It’s finally here! Thought Bubble: explained. The purpose of our first short is to show you what we’re all about, using the very same medium we’ll be creating all of our studio projects in: motion graphics. Motion graphics create a seamless marriage between narration, typography and iconic imagery. They’re the communicative tool that bridges the gap between reading static information in books and magazines, and watching a film. When applied to a short, informative piece like this, motion graphics help facilitate a clearer understanding of even the most complex subjects. So, if you’ve read our previous post and wondered what exactly motion graphics are, or what exactly we are, your answer lies in the video above. We hope you’ll be as excited about Thought Bubble as we are.
We have a huge push ahead of us that we’re starting to prepare ourselves for. We’re moving to Toronto. We’ve been in Vancouver for about three years now, and though we fell inlove with this place, we never intended to stay. Thought Bubble was born out of ideas that were planted in this city, so we’ll forever be grateful to this mountainous paradise for that. We nurtured the idea, and turned it into something real, and now we’re ready to take that home. Though Vancouver would serve as a perfect launching point for Thought Bubble 3.0 (the final phase that includes our cafe), we’re just as excited to unleash it on Toronto. I personally think that the growing shift towards awareness isn’t specific to any single place, but a trend that’s spreading across the whole world. No matter where we are, we will reach our audience, and that’s largely thanks to our main broadcast mechanism, the internet (which I lovingly call the ethernet, even though I realize that doesn’t make any IT-technical sense).
In Toronto we plan to launch a full studio as downtown as we can get. We also plan to begin building our cafe, one latte at a time. Don’t mourn us Vancouverites, if things go well, we hope to open a second location in Vancouver someday soon. Not that we’d need an excuse to come back here every summer for the beautiful beaches, mountain hikes and west-coast vibe.
We had planned to have five Thought Bubbles completed before our move, and we’re going to have seven. Not only that, but we’ve been fortunate enough to work with some incredible clients that we’d always dreamed of working with. Three of those seven are in the works, and one is due for release in a week.
With our new home in Toronto this April, we’ll also launch a brand, spanking new website. A real one. This blog was always meant to be a temporary home to our progress and growth, but the time has come to build a website that will inspire our visitors to explore our work, carry forth our mission and stay in touch. We also plan to roll out a donation program, which will further help us subsidize Thought Bubbles for the thinkers you care about.
Thanks for all your support thus far, and Vancouver, we’ll always love you.
We created this promotional piece for the Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC), to advertise their environmental short film competition entitled Trailed Trashed:
“an environmental short film competition that harnesses your creativity to convince the world to stop making garbage! But this is a film competition with a twist. All entries must be in the form of a movie trailer and they all have to convey this year’s waste reduction theme, which is: say NO to disposable coffee cups! Each year in North America we throw away billions of paper coffee cups, wasting trees and creating unnecessary garbage. Create a trailer that helps people make the choice to refuse to use disposable coffee cups!”
If you or anyone you know is interested in partaking or submitting to this competition, check out the website for more details.
This was a lot of fun to create, we decided on a cardboard theme for all the artwork, and fashioned it as a trailer to emphasize the concept of creating a trailer for the competition. We had the lovely Jeff Rechner a.k.a. VoiceBoy narrate it for us in your typical ‘trailer-man voice’ (but even more entertaining than anything else I’ve heard!), and the sound design and score was done by the superbly talented Allan Levy.
The competition was just announced, so we held off until now to share it with you all, we hope you enjoy it.
Just as we did with John Green’s Thought Bubble, we plan to demystify other social issues that plague our minds during given ‘volatile’ times. I’ll give you one guess on what the hot topic is right now, and it starts with the letter “H” and ends with the number “1″.
“Swine flu” has taken the world by storm – or so we think – judging by the nightly media reports and specials we tune into and the barrage of opinions shooting back and forth on the subject across the entire internet plane. It’s exactly the sort of issue that needs a Thought Bubble, and needs one now. Unfortunately, we’re not at a capacity where we can cover every social issue, yet.
