Design Shape

As a creative company we consider it a key role in our success that we keep the home page of our website fresh.

It’s proven successful for other agencies in the industry to have one showreel a year, but just because other people do it that way, it doesn’t mean it’s the only way of attracting an audience towards your portfolio. Actually, we pride ourselves on the fact that we might not be doing what everyone else is doing. Not only does it set us apart from the competition, it proves successful for us.

Our most recent video ‘Monkeying Around‘ consists of a group of Orangutans singing Edwin Starr’s classic – ‘War’

Why did we do this?

Because we can.

It’s completely different to the last video that was there, and it’ll be completely different to the next video that goes there. Plus who can actually claim that they don’t like singing animals?… It’s instant comedy gold. This doesn’t mean it’s not a pile of guff though.

And yes, we know, an Orangutan is an ape not a monkey… but we bent the rules slightly because they’re orange.

Why would you make guff ?

We animated this 42 second video with the intention of making it look as if it had been put together with paper cut-outs. We gave the orangutans human mouths and trilby hats. We even added in some dramatic Hollywood explosions, all happening within the seating area of our studio. We wanted it to look low budget, cheesy and terrible, while still keeping that subtle design finesse that showed that there were professionals behind this rubbish.

To boost the quality of our amateur animation we added appealing typography and compositing techniques that made this moving collage an aesthetically pleasing piece of tack. But the most important result we wanted to achieve was a simple smile from our website visitors. It’s all a piece of informative fun.

Is making guff wise?

This is a question that has a multitude of answers, but it all boils down to how much confidence you have in your work, and your capabilities.
Some people could argue that it’s vital to put your best piece of work on your home page. This is a logical statement to make. But as a design agency we’re confident enough in our work that we can make an animation like this work to our advantage. We feel we’ve added enough finesse to the composition that the irony of good design and bad animation compliment each other.

All of the above, plus the fact that we love to be different.

Our work speaks for itself.

Quechua – On a tous besoin de chaleur from Hiking on the moon TV on Vimeo.

As a design agency we understand the importance of attention to detail, and we take into consideration everything we do with reasoning for  why we do it.

When I watched this video my initial reaction was how this is a prime example of how effective the most subtle of techniques can be and how they can make such an impact on a final piece.

The creative direction of this particular shot captures the intimacy between the wild and the civilized, two personalities that would not mix in the surrounding area seen in the build to this still.

The post production softness is complimented with the depth of the subjects in the shot. Cropping right into the wolfs facial expression broadcasts the connection to the audience in a manner that is closer than they could ever get in real life.

The scene’s that cover more ground in the shot paint a picture of the surroundings – quite literally. The post production give of an aesthetic too perfect to be real feeling, which almost make the shots magical, supporting the concept behind the events happening within the film.

In the above stills you can see how the colour correction has been set to keep a focal point on the people and the rabbit by increasing the hue in the shot. The blue tone grading gives off the cold surroundings feeling while the subject matter is instantly warmed with more colour.

All these techniques do a lot more for the final piece than just making it a pretty picture which goes to show how important concept is in design.

Simply brilliant…

FIREFLY from samadhi production on Vimeo.

Making Of FIREFLY from samadhi production on Vimeo.

Christmas Shut Down from Pentagon Design on Vimeo.

Back in August Channel 4 set up a live house party with sets from multiple DJ’s, it started at 12am and finished at 6am.

The concept was an original idea using visual artists to create motion graphics that would stream live to the audiences TV screens while watching the likes of Grand Master Flash, Annie Mac, Erick Morillo and many more, perform their live sets.

The build up TV advert was quite an intriguing one which explained in layman’s terms what would be happening but with a clever design style, it didn’t give anything away in regards of what was to be expected.

Successful advert, and a successful TV show with a brilliant live social network interaction from the audience.

On Saturday 6 October, you can take part in #YOUDRIVE, a social media first.

Using Twitter, you’ll be able to drive the action of a 3-part story, shown this weekend during the commercial break in the X Factor, to introduce the new A-Class.

This is a fantastic form of keeping an interactive target audience involved through Social Networking.

#YOUDRIVE

Intro motion sequence concept for 679Artists.

Our App is available at the app store now…

Click Here for more info.

Jigglewigs is a new creative game concept designed by Pentagon to appeal to the millions of kids and adults who use social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It’s a fun way to create thousands of cute animal characters such as cats, dogs, rabbits and bears.

Users make their own unique, cute creatures with high quality graphics, then add personal messages to the creature creations and share them directly with friends through Facebook, Twitter and email.

The app is ideal for picture messaging, instant birthday or seasonal greetings and for creating status pictures and updates for social networks. Users can also collect and save their best Jigglewigs directly to a photos app for future viewing or for use in creative and school projects.

Get the App here!