Experimental + Commission
Motion Design
Experimental Project
As part of a university module on experimental design processes, this project challenged me to visualise a piece of music with which we associated a strong idea or emotion. Inspired by Firestarter by The Prodigy, I explored the concept of a typographic frenzy through ink, sculpture, water, photograms, charcoal, stop motion, and digital editing, embracing the unpredictable nature of these techniques. I later adapted these experiments into a motion design piece.
Ink and water experiment.
Water distortion experiments.
Experimental sculpture.
Photogram experiments.
Charcoal animation experiment.
Final frenzy animation.
Commission: Mel Murakami Exhibit
My exploration led to an exciting commission from the Nikkei Memory Capture Project for an interactive research exhibition at the Bunka Centre in the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Alberta, Canada. The client sought to engage visitors with their research on the internment of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s through experimental kinetic typography. In collaboration with the client, I developed the core concept, Human vs. System, creating two animations that contrasted worn, handmade letterpress. These were inspired by two words: ‘Evacuation,’ a euphemism used for the discriminatory process of forcibly deporting Japanese Canadian citizens to labor camps, and ‘Haiseki,’ meaning ‘elimination’ (hai) and ‘to reject’ (seki), with overpowering digital typography to visually communicate this tension.”
Reference images and visual inspiration for the Japanese Canadian internment, including posters, photography, and newspaper clippings.
Early storyboard draft and letterpress prints used to create the final assets for the final animations.
‘Evacuation’ animation.
‘Haiseki’ animation.