Motion Graphics

For this project, I set out to experiment with unique scene transitions. “Vagabond” by Caamp was the perfect soundtrack—its upbeat energy allowed for fast, dynamic transitions while offering rich artistic inspiration from the lyrics. I explored animation styles on Pinterest and Vimeo, looking for something fresh to try in motion graphics. Simple line art caught my attention, particularly single-line drawings, which felt like a natural fit for the song’s vibe.

With these simpler graphics, I saw an opportunity to change up my workflow. I chose to draw in Illustrator and animate in After Effects simultaneously rather than creating all the art first, which streamlined my process and allowed the animation to inform each next illustration. My first step was to listen to the song repeatedly, jotting down any images the lyrics inspired. I sketched the initial designs from this list—the window, the moon, and the trees—and immediately began animating. This approach let me really lean into each transition, creating successive drawings that flowed seamlessly into one another.

While I initially expected the visual simplicity of single-line graphics to speed things up, I quickly learned that this style demanded precise attention to detail, especially with the complex camera movements and transitions between assets. Despite the additional challenge, I enjoyed the process, learning new techniques along the way.

I created this logo animation because I wanted a professional, moving version of the logo to add to the end of marketing videos for further brand engagement. Blue Sky Robotics’ mission is to solve complex problems with custom robotic solutions, so I wanted the robotic arm to solve a problem in the animation. Though not exactly a complex problem, having the arm fix the misaligned letter is a fun, simple motion that is memorable and consistent with the company’s ideals of reliability and personability. I created this animation in Adobe After Effects.

This project centered around incorporating as many animation principles as possible. During brainstorming, I kept coming back to the image of a roller skater, which offered a versatile way to explore a wide range of animation techniques. I eventually created a simple scene of people walking along a beachside sidewalk, which allowed me to tell a story while integrating various animation principles. All assets were designed in Adobe Illustrator and animated in After Effects.

To bring the scene to life, I used technical elements like easy-easing and squash-and-stretch on the skater and falling orange, and I applied puppet pins to the dog’s nose when it sniffs. I also employed theoretical principles, like anticipation before the skater falls, exaggeration as he flails his limbs, and secondary actions in the background with the movement of the waves and cruise ship. These elements combined to create a deceptively simple story that required close attention to detail.

One of the most challenging aspects was coordinating the dog’s movements, the woman’s walk, and the skater’s flow. While skating is a fairly smooth motion and somewhat easier to animate, each form of movement requires significant time and focus to look realistic. In the end, though, everything came together for a fun, appealing story!

In collaboration with two other designers, I created a marketing promo video for Buena Papa Fry Bar. We kicked off the project by meeting with the owner, James Windon, to understand his vision and needs, which inspired us to develop an “origin story” theme. Our goal was to create a video James could use in his pitch for potential franchisees of the restaurant, so we outlined a plan to animate Buena Papa’s story. The final product was a 2-minute video narrated by James about the inspiration behind the restaurant.

Together, our team planned and storyboarded the video, then divided the scenes for animation. I created assets for and animated 4 of the 12 scenes using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects. It was important for the goal of our video to maintain consistency with Buena Papa’s brand by following the branding guidelines for colors, fonts, and overall style used in all the restaurant’s marketing. James also shared a folder of photos and branding assets, which I drew inspiration from; the third screenshot above is from one of my scenes where I recreated one of those photos, and we even integrated some of the original photos into the animation, as seen in the video clip.

While dividing scenes helped streamline the workload, it introduced slight continuity differences in art style. In hindsight, having one person create all the visual assets could have enhanced consistency across scenes. Still, I’m proud of the cohesive and engaging final product we achieved.