In the Summer of 2010 I led fourth semester motion design students at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule in an Analog Motion Graphics assignment to visualize a series of haiku poems.
The 21 poems were written and recited by Branden Dashiell – a wonderful poet and old friend from college – who put a contemporary twist on traditional themes of seasons and days of the week. The students were challenged to find different techniques to interpret the poems. Approaches included the capillary action of coffee spreading through a paper towel, elaborate paper cut-outs, plexiglas manipulation of raw meat, as well as capturing the reflections from various different shiny surfaces. The final results are a colorful mixture of very abstract and more illustrative work.

The poet Brandon Dashiell.

With this great example of analog motion the Langara College showed their “tips for better ideas” in an inventive and creative way. Instead of literally illustrating them, they found a mixture of different techniques for the visualization. In addition to papercrafted collages there is also a use of light and shadow, accordion folding, black light, and many other devices which work well in the context of the sketchbook format. An elaborate, funny, and often surprising piece.