Irish Animation company

We just finished up work on two fun animated shorts made in conjunction with the cool cats from  Media Coop , Ireland’s premiere media production company for Television and Cinema. They provided the script, voice over recording and brilliant sound design while we covered all the animation and graphic design duties.

These videos are part of a competition ran throughout Irish schools to find new and innovative ways to power communities. The two winning students received a whole bunch of goodies and got their ideas adapted into these animations.

What we did:

Storyboarding for animation

As with all animation projects, the first step is creating a detailed storyboard so everybody gets a clear picture of what the final animation will look like and what areas need attention. We love this stage. Any excuse to draw!

During the storyboard process we hit upon this pleasing colour scheme that was used extensively in the final animation. Compare the above rough storyboard sketches to the animated version and you will see how similar they are.

 Character design for Animation

Because the three characters that appear in the animations are based on real people we had a good starting point for designing the characters…but it also proved hard to adapt the host; Ireland’s George Hook into a friendly face that fits into a light hearted animation aimed at children. He is a great broadcaster and by all accounts a wonderful man but his natural facial expression is something between a scowl and a cranky pout! But after a few tries we found the right design.

Animation Process

Animation services for your company

We are Wukomi; we make animations and provide graphic designs for all types of businesses and purposes. Contact us now to talk about what we can do for your graphic design, animation, eLearning and illustration project.

As a Html5 experiment over on Clamnuts.com I made an interactive comic using Hype. 

Read my HTML5 comic here

I’ve been keeping a keen eye on other html5 comics and interactive webcomics but I’ve yet to find one that really makes use of narration by the artist. I love Bifter and the innovative way they use SVG but I wanted to make a comic that would let me speak and could be more or less understood with out interaction.

Interactive comics have huge potential if done right, I remember seeing on the news about ‘motion comics’ where they cut up lame Spiderman comics and have him swinging between buildings. Wow.

I think the most obvious, easy to implement and powerful application for html5 storytelling is allowing the option to hear the author. 

This was made in Hype but just as I was half way through it I got a mail from Smith Micro the makers of Manga Studio about their new html5 comic tool MotionArtist  so I’m going to try it out for my next html5 comic project. Although their website made me feel ill looking at it.

Here at Wukomi we are experimenting with using Html5 within iBooks for medical and education purposes. Html5 is becoming more and more pervasive on News sites for their infographics and it’s something we are keen to try.

We offer professional custom comic book creation and application design.

Gang sign/Rap hands T-shirt

I found this in the men’s clothing department in Al Campo in Murcia.

Skateboard and Cool Paraphernalia

No items. Although he does have sneakers.

Attitude: Bad Boy or Certified Whack?

This piece has too much attitude. The Gang signs are the central point of interest. 

Artistic Merit

One part Sonic the Hedgehog, one part Mr. Soft from the Trebor Mint ads, this travesty belongs in the cheap clothing for kids section not the menswear section where I found it. He’s the ultimate wigger; complete white and throwing rap hands.

Wukomi Wrap up

This is genuinely unsettling because it’s an ADULT size shirt…this is aimed at adults not kids.

See here for the Introduction to the Cool Skateboard Dude Quest and an explanation of the grading system.

Biscuit headed skateboarding advertising characters

BOOYA!!!! Now that’s a spicey meat-a-ball! Principe Diver really takes the biscuit!

Skateboard and Cool Paraphernalia

Not only do we have a skateboard but also ROLLERBLADES! And there is a half pipe visible in the background too. Theres another skateboard up in the top right corner, giving a grand total of THREE SKATEBOARDS. Additional points for the backwards baseball cap and baggy urban trousers on the girl.

Attitude: Bad Boy or Certified Whack?

A bit too smiley. If he had just one eyebrow crooked it would elevate this piece from bland to edgy.

Artistic Merit

The art on this brilliant. The bold blue base/skyline keeps in line with the Principe logo and brand while the rest is biscuit coloured. I like the composition, to the left we have the excitement and to the right we have the visual facts by seeing the product in action. It’s very clever the way they incorporated the glass of milk and wheat into the image while at the same time showing the product being dunked into the milk. The only goof I can see is his hand but it’s understandable how tricky it is to tie all together.

Wukomi Wrap up

Top marks for this. The only thing missing from this would be sunglasses. It has everything else.

See here for the Introduction to the Cool Skateboard Dude Quest and an explanation of the grading system.

Yogurt drink Advertising Character: Nestle Yoco

This character adorns several Nestle products but I couldn’t find one in the supermarket where he had a skateboard. He reminds me of Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog mixed with the art of Tom Paterson (The Beano)

Skateboard and Cool Paraphernalia

Hmmm…no skateboard…but he appears with a mountain bike on another package.

Attitude: Bad Boy or Certified Whack?

The fact that he’s lying down on the surfboard  instead of actually surfing AND he has flippers on makes him a little wussy. I think his hair was meant to be ‘punky’ but it looks odd.

