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VISUAL STORYTELLING
EXAMPLES OF DESIGN LOGIC TO INFORM VISUAL DESIGN CHOICES IN SERVICE OF STORY
• Worked with Pixar pre-Toy Story as a freelance Graphic Artist & Digital Matte/3D Painter on Commercials and ABC interstitials.
• Joined the feature art department as a Character, Set & Graphic Production Artist on A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc and Toy Story 2.
• On The Incredibles, I contributing to the design of many Sets and almost all of the film's Graphics, including end-credit crawl.
• As Case Study, I have broken down the process and logic for designing the Insuricare sequences of The Incredibles.
• Joined the feature art department as a Character, Set & Graphic Production Artist on A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc and Toy Story 2.
• On The Incredibles, I contributing to the design of many Sets and almost all of the film's Graphics, including end-credit crawl.
• As Case Study, I have broken down the process and logic for designing the Insuricare sequences of The Incredibles.
• Examples of earlier work as a Set and Character production artist exploring and iterating environments.
• For Bug City and the Bug Bar I was tasked with translating a handful of approved concept illustrations into fully functional sets.
• I approached Bug City by first building and photographing from a bug's PoV, a practical set made with real-world objects boxes and objects.
• I built the Bug Bar out of card stock, with scale cut-out characters and real-world props that we shot from inside with a fiber-optic camera.
• The drawings were about capturing mood, lighting, and additional detail.
• For Bug City and the Bug Bar I was tasked with translating a handful of approved concept illustrations into fully functional sets.
• I approached Bug City by first building and photographing from a bug's PoV, a practical set made with real-world objects boxes and objects.
• I built the Bug Bar out of card stock, with scale cut-out characters and real-world props that we shot from inside with a fiber-optic camera.
• The drawings were about capturing mood, lighting, and additional detail.
• This Case Study demonstrates my creative and problem-solving process coming on to WALL-E one year from release.
• As Graphics AD, I was responsible for planning, designing and directing remaining graphics for Act 1, and all graphics for Acts 2 & 3.
• Worked closely with VFX extraordinaire, Philip Metschan to scope & plan vast number of graphics in the storyboards.
• For the Axiom, I applied a graphic design logic over Production Designer Ralph Eggleston's set and emotional design logic, breaking
down the ship into three graphic languages: Utility, Passenger & Command.
• As Graphics AD, I was responsible for planning, designing and directing remaining graphics for Act 1, and all graphics for Acts 2 & 3.
• Worked closely with VFX extraordinaire, Philip Metschan to scope & plan vast number of graphics in the storyboards.
• For the Axiom, I applied a graphic design logic over Production Designer Ralph Eggleston's set and emotional design logic, breaking
down the ship into three graphic languages: Utility, Passenger & Command.
• Developed graphics style-guide for quickly establishing a design logic and more scalable approach to executing vast number of graphics.
• Sourced reference to quickly convey rules and guidelines for application of fonts, iconography, texture, pattern, color and motion,
differentiating distinct parts of the ship, as they related to WALL-E's (and the audiences') emotional journey.
• This Style Guide became a very effective tool in quickly aligning with Director Andrew Stanton, and helping guide the rest of the graphics
team or nearly a dozen designers and motion artists.
• Sourced reference to quickly convey rules and guidelines for application of fonts, iconography, texture, pattern, color and motion,
differentiating distinct parts of the ship, as they related to WALL-E's (and the audiences') emotional journey.
• This Style Guide became a very effective tool in quickly aligning with Director Andrew Stanton, and helping guide the rest of the graphics
team or nearly a dozen designers and motion artists.
Design Logic, Visual Storytelling, World-Building, Problem-Solving
• One of my greatest learning experiences at Pixar was in being asked to Production Design a short.
• As a Production Artist or Set Designer, I had been focused on problem-solving self-contained component-parts of the film.
• As an Art Director, I was responsible for helping establish & maintain the vision of an entire art vertical across multiple departments.
• As Production Designer, I was responsible for bringing the director’s vision to the screen, across every vertical,
in collaboration with every department on the project.
• As a Production Artist or Set Designer, I had been focused on problem-solving self-contained component-parts of the film.
• As an Art Director, I was responsible for helping establish & maintain the vision of an entire art vertical across multiple departments.
• As Production Designer, I was responsible for bringing the director’s vision to the screen, across every vertical,
in collaboration with every department on the project.
• Anytime I work with a new Director or creative superior, my goal is to understand their judgement, taste and communication style to
maximize working efficiency and trust.
• To achieve this as early as possible, I start with inspiration boards to align on the big picture before getting immersed in the details.
• This process became a great calibration tool for Director Gary Rydstrom. Both new to our roles, this process gave us comfort and fun
in aligning on tone, intentionality through key visual touchstones, including: giant mixing boards, driver’s education, Laurel & Hardy,
water weenies, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
maximize working efficiency and trust.
• To achieve this as early as possible, I start with inspiration boards to align on the big picture before getting immersed in the details.
• This process became a great calibration tool for Director Gary Rydstrom. Both new to our roles, this process gave us comfort and fun
in aligning on tone, intentionality through key visual touchstones, including: giant mixing boards, driver’s education, Laurel & Hardy,
water weenies, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
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