Monsters University Animation Progression

Disney Pixar is one of my all-time favorite companies. They posted this process piece on Facebook today. Love it.

Story Development

Art Department

Modeling

Layout

Animation and Simulation

Lighting/Final Frame

ICS Logo

Freelance design--logo

Finding Nemo Process

Pixar's Brave

"Brave" is the 13th-straight Pixar release to open at No. 1 since "Toy Story" launched Hollywood's age of computer animation in 1995.

Saw Disney Pixar's Brave 3-D. I have a great love for digital animation. There is no studio better at formulating a great story with superb animation like Pixar. Their film short, La Luna, was another sweet, clever animation preceding the film.

I can understand critic's complaints that the story is safe (by Pixar's standards), and similar to many Disney princess movies (and Beauty and the Beast). However, the film is enjoyable, funny, smart, and incredibly animated. I highly recommend seeing it.


SIDE NOTE:
Lord Dingwall may be my favorite digitally animated character ever.

Lord Dingwall Disney Pixar's Brave

Journal 06/23/12

Three-Dimensional Telephone Poles

A three-dimensional scene of telephone poles I had been working on. I took this screenshot in a silhouette mode with as many features visible.

The Last of Us (Gameplay)

The Last of Us (PS3) Best looking game I've seen at E3 so far... Naughty Dog studios, makers of the Uncharted series, are incredible.

I've read in articles the studio pushes themselves to do the most complicated effects to push the console to its limits, including fire, water, and sand dynamics. Their storylines, attention to details, and gameplay are amazing.

Movie Room Rendering

I believe I began rendering this as an idea of how I wanted my home's movie room to appear. As you can see it is crudely unfinished, but I came across it on an old CD so I thought I'd document it.

Unfinished. wdsiemer ii

Red Cross Brand Identity

Back in February, the American Red Cross caved into a design trend, and decided to reinvent their iconic logo with gradients, a 3-d orb, and drop shadows. Soon, EVERY company and logo will follow suite.

See my previous pieces: 3-D Orb Logo & Forgettable Tag Lines

Design by Henri Dunant, 1863.


The emblem of a red cross with arms of equal length on a white background is the visible sign of protection under the 1949 Geneva Conventions (inverse of Swiss Flag). As such, it is the emblem of the armed forces’ medical services.

International Red Cross uses the Red Crescent name and trademark in some Arab World countries.

BandAid Red Cross / Designs We've Seen (a lot)

3-D Printing

More design hobbyists, entrepreneurs use 3-D printing


This technology is amazing. Seems so futuristic, but it's been around for a while.

Check out video
Read Article

Rajeev Kulkarni, vice president and general manager consumer solutions at 3D Systems Corporation, works at his desk while surrounded by objects created on a 3-D home printer.

Autodesk: Uncharted 3 with Naughty Dog

Autodesk: Uncharted 3 with Naughty Dog

I absolutely love this stuff. Some of my favorite software with incredible results.

Uncharted 3 Process, Naughty Dog

[View Full Article]

Forgettable Tag Lines

Forgettable Tag Lines
William D. SIEMER II


If you want your company to remain fresh and relevant, stay away from these common tag lines (and their variations)...

Your Missing Puzzle Piece
Your Bridge to Opportunity
Your Key to Success
Your Door to New Business
Your Gateway to Financial Wealth
Your Road to Freedom
Your Path to Productivity

Your Missing Puzzle Piece

Your Bridge to Opportunity

3-D Sidewalk Lego Chalk Art

3-D Sidewalk Lego Chalk Art
From:
MY MODERN MET
Created by:
Planet Streetpainting

Before USB Flash Drives

Before USB Flash Drives
William D. SIEMER II

I came across an amusing note I had written in a process book back in college. Up until the point I wrote this I had saved all my AutoCAD drawings on floppy disks, most of design files on ZIP disks, and backed-up on CD-ROMS.

A Small Inspiration

One day I was at my place of work and a co-worker showed me a keychain that her boyfriend had bought her. She said that it could hold a gig of memory and be transferred to different computers.

This was a big inspiration for me.  Sometimes inspiration comes in small forms.  When you are a designer, your mind never turns off.  Everything around you becomes an idea.

I can use this kind of system in a car design. I can have this gig of memory be the vehicles' key and give each car its own identity.  This key could start the car, hold various car settings, and store mp3s for the radio system.

An old sketch: Flash Sticks the future of vehicle customization? wdsiemer

I was referring to a USB Flash Drive. This must have been the first time I had seen one. I wouldn't have had to tote around a case full of 20 ZIP drives full-time during college. It seems every generation of designers have new luxuries afforded them through our advancing technology. I always anticipate the next innovation...

What Cube?

What Cube?
from Discovery Album

An old project. Made a plaster cube, and rounded it with a file until it was a sphere. Tedious! Carved a detailed geometric pattern into its surface. Rolled it around for a little while...

Now it sits in a secret location in the woods waiting for a kid to stumble upon it and believe they discovered a treasure. That's the true beauty behind this piece.

Being plaster it may have just absorbed into the earth. That is fine also.

What Cube? Process of plaster cube to sphere. wdsiemer ii

3-D Orb Logo

Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series: 04/11/11
3-D Orb Logo

As the Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series kicks off, I want to reiterate my intentions. This is purely for fun, and not to belittle any designer's creativity. Most designs and marketing campaigns do come from influences, trends and history. Today's DWSal is one I've used for a couple clients. I'll be posting weekdays at 1:00pm.

The first this week is the trendy 3-D orb logo and icon. For a while designs like this were merely buttons on web pages, but they have taken off in other places in design. They represent a modern, dimensional, high-tech appeal. After all, we do live in a world of futuristic, shiny, sleek gadgets, so why shouldn't our logos/icons be the same? They often do look pretty, but I don't know if I'm completely sold; maybe I'm just old school.