Stillness with a twist

^{(image from http://iwdrm.tumblr.com/)}

I admit it. I'm a junkie for animated gifs.

The animated gif has a deservedly mixed reputation. It's a vestige of the early web, a grainy reminder of badly animated banners ads or captured weirdness, 7-8 frames with a limited palette and abrupt transitions. However, like many other old media formats it's remerging, more refined, grown-up and with a new purpose in life. And, as with records, film and other old/new media, obsolescence has been freeing, allowing the gif to exist in a way that's as, if not more, interesting than the way it was originally used.

What's emerging is a new art rooted in the limitations of this particular technology that creates movement out of stillness. Rather than simply creating a snapshot of motion and tracking it for a few seconds, a poor-mans animatic, the new form starts with the photograph and adds targeted and strategic motion. This new minimalism brings life to scenes without overpowering them and creates a form that's both endearing and informative. We see depth without the extra, unnecessary elements. It's a little reminiscent of the magical newspapers in Harry Potter, and you can easily imagine a similar use emerging in our "real" world.

Check out this fantastic example:

There's a great interview with 2 of the folks behind the gif above, and some of the other best-of-breed examples. Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg, over at The Atlantic, describe the focus behind their Cinemagraphs:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/how-jamie-beck-and-kevin-burg-create-their-popular-animated-gifs/237404/

Their work with Fashion Week is showcased here:
http://fromme-toyou.tumblr.com/tagged/gif

And for a great selection of other work, check this out:
http://iwdrm.tumblr.com/
 

As frog's Executive Creative Director, Nick de la Mare leads frog’s cross-disciplinary teams in the pursuit of strategic design solutions across product, service and experience. His work focuses on the convergence of digital and physical media to create branded experiences for Nike, Chase, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, among others. His projects have been recognized by the IDSA, AIGA and others, and published widely.