Adding excitement to the shape of things
José Peña’s kinetic animations are mesmerizing. They’d be impressive from an artist of any age, and it’s even more astounding when you find out that Peña is still enrolled at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and only recently became old enough to legally drink. The raw talent of Generation Z continues to blow our minds!
Peña contributed a dynamic animation for our #ConnectedByLemonade series, in order to draw attention to the great work that our Giveback partner charity:water is doing. We talked to him about his style and inspirations.
Can you walk me through your #ConnectedByLemonade commission, and its connection to our Giveback partner charity:water?
The first step is always doing some research and asking key questions about the message the brand wants to communicate through the animation. For this project, I simply wanted to communicate the importance of small acts of kindness, and how much one small act can impact a community.
How do you make shapes come alive?
You can communicate almost anything with just a few shapes and a strong sense of motion. This is one thing I learned by watching the greats of this animation style (Andrew Vucko, Romain Loubersanes, Ordinary Folk, and various others). The attention to timing and spacing is what will bring any animation to life and, in some sense, ‘speak’ to the audience. Generally, I like to create exaggerated and fast movements to give the shapes some sort of fun personality.
What are some of the tools you depend on to make your work?
Most of the time my work is 100% made with Adobe After Effects. It is actually a pretty deep and technical software where you could easily make most of the animations for any project.
Who are some of your creative heroes?
For most of my career, people like Jorge R. Canedo, Ash Thorp, and my friends at Ordinary Folk have always been the ones I look up to the most. Their passion and pure talent for animation and design is what made me want to become an animator in the first place. I owe quite a lot to them.
What advice would you offer to a young artist?
Keep trying (and failing, because you will fail many many times). Be kind to others, and always work hard.
Donate to support the awesome work charity:water is doing here. Then check out more of Jose’s work, and don’t forget to follow #ConnectedByLemonade!
