Motion Graphic Animator based in Detroit
NICK JR.
Kwanzaa Rap
Working with the team at First Fight I had the privilege to be the creative lead for the Kwanzaa section of Nickelodean's "SuperSnowtacular Holiday Special". The goal of this special was to capture the principles of Kwanzaa in a style a preschooler could understand. Using colorful simple forms with overlaying child-like textures, the animation shows a family coming together to celebrate Kwanzaa with a feast. The modular animation design allowed me to highlight special family moments interwoven with Kwanzaa iconography.
Client: Nick Jr.
Studio: First Fight
Design: Jamie Lyons, Emily Tinklenberg
Storyboard: Jamie Lyons
Illustrations: Jamie Lyons, Taylor Stanislawski
Character Rigs: Jamie Lyons
After Effects Animation: Jamie Lyons, Guy Allen
Sound: Nick Jr.
Inspiration
Exploration
Storyboard
Character Animation
My process of animating the star of the holiday special, Lorelai, was done originally in Adobe Character Animator with a jpeg collage of her 3D model from the show. She was shown as her regular self to help kids recognize her, but as the project progressed Nick Jr requested a new version of her that fit the style of the piece. So I designed a 2D version of this beloved character with all her recognizable features, and built a puppet for her in After Effects that matched her animations from before. In the end she blends perfectly with the rest of the bright simplified designs!