A Day in the Life of Tom Gent, Co-Founder of Founder Creative

Could you walk me through a typical day in your role?

One of the things I love most about my role is that there’s rarely a day that is the same each week. The variety is what keeps things fresh and exciting. Day-to-day I can be developing ideas for a pitch, chatting to new prospective clients, working closely with a director as a treatment comes together, feeding back on an edit or being out on location for a shoot. It’s a broad range in my role as Head of Creative, so every day is so different and that’s why I love what I do.

What was your early career like?

I’d say my journey into the industry properly began when I moved down to London and started at MTV in 2003. It was such an exciting time to be working there and was still seen as a leading creative content maker. Camden, where the office was based, was an incredibly vibrant and creative place, and around the early 2000s was an amazing time for British acts.

How did your role as Creative Producer at BBC Sport inform your career?

Music and sport are my two passions, so to have the chance to cut my teeth at the best Sports broadcaster in the world was a dream come true. There was a pecking order, in BBC Sport, and you had to earn your stripes and prove you were good enough for certain responsibilities. It was a little bit old school in that respect. Over time I was able to work on some incredible events. From summer and winter Olympics to World Cups and everything in between, such as Match of the Day, F1, Ski Sunday, and Wimbledon. My time at BBC Sport was the pivotal moment of my career.

I was able to learn from some incredible people who had years of experience and were willing to pass it on to people like myself. Looking up to those around you and observing was brilliant for my development. I learnt how to write and produce interviews and documentaries, direct crews in studios, and work with presenters to get the best out of them.

What are your favorite tools?

Slack and WhatsApp are our saviors, especially as we often have multiple teams running different projects at any one time. Frame.io is also a brilliant tool for being able to view edits and give speedy feedback. Nice and easy in terms of seeing all feedback in one place and being able to keep things moving. Viewing things on trains and on location is often necessary, so it’s an awesome bit of kit when fast feedback is needed.

What are your thoughts on AI?

AI is clearly going to play a huge role in video production and the industry as a whole. We know that other agencies are using AI already to put together pitch decks in half a day as opposed to weeks, which is incredible to think of, and a bit scary. AI is currently in its infancy, but it feels like it’s going to be quite an incredible journey over the next couple of years in terms of how it’s going to shape the industry and transform the way we find ourselves working. I think there should be a little bit of caution applied though, and there’s always a need for humans in all of this in the end.

What would be your dream project?

A dream project would be taking a leaf out of the Nike ads from the mid-90s and early 2000s, to bring together amazing footballing talent and do something that puts a smile on people’s faces. Everybody loves creating a piece of work that sticks with people, but this is even more challenging nowadays due to the sheer amount of content out there. But those ads are so memorable, so being able to pull something together like that for this generation is a dream of mine.

What career advice would you give your younger self?

Back yourself and your ideas. Value your own time. Try to say no to things if you don’t fully believe in them and speak up. Don’t stay in one place too long or ever feel like you’re standing still. Look to try and do something different which gets you noticed. It’s important to back yourself and know your worth.

FAQs

Q: What inspired you to start Founder Creative?
A: I wanted to bring my passion for storytelling and creativity to the world of sport and gaming.

Q: What’s the most challenging part of your job?
A: Client expectations, tight deadlines, and having to wear many hats as a creative lead.

Q: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
A: Seeing our work come to life and hearing feedback from clients that our content has made a meaningful impact.

Q: How do you stay inspired and motivated?
A: I’m constantly seeking out new sources of inspiration, whether it’s through travel, reading, or conversations with others in the industry. I also believe in surrounding myself with talented, driven people who push me to be my best self.

The Goldsmiths’ Company Unveils Fresh New Visual Identity

Heritage Meets Contemporary Design

The Goldsmiths’ Company, a trade guild with almost 700 years of history in the jewellery and silversmith industry, has unveiled a striking new visual identity that updates its rich heritage for a fresh contemporary audience. The new visual identity is a masterful blend of heritage and contemporary design, showcasing the guild’s flair for traditional timelessness with a dynamic modern twist.

