DESIGN / MOTION

Motionographer invited me to contribute two promos to mark their industry presentation of “The Motion Awards”, an annual celebration of the achievements in motion design, honoring the best of the best in the thriving motion design community. In their words; “There’s no better reward for hard work than recognition from your peers.”

My pitch was to explore the duality of time we account for in honing our skills in order to become masters of our disciplines. Interpreting the logo as a pinnacle and a nadir in the form of the A and M, like a Yin Yang of metaphysical symbolism, I realised the deeper attributions we as humans have bestowed on these shapes, the M features a trough-like valley, of which the valley is considered the birthplace of civilization though historically the stage of many great wars, it can also be defined as the resting place of the dead, whilst the peak-like A resembles a pyramid, itself a symbol of achievement and enlightenment, truly a testament to the immeasurable labour undertaken to create these colossal structures.

By referring to these symbols throughout the promos I wanted to convey the contrasting effects of time, the hourglass housing the pyramid and valley is a visual metaphor for this.

It takes time to become great but all things bound by time must come to an end.

An important aspect for me during this project was to be mindful of the tools available, and to use each to their advantage. Designing and art directing the assets I was drawn to golden egyptian artifacts, but as a direct source I felt the design language too strong, and a trope that would benefit from further research and exploration, finiding additional inspiration from aztec, mayan and inca mythology to be infused with the concept, I combined different belief systems to help portray meaning.