Kinetic Typography Principles of Animation

Here are some examples of animation principles that were used in this kinetic typography video.

1. Squash & Stretch

At 1:32 in the video, the "X" in the ball moves to the right & while doing so squashes downward in anticipation to jump, then when in the air regains its form with a stretch.

2. Slow In/Out

At 0:49, the "O" in Societies drops down while accelerating. This makes sense since the force of gravity will accelerate objects at -9.8m/s^2 unless acted on by a more significant force in another direction. Isn't that fascinating?

3. Arcs

 At 3:05, the large hand making the peace sign swings upward on an arc, then smashes down on the "Governments" much like a hammer attached to some kind of fulcrum at its end. I believe this shows some slow in & out movement as well.

4. Timing

Oh boy, there is all sorts of timing in this video, but one that stands out is at 2:07 when the applications drop down in a mess. The forms hit the ground & make the most impact at the prime of when the voice says application.

Kinetic Typography

The pacing of this video varies with breaks in between every 8 words or so, & when their is talking, it's packed with information. This quality makes the movement fast & efficient. Furthermore, the movement of the words really pops out into your face because of the powerful wisdom behind it. The fonts that were used vary as well, with three distinct ones: Cursive for creative parts, simple Helvetica like font for the information, & bolded Helvetica like font for the points that are being emphasized. The video overall is very balanced, it shows words & sentences in the middle, & if it appears at the side, then more words will later appear on the other side. Lastly, I really like how at around 0:21, the "want to" slides right in between the words as if it's building on itself. This shows progression & that's very fitting because the sentence it makes is cyclical.

Helvetica Movie Response

"Helvetica has almost like a perfect balance of push & pull in its letters. & that perfect balance sort of is saying to us - well it's not sort of, it is saying to us - Don't worry, any of the problems that you're having, or the problems in the world, or problems getting through the subway, or finding a bathroom... all those problems aren't going to spill over, they'll be contained. & in fact, maybe they don't exist." ~Leslie Savan

This was said in the movie Helvetica, & I enjoy how it was stated because it seems to relate to order, & I find it to be true. See, the font Helvetica is one that is straightforward, & to the point because it represents text on the foundation of how the alphabet looks at its simplest. Since Helvetica stays consistent as well, it can be read without extra information exploding into your face. All of the extra information that you think you get when looking at the font really materialized in your head due to your past experiences with order. Since order is frequently associated with control, & calmness, it is understandable how the font can say to not worry. Really, I would think of it as the font instead saying; "Don't worry, this is life & you're in control. Everything is simple now, so you can grasp whatever you want."

I'm sorry to who ever is lost. It's hard to explain.

Tattered Seams Play T-shirt & Poster

Creative Process
The first thing I did after receiving the information on how the t-shirt & poster should be designed, is write down my objective and accumulate information about topics that the play revolves around. I studied how circuses are represented & found out that their designs are full of order within disorder. This means that I'd find outlining shapes to be very messy, & the filling inside them to be patterned & ordered. Furthermore, the common theme for what circuses represent is false happiness, so it fit right in with the theme of the play. I then went through a few roughs, & scanned the best for a t-shirt & for a poster.


Visual Language

For the t-shirt, I put a ring of fire surrounding a high angle view of the ring master. This shows that the circus workers are trapped in a world of despair, & makes them look small & insignificant to the world. The "Tattered Seams" writing is fancy hence showing disorder, & it's sitting atop the flames to emphasize the point of the play having a dismal feel. The marionettes at the sides are surrounding the ring master because they represent the circus worker's dreary thoughts. Furthermore, their hands are supposed to look large because I wanted them to look all-controlling & I drew them with the idea of how a humonculus looks.


For the poster, the font is an old western broken down messy serif typeface so to emphasize a disordered contour. The colour that was used for the words "Tattered Seams" is wine, the background is gold, and the tent stripes are dirty red & light gray. All of these colours have at least a hint of gray in them because it made the poster's appearance look dirty & gloomy. I left plenty of empty space around to make the poster look clean and straightforward. The gradual fade to black in the middle is a visual metaphor for how in the middle of the family circus, there is despair.


Technical Procedure (The same for both t-shirt & poster)
After choosing the best rough sketches, I scanned them using the Image Capture application. I opened them onto Adobe Illustrator so I could make the final out of clean lines. I drew the "Tattered Seams" text with the pen tool while making slight adjustments along the way. I used rulers to make sure everything was either centered fully or centered on a side. I then tested out many background colours & lastly I put in the gradient black fade.

Final Reflection
I am satisfied with the final product. The poster is unified, clean & uses the information hierarchy that shows the play's brand first & the details later for anyone who's interested. The t-shirt design is frippery, & captures the mood of the play well. Though, I do think it is too unorganized, and thus unappealing. I do think I met the requirements for the client, especially since there were few. Ultimately, I learned how to operate Adobe Illustrator a lot better, & much about what circuses represent.