Artistic Merit

As a whole, this packaging really works but his eyes and hair look over-rendered and lifeless. This is probably a case where the artist’s original sketches were much more dynamic and vibrant.

Wukomi Wrap up

Nestle can afford to better than this. It’s a great packaging design, it’s lively and bright but I get the sense that this is over worked and the life has been sucked out of it. This character is highly polished and developed but it’s not what I’m looking for…

See here for the Introduction to the Cool Skateboard Dude Quest and an explanation of the grading system.

 Milk Advertising Character: Max Energia

This lively cat is part of a clever packaging and branding strategy where the dairy products for babies feature a cute kitten version, the tween focused yogurts and milks feature a cool teenage version like the above and then the regular milk features him all grown up and ripped like Liono from The Thundercats. 

Skateboard and Cool Paraphernalia

Wowzers. This character has it all. We have a BACKWARDS baseball cap, basketball AND basketball jersey over a t-shirt, sweat band and cool trainers. He also has something like a tied head band thing under his cap which combined with the other elements more than makes up for a skateboard.

Attitude: Bad Boy or Certified Whack?

He’s definitely street wise, energetic, healthy and his attitude is balanced perfectly between sporty and mischievous hoodlum. That tied headband thing just screams Compton.

Artistic Merit

Brilliant. This is one of the best character designs I’ve seen in packaging. The younger and older versions are also as tight.

Wukomi Wrap up

This character is a certified cool dude but not corny. Top marks. However, he’s probably too slick for what I’m searching for. I’m looking for characters that look lame and awkward. 

See here for the Introduction to the Cool Skateboard Dude Quest and an explanation of the grading system.

 MiniPop USA

This Spanish microwavable popcorn boasts that it is ‘Imported from USA’ and if you join their membership club there are ‘lots of prizes’ and ‘interesting news’.

Skateboard and Cool Paraphernalia

We have a plump baseball cap and huge trainers but no skateboard. If his shoes had tongues and laces and his cap was tilted he qualify as cool.

Attitude: Bad Boy or Certified Whack?

He definitely displays gang related hand signals but has no ‘tude.

Artistic Merit

I like the art. Maybe the hands could be floating and not attached by those skimpy, breakable arms. But it’s well drawn and dynamic. His face is definitely trying to convey some kind of message from the artist. His eyes look jaded as if he’s tired from posing and would rather be doing something less embarrassing.

Wukomi Wrap up

Not cool. The desperate attempts to be ‘American’ are unsettling. This packaging is a fine example of how a good design can be ruined at the last minute. I presume the same artist/designer/design company made the character and logo but then the wife of the of the owner of the pop orn company got her hands on it and added that awful flash etc. It would work much better if they went all out and used the stars and stripes for the background instead of that yellow. 

See here for the Introduction to the Cool Skateboard Dude Quest and an explanation of the grading system.

We all love the episode of The Simpsons when the contrived cool character of Poochie is dreamt up by marketing executives in an effort to shake things up and appeal to a younger audience.

Most designers and illustrators have been involved in creating characters based on the client’s input, sometimes it works out great but a lot of the time it goes wrong. And usually the results of these misguided attempts at trying to second guess what appeals to the kids usually falls into the ‘cool and/or radical dudes’ category.

Last year I was in Costa Rica and was amazed at how many cool dudes there were adorning billboards and packaging. These dudes were certified fresh. Caps on backwards, shades, skateboards and even their hands poised in vague gang signs. It kills me that I didn’t take any usable photos.

So now I’m looking for an example of the ULTIMATE RADICAL COOL DUDE used in advertising, packaging, design etc. 

I have devised a grading system to rate all the cool dudes I have found so far.

Skateboard and Cool Paraphernalia

Obviously the inclusion of a skateboard gets maximum points but this category also includes:
baseball caps, sunglasses, chains/medallions, surf boards, roller blades etc.

Attitude: Bad Boy or Certified Whack?

Is the character the bomb? This measures the attitude of the character. They can be a cool dude with a skateboard but have no attitude while conversely; a character without a skateboard can gain more points by throwing a rap hand or gang sign.

Artistic Merit

This measures just how well it is executed graphically. But if a character or premise is so bad that it becomes good, it gets positive points. 

Wukomi Wrap up

This is the final review and summary of all points from our expert panel.

Please keep an eye out for examples and on your finds and we will add and review them here.

Written by Charles Parnow and Illustrated by  American comic artist Al Wenzel, this free giveaway comic ‘The Story of Inflation’ is a beautiful example of an educational comic done right.

It manages to explain some fairly complex theories in a friendly and engaging way, I certainly learned from it!

I found this comic in the now long gone second hand bookshop in Rathmines in Dublin probably around 1999.

Apparently it is part of series of free educational comics issued by the Federal Reserve and this same comic has been redrawn and repurposed a few times since to try appeal to contemporary tastes but I doubt if they could even come close to the mastery of Al Wenzel. I love the way he draws eyes and chins.

At Wukomi we provide comics and cartoons for educational,instructional, training and marketing purposes. If you are looking for a comic for your business or project we can create it.