A Leopard’s Head: A Timeless Icon

The new logo features a contemporary reimagining of a leopard’s head, an iconic symbol in the Goldsmiths’ Coat of Arms. The leopard’s head was the first British hallmark – originally known as the King’s mark – and is still used today by the London Assay Office. "The leopard’s head is a visual expression of our past, our present, and our future, and of the creative industry we champion and support," says Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company, Richard Reid. "It is a timeless icon, interpreted in hundreds of ways by different craftspeople over the centuries. It felt only right to explore and build upon this legacy, by ‘leading with the leopard’ in our new brand designs."

A New Visual Language

The new visual identity is a result of a collaboration between the Goldsmiths’ Company and branding agency Steve Edge Design. The design features a bold new logo, a refined visual language, and a vibrant colour palette inspired by the colours present in Goldsmiths’ Hall, from the carpets and furnishings to the sandstone and bricks on the Hall’s façade and the gilded Corinthian columns in its rooms.

Icons and Logos

The new visual identity includes a range of icons and logos, each with its own unique character and style. "Each of these symbols can be used on their own, separate from the Coat of Arms, providing freedom of expression through silhouettes and graphic shapes," says Senior Design Director Tom West.

Colour Palette and Typeface

The new visual identity also features a fresh colour palette and a custom-designed typeface, Romie, which adds a refined embellishment to the new identity, bringing a timeless quality to the contemporary redesign.

Conclusion

The new visual identity is a testament to the captivating power of symbolism, heritage, and legendary craftsmanship. It signals a moment of evolution for the Goldsmiths’ Company as it looks ahead to the next 700 years. "Our new visual identity is beautiful, modern and distinctive and also honours and reflects the pride and passion in our company, its history and cultural heritage," concludes Richard Reid.

FAQs

Q: What is the significance of the leopard’s head in the Goldsmiths’ Company’s new visual identity?
A: The leopard’s head is a timeless icon, interpreted in hundreds of ways by different craftspeople over the centuries. It is a visual expression of the company’s past, present, and future, and of the creative industry it champions and supports.

Q: Who collaborated on the new visual identity?
A: The new visual identity was created in collaboration with branding agency Steve Edge Design.

Q: What inspired the new visual language?
A: The new visual language was inspired by the colours present in Goldsmiths’ Hall, from the carpets and furnishings to the sandstone and bricks on the Hall’s façade and the gilded Corinthian columns in its rooms.

Q: What is the significance of the custom-designed typeface, Romie?
A: Romie adds a refined embellishment to the new identity, bringing a timeless quality to the contemporary redesign.

The Best Animation Styles

Animation is essentially the presentation of images in rapid succession to create the illusion of movement, and there are many ways that this can be done, from traditional hand-drawn animation to stop-motion and digital 3D animation. Each has its own look and feel, and the right type of animation for your project will depend on the look and feel that you want to create, as well as the resources and skills you have available.

01. 2D Animation

First up, 2D animation, or vector animation, is used in everything from traditional cartoons and anime to video games and explainer videos. You’ll have seen plenty of this style on television shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

We don’t see the world in 2D, so this style of animation isn’t aiming for realism, but it’s simplicity can create a strong emotional connection with the audience, making it a powerful and effective animation style. It’s relatively accessible compared to 3D animation (see below) and it allows a lot of flexibility since almost any style of art can be used.

There are various 2D animation techniques. Traditionally, artists would draw characters and backgrounds by hand, scan them into a computer and then layer them to create the moving image. Drawings don’t need to be done for every frame since the same image can be used multiple times. A second of animation is 24 frames, but most 2D animations animate every second frame, resulting in 12 frames per second.

02. 3D Animation

In 2D animation, we see a subject from one angle. But the advances in computers allowed experiments with 3D views to begin in the 1960s. This paved the way for the 3D animation we see today in big-screen blockbusters from the likes of Pixar (Toy Story) and DreamWorks (Shrek).

The advantage of 3D animation is that it’s more lifelike since it allows assets to be seen from all angles, allowing them to be rotated and moved like real objects. This makes it useful for scientific and medical videos and also allows the addition of more complex visual effects like realistic textures and lighting, which can create a more immersive experience.

03. Cel Animation

Cel animation is often referred to simply as traditional animation. It’s one of the oldest animation techniques, dating back to the 19th century. Every frame is drawn by hand using ink on celluloid sheets, which are then photographed frame by frame to create the illusion of movement.

