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 below. We hope you’ll be as excited about Thought Bubble as we are.
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).
Challenge Your World: Community, challengeyourworld.com
Besides being a fantastic resource for start-ups like ours, Challenge Your World has four catchy infographics that explain four main concepts behind their mission, referred to as The Basics. Here’s just one of them.
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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