Interview with our brilliant animator Akrom
By Mia Elliott
Hey Akrom, tell me a little bit about your animation!
AKROM – So I did the design and animation for this project! State Records is a recordkeeping body which compiles all the records from each government section so that they are all organised in one place. They wanted an animation to increase awareness about their key principles and practices – a general introduction to recordkeeping. The animation is designed for employees of the Public Office.
Cool! So what guided your design process?
AKROM – Okay so the federal government has its own colour palette (blues, oranges, whites) which we stuck to. Although these colours are quite bright, the client wanted a very clean design so it was important to not oversaturate the animation with these bold tones. This meant using a grey-scale design approach, where you begin with no colour and slowly add in pops of colour as ‘highlights’. State Records provided us a base script which we finessed and then created storyboards from. And then we got onto animating! Animation is definitely about approaching the design part-by-part, piece-by-piece… you have to section out what your brain is going to focus on and how you are going to approach it. A lot of planning is needed but it’s all worth it in the end when you see the animation come to life!
Styleframes
Storyboarding
What was your biggest challenge along the way?
AKROM – I had a lot of fun because this was such a great project, but we were definitely running on a pretty tight timeframe. So time-management was definitely a major factor. But I had so much support from the entire team (shoutout Jonty and Charmaine!) so nothing ever feels unachievable.
And you did it! Now what was your favourite part of the animation process?
AKROM – I would probably say the design process (storyboarding). Thinking of clever ways to conceptualise the client’s message into images is always really interesting. It’s definitely a lot of problem-solving. I would say it’s the most challenging yet rewarding part of the whole process.
What do you think makes a great explainer animation?
AKROM – In general, keeping your message as clear and concise as possible is the most important part of a making a good explainer animation (especially when your client is the federal government). Finding simple, direct and conversational ways to explain complex concepts is always really important for keeping your viewer engaged and entertained!
VIEW THE STATE RECORDS ANIMATION HERE:
