You’re not the only one refreshing your look for summer. Courtesy of its in-house creative agency Creative Group, Cartoon Network received a summer makeover, with a new set of brightly colored images and a video seamlessly blending the work of top animators around the globe. As part of the 2013 “Summer Refresh,” the new graphics feature popular Cartoon Network characters, such as the Annoying Orange and Finn and Jake from Adventure Time. Inspired by their cool new look, Creative Group took the daring step of stitching together a 60-second video comprising the work of six different animators and animation companies from around the world.
“We referred to this as our science experiment, mainly because we weren’t totally convinced that it would work,” – Leslie Kleine, Producer on the project
Jacob Escobedo had this vision of several animators of varying styles creating unique pieces that could then be stitched together into one interstitial. In the end, we reached out to animation teams from Australia, France, Portland Oregon, Atlanta Georgia, and two from the UK, and they were all enthusiastic, even though they wouldn’t know what the others were doing. We gave them character art, a color palette, a warning against nudity, and ten seconds – those were the only rules. This project was an incredible lesson in risk, but also one of the most rewarding that I’ve ever worked on. What we got exceeded our expectations.”
Here’s a little more about the Summer Refresh project:
The graphics package includes images of some of Cartoon Network’s most popular characters arranged into a totemic image. When looped end-to-end, the graphic totem becomes a unique, yet recognizable pattern that now informs all of the network’s on-air elements, including bumps, lower thirds, promotions, and interstitials.
The video utilizes an “Exquisite Corpse” technique to seamlessly blend 10-second pieces from the six animators into the final 60-second product.
The animators included: Australia’s Rubberhouse; France’s CRCR; the UK’s Alex Grigg and Eamonn O’Neill; and the US’s Impactist (Portland OR) and Awesome Incorporated (Atlanta GA).
Impactist also created the music for the spot.
All six animators were given three simple rules: use the same color palette; include characters from Cartoon Network shows Adventure Time, Regular Show, MAD, Ben 10, Gumball, Looney Tunes, and Annoying Orange; and don’t include any nudity.
Take a look at the Summer Refresh video here.
Stills
Credits
Animation
- Impactist – Portand, OR
- Awesome Incorporated – Atlanta, GA
- CRCR – France<
- Alex Grigg – UK
- Eamonn O’Neill – UK
- Rubberhouse – Australia
Music
- Impactist – Portland, OR
