Achieving a uniform look

Understanding and communicating with a client is very important in our day-to-day work, and is something we are used to having as a priority. But what we learned when working on the “Amazon Music | My City” project, is that the communication required to align a team of different artists all working on one same result is a particular challenge.

This project consisted of 6 different capsules and had a very tight schedule, which meant we needed 8 animators working at the same time. In order to work towards one uniform look, we needed to establish a process that would ensure it wasn't going to be about each animator imprinting their own style onto one capsule, but rather splitting tasks and doing everything in passes, across the entirety of the project.

One team designed and animated the main characters, another team took care of backgrounds, a third team was responsible for coloring, and one artist handled title and end cards and all typography.

As these passes progressed, all of the artists naturally coalesced into one consistent style. At the same time, seeing previews in these gradual stages allowed for the client to have input and approvals at different critical points, making sure that any progress was being done towards the agreed common goal.