had to set up 9 different shape layers to move, wave, change colour, expand and lose opacity in time.   

I haven’t really done a whole heap of visual research outside of what we learn through the lectures and tutorials. My inspiration is definitely based around kaleidoscopes though. After seeing the examples of previous students’ work, I wanted to create something with lots of colour and changing forms and shapes, which is exactly what a kaleidoscope has. However, what I have created so far is definitely only loosely based on what a kaleidoscope actually looks like.

References 

Krasner, J. 2013. Motion Graphic Design : Applied History and Aesthetics 

Lupton, E & Phillips, J C. 2008. Graphic Design : The New Basics