mariel olivo

Okay, so I found something WAY cooler than the Ne-Yo video. In my Flash animation class, we’ve started a new project on motion typography, and a fellow graphics major introduced me to this video. It’s Jay-Z featuring Santogold (I LOVE her) and the song is called “Brooklyn (Go Hard).” The song, off the Notorious soundtrack, is ooookay…but the video is AWESOME!! The word ‘Brooklyn’ gets spelled out over and over again, each individual letter stacking itself on top of the last. The great part? It eventually starts to draw out Jay-Z’s face in type. I’m talking about reeeeally detailed stuff here. Halfway through the video, it gets erased and Biggie’s face gets its own illustration (complete with the crown, of course). You’ll get it when you see it:

Apparently, director Evan Roth has been turning down requests for Typographic Illustration for five years in hopes that Jay-Z would one day call–and he did! If you want the source code, you can find it here.

I thought I was getting the better end of the deal when I left snowy Syracuse for Brooklyn, but it looks like the joke’s on me! Though I’m mostly unscathed (with the exception of a few rogue snowflakes evading my glasses and hitting me right in the eye), I was still delighted to find this animation in my inbox. Made by British studio Crush, it features the Sara Bareilles track “Winter Song,” and is just what I need to keep my spririts up while I’m snowed-in at home.

I love the old-timey feel and how the animation perfectly compliments the song…and anyone can relate to the story, about two friends trying to make due in the cold weather. I cringe just a little bit to say something like ‘heartwarming,’ but that’s what it is. Shout out to my own best friend who, though far from home right now, hasn’t been forgotten. So, watch it watch it watch it!! I think it’s the video equivalent of a big mug of hot chocolate.