Streets of Leeds - Animated Logo

After sending my illustrator file to Tom he worked with the separate layers to animate the different sections. The first part showed the pagan farmers tending to the field, then the crops then disappear, and the first set of building rise with the arrival of the homeless. The final section shows the last set of buildings rise along with the appearance of the blooming allotments and workers. This is when the type appears. Throughout the clip the sun rises and the trees constantly grow to show the change in time. He has overlaid the title sequence over a beautiful time lapse shot of some rolling hills in the surrounding Leeds area. The animation sits nicely over this clip and works well with the scenery. It was nice to see my illustrations come to life. The animation tells a brief story of the progression of Leeds and its involvement with the homeless. This was an enjoyable project for me and Tom was happy with the outcome, which made it all the better.

Animated Title Sequence

 
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Streets of Leeds Feedback and Changes

Adding the Figures

One of the other elements that needed adding to the design were the silhouetted figures I drew several different frames for each so that they could be animated.

  I drew a few different types to see which would work best. The figures act out digging in the fields.

I also had to animate the homeless drinking on the streets. I kept the same colours to show the transition of the lifestyles from being homeless to tending to the allotments.

 

Feed Back

After a meeting with Tom we made some new design decisions on title sequence. Tom wanted some crops adding to the fields in the first slide so he could animate afterwards so that he could show them growing. I illustrated several different frames for each of the characters so that they could also be animated. This showed the farmers digging and tending to the crops in the first slide, followed by the homeless drinking in the second slide and finally the homeless tending to the allotments in the final section. Tom also wanted the fields in the last slide to look more like blooming allotments as they were needed to show change and progression. I added several bushes with various flowers and plants to bring some colour and life to the sequence highlighting the positive out come of the project. I also added a second line of buildings to emphasize how Leeds has developed and changed. Once I had created all the imagery and Tom was happy with it I sent him the files so that he could animate the logo and add it to his documentary.

Flowers for Allotments

Scene 1 Changes

 Add the crops

Scene 2 Changes

 Adding Figures

Scene 3 Changes

 Adding the Plants

Streets of Leeds Digitizing Sketches

The first version I did I was not feeling so started to try one of the other ideas which worked much better. This illustration looked pretty rubbish and I didn't like the perspective.

1st Frame

Once I had the sketches down I started digitizing my ideas. The initial Idea was to have the one hill with the trees on top etc.. but this looked a bit too simple and didn’t give the illustration much depth, so in order to emphasize the Yorkshire county side I added rolling hills which broke up the image creating a much more interesting composition.

I experimented with the fields until we were happy with how they looked. I played around with the colours and illustration style until Tom was happy with how they were looking. I chose a natural colour scheme to fit in with the scene.

 2nd Frame

The next frame needed the Leeds city scape adding the design. I produced simple vector artwork to keep the design style consistent and used a grey which complemented the other colours.

3rd Frame

Tom drew out what he envisaged, displaying blocky bold letter forms. I went about searching for a typeface which suited the rest of the design and complemented the rigid structure of the buildings as this is what the type would be laid over. I came across the typeface Liberator which worked well with the design and was bold enough to stand out against the quite busy imagery. I tweaked the letters so that they curved with the hills this brought the ‘logo’ together to create a much more balanced composition

Arched type

Final Type Arrangement

I also added in a second line of buildings which will be animated in the final frame of the video this balances out the logo more as we the type needed to sit in between the trees and the buildings.

Streets of Leeds Initial Sketches

 I started off by drawing up different sketches and working out a composition and style until tom was happy. He decided he wanted a circular composition as this would sit nicely over the video and also had a that logo like aesthetic.

STREETS OF LEEDS - LOGO Primary RESEARCH

I researched visual references to base the logo for streets of leeds, I wanted to find compostions which worked with the idea Tom had proposed. As I wasnt creating a lgo which was specifically for a homeless charity I didn't feel it was necessary to look into existing logos and essentially I was creating an illustrated title sequence for an idea Tom had already envisaged. All I had to do was make his vision come to life and also inject my own personal touches to finish it off and make it more suited to the video.

Simple Structures nice use of colour. Prefer the top 2 left ones.

I love this arrangement with the rolling hills I think this works really well around a circular composition. Something like this would sit niceley over the opening sequence.

I like the top left composition and also the bottom middle one. They have a simple colour scheme which could be expanded on within my own design but in terms of the layout I like this format.

I like all of these except the bottom left. They are a bit more ambitions and include more creative shapes I think something with a bit more detail would work better as I have to illustrate quite a few different elements in the title sequence.

I like the white gaps in between the different elements this is worth experimenting with. The composition of this logo works well and flows around the circular format we would like to work with.

Streets of Leeds Brief Overview

A student on DFGA came to me about creating some vector artwork for the title sequence of his documentary about the homeless. The short film documents the lives of several homeless people and the struggles they have gone through. It also looks at a positive outcome of how we can help to get them off the streets and provide work for them. Tom came with a few rough sketches of what he was wanting and a basic outline to what the title sequence needed to show. 

He basically wanted to animate a logo to show the progression of Leeds and how it has changed. The first section he wanted needed to  display the Yorkshire country side with the pagan farmers working the fields. This then transitions to the rise of Leeds and the Big City,  incorporating the homeless within this slide. Then the final section shows the homeless tending to the allotments which relates to a program which has been set up to help the homeless get back on their feet.

Streets of Leeds Brief

Streets of Leeds documentary treatment

 

‘Streets of Leeds’ is an observational documentary following several members of the homeless community in and around Leeds/Hyde Park area. The aim of the documentary is to grant the audience a glimpse into the day-to-day life of the homeless community. Exploring their history and roots, examining their downward spirals towards living on the streets. Giving a platform for expression to a voiceless community. ‘Streets of Leeds’ follows organizations and movements around the homeless situation that offers new alternatives in feeding and utilizing the community.

Logo Synopsis / Brief

For the title sequence of the film I need assets for an animated logo that will personify the topic and connotations addressed in the film. I will need 3 frames of the logo that will animate into a cityscape of Leeds. The first frame must incorporate pagan farmers who are farming rolling hills of Yorkshire. Farmers are farming the land so I will need assets of farmers ploughing the land. The people movement only needs to be simple 2 frames.
 The next frame must depict a 20^th century city setting where the fields have now disappeared and have been replaced by a silhouette of iconic Leeds buildings. People on the streets drinking have replaced the farmers with the same 2 frame animation style.
 
The final frame of the logo must incorporate the two previous frames. The cityscape must expand, with flowerbeds and blooming flowers/vegetables in the foreground, where the crops once existed. The drinkers have now moved on and replaced with people tending the blooming allotments.