08. Motion Capture Animation

Motion capture is a more-recent animation technique that’s comparable to rotoscoping but uses sensors and markers to capture the movements of an actor more accurately and transfer them to a 3D digital character, which may then be combined with live-action footage.

09. Motion Graphics

Motion graphics deserves a mention of its own. Although it can use some of the animation techniques we’ve already looked at, it’s more associated with graphic design, and includes things like animated logos, film and TV credits and other overlays on television. It can be 2D or 3D, and it can use a wide variety of styles.

How Does Animation Work?

Essentially, animation involves creating many images, or frames, each one very slightly different from the previous. When the images are shown in quick succession, it creates an illusion of movement, like what happens with video recordings. Animation can be created using any technique that allows the required images to be captured and joined together, whether that’s by photographing hand-drawn illustrations, puppets or models or by rigging digital models.

How Did Animation Develop?

Some consider the history of animation to begin in the early 19th century with the phenakistiscope, a cardboard disc showing images that appear to move when it’s spun. In 1868, John Barnes Linnett patented the kineograph – what we now know as a flipbook – which allowed the animation of a linear sequence of drawings. The German film pioneer Max Skladanowsky then employed the same technique using photographs.

Émile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908) is widely considered to be the first example of a cartoon. Some 700 frames were drawn on paper and then shot onto negative film. This is the basic idea of cel animation, which was used from the early days of Disney right up until the 1990s. As early as the 1930s, rotoscoping was used in tandem with cel animation, using live-action footage as a guide for animation artists.

Advances in computer technology in the 1960s and 1970s allowed the development of digital animation techniques, including pixel art animation and 3D animation. The latest technological advance influencing the history of animation is AI, with some AI video models allowing still images to be animated quickly and easily. Whether this will be considered a desirable development remains open to debate.

Conclusion

Animation is a powerful tool for storytelling, and there are many different styles and techniques to choose from. Whether you’re looking to create a 2D animation, a 3D animation, or something in between, there’s an animation style out there that can help you achieve your goals.

FAQs

Q: What is the difference between 2D and 3D animation?
A: 2D animation is a style of animation that uses flat, two-dimensional images, while 3D animation uses three-dimensional models and environments.

Q: What is motion capture animation?
A: Motion capture animation is a technique that uses sensors and markers to capture the movements of an actor and transfer them to a 3D digital character.

Q: What is motion graphics?
A: Motion graphics is a style of animation that combines graphic design and animation to create dynamic, moving graphics for use in film, television, and other media.

Q: How does animation work?
A: Animation involves creating many images, or frames, each one slightly different from the previous, and then showing them in quick succession to create the illusion of movement.

FRAMES from Runway is Cool – but I Rant Anyways 😉

What is Runway?

Runway is an open-source, Python-based framework for natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) tasks. Its primary focus is on text data processing, and it offers a range of tools for preprocessing, sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and more.

Why is FRAMES from Runway Cool?

FRAMES is a fantastic addition to the Runway ecosystem, offering a range of pre-trained models and tools for natural language processing. With FRAMES, you can leverage the power of pre-trained language models for a variety of tasks, such as:

• Sentiment analysis
• Text classification
• Named entity recognition
• Text generation

What is FRAMES Used For?

FRAMES is used for a wide range of applications, including:

• Customer service chatbots
• Social media monitoring
• Text classification
• Sentiment analysis
• Language translation

How to Get Started with FRAMES?

To get started with FRAMES, you can:

• Install the FRAMES package from PyPI
• Explore the FRAMES documentation and examples
• Join the Runway community for support and resources

Join and Support Me

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• Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oliviotutorials
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FAQs

Q: What is FRAMES?
A: FRAMES is an open-source, Python-based framework for natural language processing and machine learning tasks.

Q: What is FRAMES used for?
A: FRAMES is used for a wide range of applications, including customer service chatbots, social media monitoring, text classification, sentiment analysis, and language translation.

Q: How do I get started with FRAMES?
A: To get started with FRAMES, you can install the FRAMES package from PyPI, explore the FRAMES documentation and examples, and join the Runway community for support and resources.

Q: How can I support you?
A: You can support me by buying me a coffee, joining my Facebook Group, joining my Discord Group, subscribing to my AI Newsletter, or supporting me on Patreon.