Hallmark - Brand elements

The Hallmark channel has distinct characteristics of romance, connectedness and sweetness. The site is family orientated and many of their shows, films and content seem to be aimed at family centric people, most likely women from mid twenties to their middle ages.

The colour palette includes complementary colours of Pink paired with Teal and Red paired with Green. There is a general presence of summer as most of the imagery resemble flowers, bees and wind wheels.

This is an example of an animated Hallmark logo at the end of a movie premier on the Hallmark channel. The flowers twirl and spin as the bee flies across the screen leaving a trail that resembles sewing stitches. This simple and small element adds a quality of authenticity and homeliness to the brand.

Hallmark - History

Hallmark was founded by 18 year old Joyce Clyde Hall in 1910. Hall was a young entrepreneur made a name for himself by selling picture postcards. His brother Rollie joined Hall in the business and after a fire burned down their shop in January 1911, the brothers set up a new shop. With postcard sales rapidly declining, the brothers invested in brand new printing presses and began printing their own greeting cards in 1915.

In 1917, the Hall brothers 'invented' modern gift wrap when they ran out of solid colored paper wrap and were forced to improvise by using decorated envelope linings instead. As a result, sales spiked and the brothers proceeded in printing their own gift wrap.

The company name 'Hallmark' came to be when J.C. Hall became intrigued with the hallmark symbol used by goldsmiths to mark metals. This symbol was understood to be a 'mark of quality'. What made this word all the more intriguing is that it contained Joyce Clyde's family name. In 1928, Hall Brothers greeting card company became the Hallmark company and the name was stamped on the back of every printed greeting card. The same year, the Hallmark company became the first in the industry to advertise nationally.

Hallmarks famous slogan, "When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best," was created in 1944. In terms of brand identity, sales and marketing executive Ed Goodman used the words 'caring, quality, the best.'

In 1951, NBC sponsored the first original opera created for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors with J.C. Hall as a sponsor. The opera aired on Christmas eve and received national acclaim. Viewers were so moved they sent in thousands of cards thanking Hallmark for the presentation.

In 1966, Joyce Clyde's son Donald J. Hall took over as CEO and introduced 'Hallmark international'. In the late 1960s, the Hallmark's Crown Center was expanded into a 85-acre entertainment complex. In the 70s, the company began manufacturing Christmas decorations.

National Geographic - Branding elements

Brand elements:

 

Identifying the National Geographic brand was not necessarily a challenge as their brand is quite strong and easily identifiable; the colors are white, grey and yellow, the type face is Stone Sans, and the Logo is simply a rectangle with a yellow border. 

 

I took a few snapshots of the National Geographic website to further identify it's brand elements. There is an established theme of white silhouettes against a dark background. The background is black, and on that platform we can see white, yellow or grey letter forms and symbols. 

 

Past Idents:

In order to create a new and refreshing logo Ident for the National Geographic channel, I began to dig up some old television logos.

These logos are television oriented. The goal for my Ident is to create an animated logo that reflects our digital age. This means highlighting content accessibility through different devices such as television, computers, phones and pads.

Set, Series, Sequence - Imagery as a Communicator

Going back to Will Eisner's Theory of Comics and Sequential Art, Chapter 2 Imagery, Eisner discusses the relationship between the artist, the reader and what is being communicated.

 

Eisner is referring to a cultural code or conventionality. The commonality of experience between the artist and the reader is actually the culturally developed semiotic language that they both share. Depending on what that culture is and what kind of Semiotic language has been developed, the artist can communicate anything from Satire to Tragedy picking from the paradigm of cultural codes and creating a syntagm of imagery for the reader to absorb.

 

So, if the reader is able to understand what is being communicated through the syntagm of symbols and imagery created by the artist, the artist then has effectively communicated something through the use of visual language.

