Category Archives: About Us

Our Process

The first question our clients often ask is, “What’s your process?”

They want to know what to expect during the production of their video.

02_warmup

For starters, we’ll have a phone chat or email exchange with you to discuss your vision for the project. Is this a two-minute explainer web video? Or a fifteen-second show open? Is there voiceover, or not? Music? What kind of visual style do you want – 2D, 3D, infographic? Do you want just one video, or a video suite?

Once we have a feel for the scope of your project, we’ll draft an estimate (see below for pricing*)  – usually within the same or next business day.

03_writing

The DNA of each project is the script. You can provide the script, or we’ll write one for you. More often than not, it’s a collaborative process. You’ll provide us with style guides, marketing collateral, scribbles on a napkin…we’ll take whatever you have and put it together into a script that includes both narration and notes on how we plan to visualize the narration.

The writing stage usually takes one to two weeks.

04_design

Once you sign-off on the script, we’ll begin the design process. During this stage, we’ll design storyboards and polished style frames to give you a clear idea of what your video will look like. We’ll toss ideas back and forth with you, tweaking, revising, and eventually winding up with a detailed board that vividly illustrates the look and feel of your video.

For a two-minute web video, the design phase usually takes two weeks.

05_voice

We’ll get things rolling with voiceover as well, casting between 5-15 voiceover artists for you to choose from. Once you’ve picked your favorite, we’ll schedule a live phone recording session administered by a sound engineer. We’ll co-direct the talent with you during this live one-hour ISDN session to get exactly what you want.

We’ll also research music tracks to find a tune that’s emotive, inspirational, fast-paced…whatever it takes to make your final video sound great.

06_animation

Once design is approved, it takes a bit of time for us to animate the video, anywhere from two to five weeks. A video in a 2D style will usually take less time to animate than a heavily 3D spot. We’ll present animation tests to you on an ongoing basis so that you have a chance to comment and get exactly what you want.

When animation is locked, our sound designer will mix music, voiceover, and sound effects to sweeten it all up.

07_delivery

We’ll deliver the final video to you as a Quicktime, WMV, or whatever other movie format you need. If you want it compressed for the web, or need to make sure it meets broadcast-quality standards for television, we’ll do that too.

08_pricing

All our videos are highly customized, but several key variables determine cost:

  • Video length
  • Style of video
  • Delivery date

If you provide script, voiceover, music, or any other piece of the video, we’ll discount that from the final cost. Video suites (three or more videos purchased concurrently) are eligible for a discount as well.

We charge 50% upfront, the remaining balance to be paid upon delivery (sometimes 25% mid-project in the case of longer projects).

Please call or email us to get an estimate for your next project.

 

Anatomy of a Logo

As you can probably tell, our logo is an elephant:

designomotion_logo1

Our clients often ask, “Why an elephant?” Good question. While we think there’s something peaceful and Zen and good about elephants, that’s just part of the reason we pick pachyderm.

Here’s the real reason:

designomotion_logo2

Designomotion is all about the synthesis of design and motion, and we wanted our logo to reflect this in a smart and memorable way. If you look closely, you’ll see that our elephant’s trunk is a D – flexible, constantly reshaping itself in new ways, like a good designer. And its legs form an M, representing MOTION. Put them together and you get a logo we hope you’ll remember.

Created in collaboration with Sony designer Yasue Matsuda.