This is 'Onwards' , an Animation for Nike which was created by British illustrator
James Jarvis around a year ago.
Nike sponsored the Animation and was posted on the internet to market
there Running brand.
James Jarvis has been a key player in the British Illustration scene for
some time now, famed for his simple character design, comic book
publications and vinyl toys, and more recently, animation.
Iv been aware of his work for awhile and am a huge admirer of his.
He has presented his artistic aesthetic through a wide range of mediums
which goes to show, with the right motivation and abit of imagination,
can take you along way. Im especially attracted to his vinyl toy collections as
it is a design practice i am really eager to delve into and would love to apply
some of my own character design to that medium.
I first saw 'Onwards' on a creative blog that i follow called http://72dpi.cn/,
and when i saw it, i was blown away. I was immediatley immersed into
the story and the music as it ties in so fluently with the hand drawn
illustrative style, i couldnt help but be inspired.
For me, when i saw this i thought that this is what Multimedia is all about,
coming from an Illustration background it was the Animation aspect that
really caught my attention. And it clicked then that i wanted to study
Multimedia at degree level.
From watching 'Onwards' you can see that it uses various aspects
of Multimedia.
Them being Animation, Film, Direction and Music Editing. I would be really
interested to see the design process for this and how they came to
animating the character and what software was used in the making.
I think the reason this works so well is its simplistic approach,
the focus on the yellow character against the black and white
background for example lets the viewer focus on the main theme,
the character running, and why is he running? To get from A to B.
Which is something everyone can relate to. Its just what he has to go
though to get there is the interesting part, and in the animation he
doesnt even stop, so when he carries on his journey into the distance,
it leaves an open question as to what more he will encounter?
Thats entirely for the viewer to decide.
I wanted to talk about this particular piece of Multimedia, because in
many ways, it is hugely inspiring to me. Not only is it aesthetically beautiful,
the music moving and the theme initially charming, but it has a deeper more
personal message which each viewer can relate to individually, and take something
away from this Animation.
What i got from 'Onwards' was the feeling of Escapism.
"Escapism - is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, an
'escape' from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life"
be inspired by.
Overall i think it works Brilliantly. First and foremost as an Advertisement
for running and secondly as an Animation to enjoy and
Big love goes out to James Jarvis and anybody else involved in the making.
Also below, are 3 videos which tell the 'behind the scenes' story of creating the Animation.
A really interesting insight into why it was originally made.
Peace,
Guy
