Ana Kuster - Motion Design Portfolio 2024

Demo Reel

To start off, here's my demo reel! It includes bits and pieces of projects I've worked on at Ringling College, some of which are showcased below.

Color Script

For this project, I needed to create an explainer video that illustrated the relationship between principles of design and color. I was provided a template that established the size of the framed scenes and the typography's formatting; everything else was my own original design. I created a series of style frames in Illustrator that I would then follow as storyboards for the animated video in After Effects

I had never approached the "glassmorphism" aesthetic in my work before, so I wanted to give it a shot in this video. In order to accurately replicate the look and feel that I established in my style frames, I had to delve deeper into After Effects's tools than I had ever gone before. I used complex expressions for the first time, organized what felt like hundreds of layers in multiple comps, and extensively utilized mattes to achieve the layered blur effect. I've already used After Effects for years, and this project introduced me to a whole other layer of tools within it that I'll definitely use in future projects.

Sketches

Initial Style Frames

Color Wheel Ideation

Final Style Frames

Animation Test

Before beginning to work on the final video, I made this very simple test in After Effects in order to not only practice recreating the style frames' glassmorphism aesthetic, but also make a record of how I recreated it. This way, I was able to copy the layered effect methods I used in this test directly onto the AE file for the final video.

Software: Illustrator, After Effects

Caravan Palace Promo Video

The goal was to make a short animated video featuring kinetic typography that alluded to either a music festival or band. I chose Caravan Palace, an electro swing band, as my subject. I used one of their songs, titled "Mirrors" (the same one I used in my demo reel above).

This was the first time I went headfirst straight into the animation phase without designing style frames beforehand. For something like kinetic typography that's accompanied by music, the motion and easing and timing is so critical and important to me that I wanted to immediately start placing keyframes at the same time as I was deciding on the composition and colors. I always love getting to the animation phase of a project as soon as possible, so the fact that I instantly started animating for this video made it a very fun one to create!

Moodboard

First Pass Style Frames

First Pass Video

Final Pass Style Frames

Software: After Effects

Music Machines

I was tasked with creating 6 looping 3D animated clips, which could then be combined into a single long video featuring a certain theme. For my own take on this project, I used Animusic videos and wood toy blocks as inspiration for my theme: multiple wooden machines in motion that produce sounds which harmonize together.

I've only recently begun exploring the realm of 3D animation, and creating this project has further cemented my interest in the medium. I was able to learn a multitude of tools and features within Cinema 4D that I'm now familiar with and will use in the future.

Concept & Moodboard

Storyboard

Animatic

Software: Cinema 4D, Octane Render

PSA

This project required me to conceptualize and create a video featuring a public service announcement about a message of my choice. After a rigorous ideation phase in which I went through many different potential messages, as well as which design styles they would've used, I eventually landed on a charming, lighthearted 3D style that illustrates a message about the importance of sleep during the creative process.

This was my first time combining 3D and 2D animated elements in a single video. After animating and rendering all the 3D scenes in Cinema 4D, I passed the footage into After Effects, where I composited the 2D elements onto the 3D renders. The 2D animation was hand-drawn frame-by-frame within Photoshop.

Initial Style Frames

Rough Style Frames

Storyboard

Process View

Software: Cinema 4D, Octane Render, Photoshop, After Effects

Imaginary Machine

This project involved creating a short animated video featuring an "imaginary machine" performing a task. The machine needed to have a half-vector, half-collage design, and it also needed to be made with an intricate rig that would allow for complete control over its moving joints and parts.

This was my first time working with such a complex rig. Even though it wasn't as daunting as the Color Script project (as shown above, right after my demo reel), it was still a huge challenge to properly organize the dozens of layers that controlled the machine, let alone animate them all in sync with each other to ensure the machine's natural movement. I loved working on this video because of how challenging it was, and I feel as if it has given me the knowledge and experience I need to be able to handle even more complex rigs.

Ideation

Style Frame

Project File Screenshot

Software: Photoshop, After Effects

Zaira

For this project, I needed to visually depict the city of Zaira, described in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Each of the book's chapters include descriptions of fictional cities that, in one way or another, represent certain themes connected to human life, such as memory, desire, ands death. Zaira is said to be made of "relationships between measurements of its space and the events of its past." My task was to visualize a city that physically consists of measurements, history, and memories.

All the live-action footage and images were acquired solely from free stock image websites. After editing them, I animated masks with feathered edges moving across them in After Effects, to convey the essence of fading, fleeting memories. The black measurement lines were animated as trim paths.

There is one shot that was partially done in Cinema 4D: the one that tracks the car moving into the city and then moves toward the city as a dolly shot. I figured that this kind of camera movement could be executed more efficiently and easily in 3D than 2D; additionally, it gave me yet another opportunity to continue learning Cinema 4D. The measurement lines in this shot are pitch black cylinders with a spline wrap deformer that animates the in a similar way to trim paths. Once the 3D scene was rendered, I passed it into After Effects, where I composited the car, grid floor, and other photographic elements onto the scene.

Style Frames

Camera Movement Sketch

Storyboard

3D Project Screenshot

Software: After Effects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, Octane Render

Architecture Posters

The project brief requested three posters that visually represented three different architectural styles: Mediterranean Revival, Mid-Century Modern, and Postmodern. Each poster needed to include certain text, and they all needed to feel like part of one cohesive series.

Rather than using a single illustration or photograph of a building that represents each style, I decided to experiment with a more abstract idea. I created various vector icons that alluded to architectural details found on buildings from each style. Afterwards, I arranged these icons into gridded, wallpaper-like patterns that filled the posters, with the typography acting as an in-between barrier for the pattern.

The vector icons and typography were created in Illustrator. These files were then passed into Photoshop, where the colors and soft inner shadow were added.

Research

Ideation

First Pass

Alternative Versions

Since I arrived at an overall nice final design within my first pass, the rest of the project from that point onward consisted of just revising that design. This gave me a lot of extra time, which I decided to spend on making what I called my "alt B" variants of my poster series. Just for fun, I played around with using a chunky, pixelated aesthetic for the posters. I used a completely different typeface altogether, as well as remade all the vector icons into a pixel art style. I also experimented with using glow effects and overlaid textures on Photoshop.

I'm glad I had leftover time to work on a different interpretation for these posters. I always love going through as many ideas as possible before committing to one for the rest of a project. I like video games as well, so this was definitely an entertaining way to stylistically deviate from my "official" posters.

Software: Illustrator, Photoshop

"Levels" Typeface

I was tasked with creating an original display typeface that consisted of modular pieces, which would be individually designed and afterwards assembled into the letterforms. I used retro arcade aesthetics as my overall inspiration, characterized by the blocky outlines and bold colors contrasted against the pitch black background. The name "Levels" carries a double-meaning: it alludes to the video game origin of this aesthetic, while also referring to the stacked nature of each letterform's design. I also experimented with giving my typeface an isometric perspective.

The entire typeface and presentation deck were created within Illustrator. For the animated video, I recreated the vector shapes for one of my example words, "pixel," as shape layers in After Effects.

Creating my own typeface was a fascinating experience that has given me newfound appreciation and respect towards anyone who designs typography professionally. I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to experiment with an unorthodox diagonal orientation, as well as a vibrant multicolored palette.

Ideation

First Pass

Revisions

Software: Illustrator, After Effects

Thanks for checking out my work!