Awaken
The brief called for a graphic that would hold up across multiple applications — as a full asset and in various cropped formats — with a focus on refining the reeded glass effect and transparency overlays, producing colour variants from the master, and matching the animation timing to supplied references. CGI gave the level of control needed to get the refractions and reflections behaving convincingly, while keeping the organic quality central to the concept. Refraction angles and transparency gradients were refined to find the right balance, each colour variant calibrated individually, and the animation kept deliberately unhurried — subtle enough to suggest light passing through textured glass without overpowering the form.
A core requirement of the brief was reproducing the client's concept with precision — matching the shape, colour, and style exactly, while introducing motion without losing the integrity of the original form. A dual-mask approach solved this, with one mask locked to the client's shape and a second used to art-direct the motion independently, giving clean control over both elements without one compromising the other. The animation also needed to pull double duty — functioning as a distinctive intro sequence and as a seamless loop for longer-form use, both delivered within a single asset that transitions invisibly between the two.
Colour was the final piece of the puzzle. The brief called for dynamic colour variations that could pulse independently from the primary motion and flex across different platforms without breaking the loop. Rather than running multiple render passes, a series of procedural noise patterns built in After Effects were composited against the Redshift render passes — giving precise control over the light's behaviour, velocity, and direction, while keeping the workflow lean enough to explore and deliver multiple colour variants efficiently.
Full project details are available on Behance.
