ANIMATION NOW

LEADING PRODUCERS AND FILMMAKERS REFLECT ON EMERGING TRENDS AND SHARE THEIR PREDICTIONS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

- LISA HASSELL

Animation is having a moment. With brands increasingly favouring the medium to communicate large and complicated subjects in a concise way, there’s never been a better time to master the craft. Animation can express emotions through character animation as well as using more abstract imagery, while text and kinetic typography can express powerful meaning often with a big impact. The market for 2D and 3D animation is growing, and illustrators are also keen to get in on the act.

“A growing number of illustrators are now developing skills as animators after experimenting with simple gifs,” explains Sue Loughlin, executive producer at awardwinning production company and artist management agency Jelly London. “They want to learn how to take their work into longer sequences that naturally leads into storytelling or communicating a message on a timeline. There are many ways to tell a story and so it’s a skill that’s increasingly being developed by illustrators. Even gifs are becoming more than just a couple of looping images, becoming a form of content with more of a message – almost like mini stories.”

Representing a range of animation directors and studios as well as being an illustration agency, Jelly’s artists and directors work across a range of styles. These include 2D to stop-motion to multiple CGI styles, including character and abstract animation and illustration. And, being a fully functional animation production company, as well as representing a roster of illustration artists, provides fertile ground for cross-collaboration between disciplines on both sides.