b.m3:
Animated Logo
b.m3 is an online media brand that produces video essays, animations, and video games. It aims to follow a y2k aesthetic.
This animation was meant to reflect these ideas and reinforce the brand’s identity in videos produced by the company.
Time Spent: 5 hours ~ Tools Used: Ableton, Blender, After Effects, and Premiere Pro ~ Duration: 5 seconds ~ Completed on September 27th 2024
The Plan
This project had two deliverables: a logo for b.m3 and the animation for the logo. I started by sketching out y2k inspired logos for b.m3. It was fun playing with different styles of logos and taking a trip down memory lane. Out of 10 sketches, I chose a few I really liked before moving on to the animation itself.
I started looking up brands that were popular in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, especially ones that had a TV channel. I looked at MTV, Cartoon Network, ABC, and NBC. The logo that intrigued me the most for this brand was Cartoon Network. The geometry of the cube and the movements felt creative and communicates a lot of b.m3’s values.
To model this animation, I opted for making an origami balloon instead of creating a traditional storyboard. The paper balloon helped visualize the placement of the faces and the rotations that the animation would eventually do.
The Process
I believe that sound design is often underrated in motion design pieces. If you watch a logo animation, there’s often a sound that accompanies it to make it more memorable. For this animation, I created a modulated voice using a vodocoder in Ableton and I recorded a few swishing noises to make the movements more believable.
In Blender, I created the logo I originally sketched in a 3D space. The colors of the brand were still being decided at the time so I chose black and white as placeholders for the time.
In After Effects, I created 6 3D layers and sewed them together to make a cube. Using the paper balloon I made, I was able to animate the cube more efficiently. In the same composition, I added the sounds I made and the logo as a face of the cube.
Future Considerations
The logo was received well. The logo did end up feeling more ‘classy’ or ‘modern’ than I had intended. To fix this, I would like to review more y2k logos and even add bright colors to make it communicate creativity instead. Another consideration is making the cube’s movement smoother. For the sound, I did want to make it without the vodocoded voice.