is a multidisciplinary designer and researcher exploring experiential narratives and connective systems
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Ann Li
Neurobiologist-turned designer driven by sense-making, systems thinking, and storytelling. Seeking full-time interaction, experience, or product design roles.
Work spans the digital and physical, including functional user interfaces, immersive experiences, research, and creative strategy.
Convergence
Communicating design principles through motion design
Role
Motion Design Design Communication Animation Storytelling
Convergence can be observed in most natural systems, the process in which similar characteristics evolve independently from each other. It is a design principle that borrows directly from the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology– aspects of my background that I was interested in exploring as related to design.
Examining the nuances and connotations of visual form and metaphor, I used Adobe After Effects and Illustrator to create a video explaining a the chosen design principle of Convergence, using time and motion to convey information. As my first animation project using After Effects, it challenged me to quickly learn motion design techniques, principles, and software to convey a visual narrative to a general audience.
Goal and Objectives
To situate audiences within a wider design canon, using analogous concepts to tangentially introduce topics from a larger systems context.
Touch on concepts that bridge the man-made and natural worlds; biomimicry in design, evolution of trends and conventions over time
Incorporate systems analogies, placing examples of mimicry in the context of larger convergent trends; tie in with evolutionary theory
Situate within a systems perspective; emergent strategies and trends are dictated by the optimal strategy for a particular environment
Research
Exploration and Study of Principles
Beginning with exploration and research, I identified principles of personal interest and intrigue. After an initial review of design principles from various references, I carried out a selection process with the following considerations:
Relevance to personal interests and practice
Opportunities in narrative
Ease of demonstration/execution with visual elements
Personal background/unique contributions
Presence of existing ideas
Initial principle sourcing and concepts
These principles were whittled down to six contenders, four for their ease of execution/possibility for direct visual portrayals (closure, uniform connectedness, three-dimensional projection, and good continuation), and two for their depth of opportunity and connection to my interests and background (mimicry, convergence).
Selection
I decided to pursue the design principle of convergence, a direction that would be more challenging to communicate, but that I found more interesting and rich in possibility. The process in which similar characteristics evolve independently in multiple systems, convergence is a concept inspired and derived from ecology and evolutionary biology– one that I was interested in and familiar with from my work in biology. Exploring the relevance and implications in design revolved around a few central ideas.
Script and Narrative
Based on initial content points, I outlined various topics and examples, whiteboarding to get ideas out and visualize a narrative. From there, I cobbled together crucial ideas to draft a script.
Storyboarding
After four rounds of editing, the script was finalized and translated into distinct scenes. Initial sketches were made to plan rough compositions, subject matter, and transitions. The alignment of specific frames corresponding to points in the narrative was refined, with particular consideration to the connotations of visual form.
Script Outline
Five distinct scenes/messages emerged throughout the storyboarding process:
Definition and Intro
Form and function are dependent on specific context/environment
High convergence in design (stable, equilibrium)
Identifying areas of opportunity and innovation in different systems (4b. Convergent analogues inform different design approaches)
Takeaway to practice: consider stability and convergence of an environment—> adoption and resilience of design
Art Direction
Visual design mockups were created to help define the art direction. I initially grappled with two different styles, of distinct tone and connotation. Feedback for each was solicited before I eventually decided on the illustrative direction. It was largely regarded as more "personable" and "unique", and many noted that it felt less "corporate", "sterile", and "generic". It also more effectively showcases my personal illustrative style.
Geometric | Illustrative | Gradated styles between the two
Though this approach would be more time and labor intensive, I felt that it was an appropriate and necessary balance between practicality and vision. In deference to a more intricate art style, I decided to utilize a stop-motion approach in the animation, to allow the illustrative style shine through and carry the narrative.
Production
Asset Creation
Top 3 rows of illustrations were drawn by hand in Adobe Fresco. Bottom row was created in Adobe Illustrator.
Vector base drawings and corresponding components
Sound and Animation
To emphasize and match the feeling conveyed by the visuals, I sourced soundtracks that felt melodic and whimsical–but not exuberant or energetic–with inflection points that would mirror the arc of the video. Sound research concluded in Bittered Sling, graciously provided by Bromeliad Music.
The script was self-narrated to ensure precise control over pacing, timing cues, and stress of emphasized words. Certain scenes were deemed extraneous and cut from the video, to ensure that what movement and voice-over remained would align cohesively to the music.
Moving watercolor backgrounds were drawn by hand and time-lapse recorded in Adobe Fresco, to create a continuous transition and sense of cohesive movement throughout. The goal was to create a "single-take" effect with no obvious cuts from scene to scene, to juxtapose the otherwise analog and incremental character movements.
Post-Production and Review
With these three elements–music, narration, and background–complete, final animation and timing refinements were made to ensure alignment of visual, auditory, and informational cues. Details (moving clouds, action lines) were added to reinforce a sense of movement and direction, and animation physics were reviewed to ensure a sense of realism. Scene transitions and audio equalizing were also refined.