 

Set, Series, Sequence - Mr. Natural

Mr. Natural is a comic strip character created by 60s comic artist Robert Crumb who was known for his particularly crude sense of humour and unapologetic drawing aesthetic. Mr. Natural is an ironic little man with a bald head and a long beard. Why ironic? It is insinuated in each of his comics or cartoons that he is a guru and a wise man with a wide breadth of knowledge however, he counters the insinuation with his down to earth personality and sarcastic demeanor.

 

It's never clear how he gained the title of guru, it's more of an understanding but his physical appearance certainly suggests that the title was earned.

Set, Series, Sequence - Funny Comics

Here are a few comic strips I found online that I think are quite funny:

 

 This one is a bit random which is why I love it. The three frames of waiting build up anticipation as we wait for a blindfolded smoker to do something or say something when in the fourth frame, someone shoots a dart into his forehead which completely undercuts the seriousness of the first three frames.

 

This is funny because it is completely relate-able. 

 

 Lastly, I quite like this comic strip because it flips the situation at the end by making a childish game literal and a little morbid.

Set, Series, Sequence - Earliest Forms of Sequencial Art

The earliest form of sequential imagery can be traced back to the cave paintings. These illustrations consisted of nature and depicted hunting and everyday routines. 1500BC

 

Ancient Egypt created an alphabet of hieroglyphics in order to communicate with each other through writing and record happenings. They also depicted stories of Rulers, immortalizing them. 1300BC

 

In Greek and Roman culture, Emperors and Rulers were seen as Godlike and were immortalized as the Egyptian Rulers were on the walls of prominent marble structures. 400BC

 

Set, Series, Sequence - Rodolphe Töpffer

Rodolphe Töpffer (1799-1846), also known as the father of the comic strip was a university professor in Geneva when something he did in his pastime caught wind and immediate popularity throughout Europe and the United States. Because of his poor eyesight, his aesthetic was loose and broken and he created sequential imagery that can now be referred to as doodling.

 

His comics were generally surreal or absurd humour and he liked to mix his 'maniacal protagonists' with 'social satire and myth'. (UPM)

University Press of Mississippi. A Critical Study of the Swiss Artist who Created the Comic Strip Available from: http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/869

Set, Series, Sequence - Comics as a Form of Reading

In reading Will Eisner's Theory of Comics and Sequential Art, Chapter 1, Comics as a form of Reading offers some solid ideas on the subject. In it Eisner discusses Sequential drawing as it is, a form of communication. The modern day person is trained visually to decode both text and visual codes.

 

Tim Wolf, Harvard Educational Review 

(August 1977)

Eisner highlights that in order to effectively communicate, comics establish a language with which to communicate to it's audience. This language brings together visual elements such as perspective, symmetry and brush stroke (pg10)  and uses them repetitively to establish the visual code used in visual communication. 

 

Will Eisner, Theory of Comics and Sequential Art

Sequential art can be traced back as far as the hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt. Four thousand years before the birth of Christ, the Ancient Egyptians created a sacred alphabet they called 'the words of God' in order to record information, events and to tell stories. This was one of the earliest forms of visual communication as the alphabet was a series of symbols that were associated to a subject.

 

Will Eisner, Theory of Comics and Sequential Art

Discovering Egypt. Egyptian Hieroglyphic Alphabet. Available at: http://discoveringegypt.com/egyptian-hieroglyphic-writing/egyptian-hieroglyphic-alphabet/

 

 

Set, Series, Sequence - Storyboard Inspiration

For the final stage of this brief, I have drafted a storyboard of, what I call a Doughnut Monster trying to break into someone's house and steal some doughnuts. I took a lot of inspiration from Pixar's Ratatouille as a few of the scenes involve Remy looking through a window and coveting something inside. There are also a few scenes in which what follows is a creative and chaotic attempt at breaking in or at least trying to escape after having fallen in.

Here is a storyboard from the film:

 

In this scene, Remy accidentally falls into the kitchen of a high class restaurant. I particularly like the shot in which the camera is panning across the counter as the cooks are at work. In the movie, it made me feel as if I were observing them as I would if I were in Remy's position. I also like the idea of being on the outside looking in, particularly in harsh weather conditions.