With anything that floats under a veil of media blitz, it’s difficult to find facts, get answers, and formulate an informed opinion. People get personal about it, angry, even, bringing irrationality into the mix to make it all the more confusing. What is needed in times like this is a clear, visual, factual explanation of all sides of the argument, all factors involved. Something needs to slice through the fog of misinformation and make sense.
With all of the tools at our fingertips today, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, and it can literally take seconds. I think it’s almost better to take a step back, shut off your news station, and go back to a solid book on the subject (or a related one). You’ll find that even anyone you talk to doesn’t seem to help, as all of us are persuaded by the same sources of information, so we all become walking propaganda machines, repeating the same messages back and forth to one another. Silent contemplation might bring some solace, and internal realizations. But most importantly, self-education will lead the way. Self-controlled, self-directed education. It doesn’t stop after attending whatever formal institution you last attended. We need to empower our minds again, and use that heavy mass of muscle inside of our heads the way it was intended. And Thought Bubble? Well we hope to aid you on that journey, very soon.
John Green’s Thought Bubble: Health Care Overhaul (Summarized Via Massive Pig)
John’s original post: Health Care Overhaul Summarized Via Massive Pig
There is always a topic that resonates with a large audience for a given period of time. Where we are – in North America – the hot topic is healthcare. More so in the US than in Canada (though Canadians, as usual, take a huge interest in American politics too), everyone’s talking about healthcare reform. One of the easiest ways to achieve viral status with a motion graphic short – or any other type of media for that matter – is to cover such a hot, current topic in some interesting way that will capture people’s attention. But it’s not just about going viral. Looking around at some of the main media sources reporting on the topic, we see a barrage of overwhelming, conflicting and confusing information. It’s when the facts are presented in a clear and understandable way, that things begin to make sense, and people begin to make informed opinions.
John Green, an award-winning author and popular vlogger on Youtube, posted a video last week entitled, “Health Care Overhaul Summarized Via Massive Pig.” In under two weeks his post made it to over 700,000 views, which goes to show that people surfing YouTube or hitting Google with searches were looking for some information on the healthcare debate. It also helps that John and co-vlogger Hank have over 100,000 subscribers to their channel, ‘vlogbrothers’, ranking it as #46 most subscribed directors channel of all time. (For those of you that don’t know, YouTube channels follow a few different formats including Director, Reporter, and Musician. You choose yours based on the nature of your channel and video posts).
So we came across John’s health care post, and were intrigued by his clear, concise, yet entertaining narration. We also loved his comparison of America’s current state of healthcare to ‘Walkin’ Tall’, the ‘world’s largest boar who can’t walk.’ We also felt it would be a great experiment to take an existing video and supplement it with motion graphics to see the kind of response it would generate among its audience. Being a prominent vlogger, we hoped that some of John’s viewers would watch our video after his and see if it confused or clarified their understanding of his original discussion.
What was also exciting about this task was that it exemplified how we could supplement any existing, informative discussion on a relevant matter like the healthcare debate with a layer of supporting visuals. So far, it appears to be helping people understand and retain the information presented. We were lucky to come across John and Hank’s channel, and look forward to offering other online voices, authors, and educators an added dimension of communication.
A week and a half after his post, we present you with our adaption of John Green’s Health Care Overhaul Summarized Via Massive Pig.
Three years ago when graduating from university, I wrote a personal plea to designers and communicators around the world. Although that plea was kept private, its convictions have stayed in my mind throughout every venture and decision, acting as my moral code.
I’ve decided to share this plea for all communicators around the world to hear, and hope that it guides them as it did me.
Visual Communicators: Innately Responsible?
What is your role as visual communicator in this world? Have you ever stopped to examine what our abilities entitle us to do, the significant influence it gives us over our viewer? Should we be responsible for how these abilities are used, and for the ideas they purport?
