Tortoiseshell 001
Tortoiseshell January 2020 Edition.
A lot can change over the course of a year. In an effort to capture our shifting moods as the season changes, our logo animation will be updated with new quirks and coats of paint.
The January 2020 Edition features Zelda sniffing around, familiarizing herself with the new digs, and taking in the new smells.
In this first Edition, I’d like to share some of my process for designing and animating our logo - the likeness of our cat, Zelda. If you’ve yet to, head on over to the About page for more details.
As you can see above, it all started as a sketch.
The important thing from the beginning was to capture the unique structure of her face - she has a strong chin and expressive eyes. Initially, my concept for her facial markings was to keep them as clean, vector lines/ shapes. But once I introduced color to the design, I was never quite able to get the elements to feel balanced, let alone natural. I began to play with different stroke weights, but ultimately had to take a step backward.
In order to animate her face in the manner it needed to operate, it became clear that the clean-cut vector aesthetic wasn’t going to cut it. This needed to be less mechanical than a standard logo, she had to be able to move organically. So I decided to move from Illustrator to Photoshop, to allow myself the tools to paint the detail of her face. It was here that everything fell into place and came to life.
The animation process was a massive learning experience. Having never rigged a character before in AfterEffects, the entire process took several weeks here and there before finally achieving what I was after. I utilized a plug-in for AfterEffects called DUIK Bassel - an insanely robust rigging tool that takes a great deal of learning to leverage. (Massive thanks to the School of Motion squad for their Rigging Academy!)
Once I managed to rig her face together, I faced a handful of new challenges getting all the elements to move and look properly from different angles. Next season’s animation will be an endeavor in itself as I attempt to merge a handful of techniques in order to gain more range of motion.
Look for our Second Edition in Spring 2020!
If you’re interested in what I listened to over the course of January, check out my January 2020 playlist on Spotify.