A Word World Valentine's (Making Machine) Day

Thank goodness this Valentine's Day device didn't have to spell itself!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Animation Design Comes to Life – Actual Shots from Different Spots

Here are shots from actual spots demonstrating how animation design fits content and brand; a variety of looks I've come up with for a variety of requirements – and shown in a variety of venues...

from online to on-the-air...

Design for an online animation, the kind I specialize in at

IdeaRocket Animation

The hand-drawn style supplies unfolding action to the storyline...

Designing an entire world

where every character

is built from it's own word,

for Word World, airing on

PBS Kids...where I created a lot of easily-read characters,

their legible locations, and lots of their well-spelled stuff.

An editorial look for a groovy trip back in history...

And an upcoming animation describing what animation can do...

...maybe we'll end up with a corner office!

See what I do with IdeaRocket,

And a lot more animation design of all kinds at my site.

Call on me for any kind of animation design solution,

particularly if it's perplexing, pop, or playful!

Check out my profile on LinkedIn

The Architecture of Word World, Pt. 2: Things in 3-D

Just for fun – a continuation of the "architecture" necessary to design for 3-D animation; in this case for PBS Kids "Word World," where not only do you have to use an architect's sensibilities to design buildings and locations, but also to design things...some that need to be built out of their own words (Word World is "Where Words Come Alive"), some that gratefully don't. Here the design takes on the quality of product design, or toy design (which it occasionally ends up being...)

Like these first two– it wouldn't really make sense to build something that read: "Automatic Cake Frosting Gun on Wheels," or "Valentine Making Machine;" nor would it ever be possible in the space allowed. Still, you have to start with an idea of the thing in all it's 3 dimensions:

This rough idea might demonstrate just what the thing can do...

Then from b/w plan, to color...
Things that need to be constructed out of the letters of their own word can be a little trickier. 'The Educators' have to make certain that legibility isn't going to be an issue (especially for the littlest viewers)... Here's the gray model, for revisions, before painting...


....................................and don't forget space for the action figures!

The Architecture of Word World, Pt. 1: Places in 3-D

Here's a look at the architectural aspects of designing a complex 3-D animated world, like PBS Kids' Word World. In Word World, every "where" has to start somewhere, as in this sketch of even the lowliest crab shack, which in this case (like everything in Word World) had to be constructed from perfectly legible lower case letters.In Word World, every 3-D location had to be built, much like it would be in the real world. Following the visualizing sketch, there'd have to be an architectural plan, showing all the angles that the model builders need to make the new locale into a space where our 3-D actors can work...

Combined with the architectural drawing can be a detailed comprehensive color version.

Sometimes, we got away with a simpler black & white version, as with this lower case "dock," just using a plan view, placing it in the world, and showing it's panel in the storyboard...

The color comp follows the plan drawing, and places the location in the world, in it's appropriate seasonal surrounding...

With the external plan drawn up, the location in the 3-D world determined, the color figured out, etc., etc...the building and placement of the model takes place, not (as you can see) without a bit of back-and-forth. I ended up building a fence between the Schoolhouse and the train track, for safety of course!

The new School-house location needs an interior that has to be built separate from the exterior, because the interior acting space needs to be larger than the exterior plan will allow. We stay correctly related to the exterior by sticking to the proper proportions, at least...

Finally, there needs to be a very comprehensive color version, that tell the model painters pretty much exactly what we need. The look of the world itself shouldn't vary much from this full color "architectural" rendering...I got help with this Schoolhouse interior from the very talented Gideon Kendall.

Even the most atmospheric and organic locations must be created by this plan – with sketches, technical/architectural drawings, color comps, and finished color renderings, whether it's the Schoolhouse, or the bottom of the pond!

A Website Update

This is to announce that I've just completed an update of my website, with the help of Mike Perkins at Setstatic. Aside from a new palette, there's lots of new material to see in Animation Design & Art Direction - with a whole new Development Art & Design page (featuring three new projects); a bunch of new Word World, Season Three; and an all-new Online Design page. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks, Mike.

Here's how that red firetruck turned out...

Reading Things and Places...

Earlier, I showed what it's like to build readable lower case characters for Word World, like with the cat and the pelican. Here's a legible place, and a couple of things built out of the letters that spell what they are, like everything has to do "where words come alive."

From WordWorld Season Three: The legible Mr. Fox. For most of the first, and some of the second season, everything in WordWorld was made out of capital letters, not so Season Three, when lower case took over. For a show called, I think, "X Marks the Spot."

Building a Pelican That Reads

A sneak peek at season three of Word World, where Art Direction/Design means building characters, locations, and props; creating, balancing and adjusting colors; and following up the 3-D building of it - making sure that everything looks right in the world.

Here are the stages of creating a character that "says it's own name" for a world where words come alive...Start with a drawing, a lot like an architectural plan...

Get it built in a 3-D grayscale version...

Then color rough it, and check the final word character, come to life!

I noticed the new season of Word World is on now, so I'll put up a few designs that are finally airing...

Here's a color comp for the Monkey's hut,

and here's how complete the 3-D design plan has to be...

2D design to 3D design

Designing for 3D requires a lot of architecture. As you see here, not only for architectural locations, but also for the creation of characters. It's necessary to be technically specific even when it comes to aspects of the character's "charm." Notice how the "a" changed from the plan drawing to the color model, to enhance legibility.
...this 3/4 rear drawing is by the very talented Kevin Kobasic, who did the original turn-arounds of the cat character, as well as a lot of other characters on the show.

Here's my first take at 3D design, a couple years ago in a film I did for Herman Miller called "Purple," where fixtures came to life...