These key questions are far too often overlooked in our profession, and the moment you take a look at them, it is hard to turn away.
Living in a world where the complexity of information is growing exponentially, there are divisions being formed between those who are aware and those who are not. Critical awareness is the result of a shift in perspective that allows you to see the way a given issue operates. It provides the ability to participate in rational debate and empowers its host to stand up for what they actually comprehend, not just what they believe in. (Smart Bubble Society aims to raise this critical awareness in our audience).
Above almost all other areas of study – scientific, social and political issues are becoming some of the most misunderstood arenas of debate. As visual communicators, it is our tools that can help bridge this gap of awareness. We must recognize our innate responsibility to teach, simplify, and demystify these issues. The moment you commit to this understanding is the moment you admit that you are tasked with an extremely important role in this world.
But how do we shift our priorities? Currently, most of us lend our skills to convince our audience to buy things they do not need, or to educate them with information that has no true relevance to our global society. How have we come to this place of ethical ignorance? When tasked with design problems we must ask ourselves, is the message I am communicating morally acceptable? Is it truly relevant to society? Unfortunately it is all too often that these questions are not asked and our values are brushed aside in the name of furthering our careers.
Has this skill we posses, this tool to educate and inform become a communicative force, out of our control? Let’s be honest with ourselves. Our profession serves a ruling class. Just like ancient scribes in early human civilizations, we are used to facilitate an agenda that more often than not strays far from socially positive or progressive ideals.
Many years ago at York University, David Suzuki said, “Scientists have failed to demystify the climate crisis.” Well I wish to say to Dr. Suzuki: It is not the scientists who have failed, it is the communicators, the ones who wield the mediums that carry these messages.
Why is it that for so many years the scientific proof of human-induced climate change was so hard to find? Why was it stuck in textbooks and massive reports, far removed from the well-publicized and prevalent mediums of our times? The science behind our current understanding of the climate crisis has been around for thirty years, yet we as communicators have only recently begun to champion its cause. Where were our simplified charts, our information graphics and our visual metaphors?
We should be facilitating the understanding of these complex issues, and it should be morally mandated. Had we communicated better, would we now have a cleaner environment? Would fossil fuels still be our number one energy source? Could we have solved world hunger and created a planet that works together as a community, as it should?
What’s clear is that our skills allow us to deconstruct problems and find solutions. DECONSTRUCT problems in our world, in our society, and in our communities. Let us focus on our moral and ethical responsibilities to society, and help create a new era of critical awareness and understanding. Our services can no longer be the puppet of commercialization. We must rally under one absolute guideline: that what we communicate must offer something positive to society, and to the world.
We’re back from a two week trip to Toronto, where we met with a potential non-profit client to discuss Thought Bubble as an opportunity for them to raise awareness about a particular issue. We’re finding that we’re a great solution for non-profits, who need exposure on the causes they fight for, and who benefit from inspiring audiences to get involved and help out a given cause. Today, so much of the world lives online, it’s the perfect avenue through which to reach a mass audience. As multimedia becomes increasingly standard as today’s communication tool, info-motion graphics are the perfect vehicle through which to get people to listen.
With this medium we can combine compelling graphic iconography and awe-inspiring narration and music to reach out to viewers and touch them. It takes an emotional reaction to a subject to inspire one to do something about it. We have to feel some passion, surprise, or anger to get us out of our seats. With a background in graphic design we specialize in igniting targeted emotional and psychological reactions. It probably sounds a little bit conniving at first read, but we’re not trying to sell a product. Instead, we’re trying to sell an issue, a topic, or educational thought.
This is where our fundamental philosophy comes into play. We want to help our clients communicate an important message. Not just one that will shed light on say, a campaign, or a particular service, but on the larger picture. The motivation behind what this client does, the reason why they go to work each day, the very thing they fight for. By the end of the video, audiences will be introduced to the ’solution’, or ‘plan of action.’ But the idea is to teach them something first, and ignite their desire to know more, help out, or join the cause.
