Your eyes are in for an exciting journey if you come across any social accounts promoting The Great Frog – a jewelry brand from the 1970s known for its unique rock star collections. Vibrant, colorful, and quirky, the animation will captivate your mind with wizards, bats, a forest of giant mushrooms, and a groovy version of hell that culminates in floating in a lava lamp with a magenta and turquoise snake.
This psychedelic blend of 1970s influences was created by Kitchen, a duo consisting of Rachinta Platts and George Coffey at London-based production company, Jelly.
„The Great Frog presented us with a fascinating concept of exploring four different lands that represent the jewelry in their new collection. A wizard land, a comic book land, a mushroom world, and Hell with a Baphomet pendant,“ explains George.
„The challenge was to seamlessly transition between these diverse styles while maintaining a cohesive look,“ he continues. „Both of us have a fondness for retro styles from the ’80s and ’90s, so we incorporated elements of that era along with comic book styles. I particularly enjoyed illustrating a mushroom world using only shades of grey.“
After recently completing an animation on super pollutants for the Climate & Clean Air Coalition, collaborating with The Great Frog allowed the animators to explore different design styles. The project came about through a referral from Dark Arts Coffee, one of Kitchen’s regular clients.
The deliverables included a 10-second ident and a 20-second social animation. Despite the short duration, George and Rachinta managed to include a plethora of characters and intricate details within a tight timeline.
„We created all the artwork in Photoshop,“ says Rachinta. „With a limited timeframe for animation, we composited the elements in After Effects, added camera movements, and cel-animated components for a fluid feel. After Effects was also used to incorporate glows, dust, and color transitions.“
For animators who enjoy creative freedom, this project was a dream come true. The clash of colors led to some happy accidents during production.
„The clients were fantastic throughout the process,“ adds George. „Their enthusiasm kept us motivated and excited.“