Heads-up about this post—it's a long one. Some images or sections may be cut off. To view the entire post without interruptions, open it on the web.
I’ve been fortunate to work on some incredible projects over the years—projects that challenged me creatively and allowed me to collaborate with some truly amazing people. A few favourites stand out, like the Alberta Pork Museum (drawing hundreds of pigs with two of my favourite people—yes, please!), or a multi-year social media campaign for the Alberta Dental Association (where the client was on board with nearly every silly idea we pitched), to name just a few.
Each project and client is unique, but this one is among my favourites. The project itself: a GIF sent to monthly patrons of Bible Project, thanking them for their support. The concept was fairly open-ended—an animated “thank you gift” delivered to people’s inboxes. I was tasked with concepting and illustrating, before handing it over to the talented animator Giorgio Gore.
Animation has been something I’ve been excited about for years. Watching Giorgio bring my designs to life, frame by frame, was so much fun.
Below is the process for one of my favourites, with art direction by the wonderful Alena Imamura.
Sketches
I’m always a bit embarrassed to show people my sketches because they’re a mess. I try to get everything down quickly and loosely. At this stage, I don’t focus on refinement—my sketches are the most basic form of an idea. This phase is just for me and, sometimes, my art director. The goal is to get all my ideas out fast, and then refine them from there.
Drafts
From this point, I’ll refine the best ideas into a cleaned-up sketch or grayscale draft. I hold off on colour at this stage since people tend to have strong feelings around it. I’ll also gather mood board samples for the client—a collection of images that convey the direction we’re aiming for.
The idea for this was inspired by Psalm 23: My cup overflows.
Animation
Above is the final illustration I shared with Giorgio. He took this and ran with it, and as always, made the final look far better than I could have hoped.
And here’s the final with motion.
Here’s another one that was super fun to work on. Collaboration with the same great folks, Alena and Giorgio.
One of my favourite things about working on projects like this is the opportunity to collaborate with incredibly talented folks on ideas we’re excited about.
See you next time!