Since the conception of our idea for Thought Bubble, we’ve spent hours upon hours gathering inspiration from existing videos online, observing the medium’s growing impact and use across the globe. I thought it would be interesting to share some examples of motion graphics – or, as I’ve seen it referenced recently – infographics (I think this term actually describes the type of videos we make more accurately), that successfully communicate a vast array of messages.
What Barry Says, by Simon Robson
This is one of the first infographics we laid eyes on. At the time of its release we were in school and motion graphics were still a relatively blurry medium for us (for me anyway). We had just begun experimenting with it for various purposes, but What Barry Says showed us its unmistakable effect at informing an audience of an otherwise complex and lengthy subject to research, in just a few minutes. As designers, it showed us the untapped power that we had to inform and mobilize people. We could now look outside of commercial services. We could now branch off and become activists with our existing skill set, and with a university-driven sense of relentless hope, we could change the world. What made this video so impactful was also the timing of its release, as it coincided with (and, I believe, catalyzed) the growing awareness around the war in Iraq.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized, by Jonathan Jarvis
Another informative and timely video, this time explaining the credit crisis. Here we see a seamless, clean explanation of another complex topic, and in a visually engaging, entertaining way. The narration paired with the crisp sound effects drives an understanding that deepens with the use of supporting iconic imagery. As Jonathan himself explains, “the goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated.” Therefore, viewers are inspired by their enlightening experience to (hopefully) delve deeper into the subject, or come away at least a little more educated. Thought Bubble plans to have this effect on viewers also, and with the formation of an online archive and social network, we hope that videos like this drive discussion and debate among viewers.
The Declaration of Human Rights, by Seth Brau
This video exemplifies just how powerful a soundtrack can be, and how useful an infographic can be in sharing an otherwise dry and lengthy information source. I mean really, how many of us have read through the Declaration of Human Rights? The founder of the Human Rights Action Center (HRAC), Jack Healey, states that “The UDHR was signed by the United Nations 60 years ago and, unfortunately, less than 1% of the world’s population is aware that it exists.” What’s wonderful about this video is that it achieves true global exposure by being translated into other languages. With such a simple style and text-central approach like we see here, it’s quite simple to do.
350.org: Because the world needs to know, 350.org
A great example of how effective an infographic can be without the use of typography (text). This way, there isn’t even a need for translation and the message is understood around the world as is. 350.org uses this video to explain their central motivation, which is to lower the CO2 in the atmosphere to a safer (and less globally-destructing) ratio of 350 ppm (parts per million).
Wedding Crashers: The Perfect Girl in Typography, Brian Cain
The last example is of a simpler, typographic video that visualizes dialogue from a character in the 2005 movie, Wedding Crashers. The nature of the dialogue is comical, which makes for a comical video in general, but the concept remains strong in that the visual support of text, a.k.a. typography, emphasizes the message being communicated (or in this case, spoken). The subtle animations of the text (such as the word dating becoming a set table) compliment particular moments in the conversation and add visual interest.
There are so many more examples out there, but we hope to add videos to that landscape that inform the audience, educate them, and motivate them to learn more about a given topic or issue. Our main goal at the end of the day, is to spread awareness, and help share knowledge.
That’s why we are looking for clients like NGO/NPOs, authors, great thinkers, and so on, who generally have important, informative, and educational messages to relay to the public. If you’re wondering about our videos, how we intend to make them, or what our service details are, please contact us. We can fill you in, and we’ll be posting all of that information to the blog very soon!
When we first concieved of this venture, a part of our excitement in building it from the ground up was to include the public in our growth. It’s difficult to let go of the need to reach perfection before letting something out into the world. But we decided that in order to flourish as the educational resource we one day hope to be, we needed the involvement of our future partners, clients, and users in our progression from start-up to knowledge-sharing-machine.
