Adobe Stock invited us to collaborate on an Adobe Stock Remix project to create an exclusive artwork. The only requirement was to use Adobe Stock within the project but other than that we had an open brief -
which meant endless creative possibilities.
which meant endless creative possibilities.
We both wanted to take this opportunity to create something for a good cause and a deeper meaning.
Inspired by current visual trend galleries on Adobe Stock we chose two topics that are dear to our heart: "From Me to We" and "Environmental Documentary". Looking closely at these two topics it meant working with global issues like climate change.
We decided to include the claim "Act Now" in our artwork as a call to action but also as a metaphorical guidance in our creative process. As artists we both strongly believe that good design and art can be more than just pretty visuals - it should communicate a message! With the help of our illustration and animation skills we want to visualize our own interpretation of these crucial topics. Our artwork was created to remind us about the importance of our actions as individuals and as a society towards a better and sustainable future. Even with a serious matter like climate change we don’t want to point fingers but communicate hope and positivity through our artwork.
After working together on the creative process we chose a color palette and DXTR began with first few rough sketches to define the overall visual style. We decided pretty early to create multiple square (tile-like) illustrations that will make up a cohesive artwork when viewed together. But we were still discussing the size and scope of the artwork, going from 24 tiles to almost doubling the amount to the final 45 tiles. This meant creating 45 individual hand drawn illustrations, some of them spiced up with Adobe Stock content. But this also meant having to animate all 45 tiles, essentially creating 45 mini-clips that will make up one giant artwork and finally a short animated film.
The first rough illustrations quickly evolved to final illustrations using Adobe Illustrator. As DXTR worked from his studio in Berlin and Robert in his studio in Munich, we both used a shared Creative Cloud folder, so whenever one piece of art was finished, Robert could start animating it in Adobe After Effects.
With a clear and distinct style, each illustration tells it’s own little story and we put a lot of thought into every pixel
and keyframe.
and keyframe.
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15
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30
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9 including Stock imagery
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45
The challenge was to take each finished illustration and give it even more life and meaning through animation. Some were simple, others were pretty complex. DXTR created the illustrations in Adobe Illustrator with multliple layers, so that each element could be animated individually. Even the rather abstract ones are visually inspired by flowers and the animation is inspired by slow motion blossoming and the human breath. Although mostly looking 2D and rather simple some the artwork also involved using Cinema 4D to map illustrated elements to 3D shapes but maintain the 2D look. Other artwork also utilised physics simulation to create certain effects.
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C4D
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AE
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9
In the end a fluid and almost weightless (virtual) camera pans across the giant canvas, showing a detailed look to some of the individual tiles. Accompanied by a beautiful and enchanting music piece the camera pulls back to finally reveal the full artwork, while the claim "Act Now" is slowly appearing.