Here is an animatic of a scene that didn't actually make it into the film but I find the composition and shot angles quite humorous and certainly used it as inspiration for my storyboard.

Set, Series, Sequence - Iterations

The iteration stage of this brief was actually quite challenging. I ran out of ideas quite quickly so I decided to try and change the aesthetic of my character. Iteration is an important aspect of the character development stages of animation. Here is a series of iterations of the character Remi from Pixar's production of Ratatouille:

 

Each iteration adds or takes something away from the character or simply makes aesthetic alterations to the character. However, a few characteristics hold. For instance, each iteration is still of a lanky little rat which is perhaps the main constraint for this character.

Ratatouille. Livlilly Blogspot. Available at: http://livlily.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/ratatouille-2007-concept-art.html

Set, Series, Sequence - Drawing Blindfolded

I found a pretty interesting light article on DangerousMinds.net about some of the most prominent comic strip artists having drawn their trademark characters blindfolded. I found it quite interesting as well as amusing because, looking at the characters side by side, the fundamental defining characteristics are still present in the versions drawn while blindfolded. Obviously with less detail, the new versions of these characters looked more like abstract interpretations of the original characters,

 

The defining features of this character are the tiny eyes, the eyebrows, nose and mustache. All these features are present in the second drawing.

 

Dixie's doe eyed and melancholy expression still holds, even though most of the details are dropped.

 

Brandy's stern aesthetic is clearly visible even with none of the lines connecting.

 

Dagwood's head appears to be a lovely abstract interpretation of the original drawing.

 

Dick Tracy's most prominent feature is his striking profile; the angular nose and chin and the down turned hat are still very strong in the second drawing.

 

Skeezix's floppy hair and childlike features, although a bit muddled are still evident in the second drawing.

 

Although the facial features have shrunk, Smilin' Jack's crooner expression is almost identical to the original drawing.

 

Steve Canyon's face and features have shifted around but he is still recognizable. It's clear that Milton Caniff drew each feature exactly like he always does but had trouble placing the parts.

 

This one is quite impressive as mostly everything is in place and again, the expression holds.

 

 Major Hoople's chin has receded slightly but otherwise, he is almost the same.

I find this fascinating because clearly these characters have been developed to a point where the artist is able to convey their characteristics without being able to see what they are doing. And, of course, the artists have been drawing the same characters for years so it's no surprise that this is the case.

Ten Famous Comic Strip Artists Draw Their Characters Blindfolded. Paul Gallagher. Available at: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/ten_famous_comic_strip_artists_draw_their_characters_blindfolded

Life Drawing - Animation vs. Fine Art

Life drawing for the purposes of Animation as opposed to Fine art is fundamentally different. For Fine Art, the lines, the details and the shading are some of the elements that are prioritized in practice whereas for Animation, weight, anatomy and the overall feeling of the movement of the body is the skill to master. It is important to observe how the body holds it's balance, where weight is distributed in certain positions as well as through movement, and how the muscles look through these movements.

Arshad Mirzad Baig from AMB Animation Animation Academy talks about these differences in the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOdOGu-Q60

In this discussion panel, Bob Kato, Karl Gnass, Mark McDonnell and Dan Cooper discuss the importance of drawing skills in the animation industry today.

Set, Series, Sequence - Awkward Yeti

Nick Seluk is the brilliant cartoonist behind the Awkward Yeti cartoons about various health related complications or simply a satirical communication of biology. His cartoons and comic strips contain silly and witty humour. They were quite an inspiration to my Set, Series and Sequence brief.

 

I quite like how Seluk makes these characters relate-able by giving them personas we are familiar with from real life. In the above comic, the Kidney is representing a parent or an older more authoritative figure while the gall bladder represents an innocent child. 

 

 In this situation, the spot is that overeager friend that nobody wants to hang out with which also makes a good parallel to our feelings about getting spots at inopportune times.

 

In this strip, I find that the contrast between the serious atmosphere on the inside and the silly revelation in the last panel to be quite hilarious.