If you’ve read our first post, you understood that we have a big vision for this studio, and a long road ahead of us. Stage 1.0 is our launch, the Thought Bubble Studio, up and running and building an archive of motion graphic shorts. Stage 2.0, Thought Bubble Website, is our fully functional online network and archive, and stage 3.0, Thought Bubble Cafe, is the culmination of our efforts, the purpose of Thought Bubble as a whole. A community created online goes offline, engaging in debates, discussions, listening to lectures while sipping beverages like tea and coffee. Right now, we’d say we’re at stage 0.5.
But even with the future opening of a physical studio space – cafe attached, we dream of a slow reveal. Our cafe would open while it was still being furnished, painted, and decorated. Why? Because again, we want you to see our process, our growth, and our effort from ground up. We want the people who will help the community flourish to be part of its development. We want people to walk into the raw, exposed cafe and wonder for themselves what it will look like, how it will feel, and how they will like it. They’ll be encouraged to draw ideas on our walls in chalk, and add visions of their own. By the time we’re finished, we’re hoping they’ll be thrilled to take part in our space, and share it with their peers and colleagues. The goal is to create a grassroots shift in what we think about, talk about, and do for the world.
So, in the end, we think of this blog as our starting point. It’s our raw, exposed-wall cafe, that we allow you to see as we add things to it, improve it, and build it to suit the vision we’ve had for it all along. Soon Thought Bubble Beta will be a functional website capable of supporting a social network. But right now, it’s just a canvas.
In this day and age, we are consumed by information. Every day, we feed on subject matter that informs all aspects of our lives. There is a space with which this information dwells, some might see it as the mind, but we refer to it as our “Thought Bubble”.
If you can picture an illustrated Thought Bubble, then you can imagine this space within yourself. This space influences how we feel and act in our environment. It’s contents affect our daily lives, instruct our everyday conversation, opinions, and actions. To nurture and develop one’s Thought Bubble is to nurture and develop one’s self, one’s rationale, and most importantly one’s purpose.
During the first third of our lives we learn from teachers, textbooks and chosen works, but when our education is complete, we often stop pursuing important knowledge from current issues, history, politics, and social sciences. Continued education through our adult lives is a right we must reclaim in these modern times. Instead we become passive in our intake of information, and shift to drawing knowledge from sources that reach us in the quickest and most entertaining ways; the internet, radio and TV programming. These mass media circuits place social demands on our everyday lives that encourage their continued study. And sadly, today, they remain saturated with useless information, shallow entertainment, and irrelevant knowledge. The switch we need to make is towards the intake of useful, important information that will motivate us to become aware, educated, opinionated, and knowledgeable about the world.
Thought Bubble 1.0 (Design Studio) is our solution to a critically unaware generation. As a studio entity we plan to contract motion graphic shorts for authors and writers, politicians, NGOs, corporations, and any great thinkers that wish to spread their message en masse. Motion graphics are a bridge to communicating static information stored in mediums we increasingly ignore, and to transforming a generation whose primary sources of knowledge stem from TV series, celebrity gossip, and corporate-run news media. With the combination of typographic landmarks, iconic visuals, and strong narration, our shorts will clearly convey clients’ messages and impact viewers in an emotional and psychological way. The intended reaction is a deepened interest in the material being put forth, and a new-found critical awareness of it.
With a library of shorts, communicating ideas backdating through centuries of knowledge, Thought Bubble 2.0 (Web) will provide an online archive and social network where members will be able to discuss the shorts they’ve viewed, exchange ideas about them, and delve deeper into the issues they are learning about.
A final offline component is also planned. Thought Bubble 3.0 (Café) will offer a physical space for people to share their newfound ideas and awareness with others. Members of the Thought Bubble network and the general public alike can mobilize to hold discussions and debates in person, view and purchase featured books on display, and attend guest speeches and seminars by the very authors and intellectuals who’ve inspired our shorts. We hope to see Thought Bubble evolve into a vibrant atmosphere of intellectual development, socialization, and political motivation.
Is your Thought Bubble ready?
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