BA, Art (Studio Arts – Design)

Artist Statement

Whalers Motion Design Study

My work focuses on a further dimension of graphic design, motion design. Motion becomes another tool for a designer to use to story-tell or deliver a message to the intended audience. I decided to tailor my work for social media use, as social media has become the number one platform for brands to establish their brand identity and connect and inform their audience. There is a fight for the attention of users, and motion makes it easier to attract and attain attention when done correctly. My work uses the brand of an NHL team that went extinct in 1997, the Hartford Whalers. Being before the time of social media and the digital age in which we live today, the Whalers brand provided me with the opportunity to set them aside from other teams in the NHL on the social platform with the use of motion graphics. Rather than improving an existing brand’s social presence, using the Whalers and having no history of social branding lets me display a unique and innovative direction of graphics’ use on social media, in this case for a professional sports team. My goal in the creation of this work was to properly demonstrate how motion can be used in different ways in the sports design industry to improve the fan experience and help the team establish a strong online identity, while also being prepared for the future of new age technology such as augmented and virtual reality, where motion is expected to become essential.