August 21, 2023
Summer Fridays at IF
As summer draws to a close, we thought we’d have a look at a fun summer project we’ve been cooking up over here at IF. We wrote about stop-motion before – the slightly nostalgic technique of animating an object’s motion one frame at a time – but that was a more general overview. I think we all have an idea in our mind of Stop-motion with things like Morph and Wallace and Gromit really shaping our childhoods, but in the social media context, Stop-motion is being used to tell innovative stories, engage with new audiences, and add flair to established brands.
As a company that really walks the walk when it comes to employee well-being -we do mindfulness sessions together and have sessions every Thursday where we read our messages of praise to each other – we’ve been taking off every Friday afternoon in August. Earlier this summer, we tasked our design team with the job of coming up with some summer-themed logo idents, as a way of spreading the brand love – even on these Friday afternoons when our Out of Office instant replies are very much on!
Below are the Three that have been released so far, but keep your eyes peeled on the IF social feeds because there is one more coming your way at the end of the month.
The IF Stop-Motion Project
This example is a recreation of IF’s logo, with a sandy paper-like backdrop it evokes feelings of sitting on a beach sipping a cheeky cocktail!
This one brings to mind the calming sounds of the tide on the seashore. It’s reminiscent of holidays spent trying to avoid sunburnt while cracking into an excellent book!
What’s more summery than a sunflower, the bright blue sky calls to mind walking through a meadow on a beautiful clear summer’s day.
This old technique of stop-motion has an undeniably charming quality to it that makes it stand out on social media, and other brands and creatives have harnessed its potential to put them ahead of the pack.
Some more Examples of Stop-motion
One of the more innovative examples in recent times is that of the short “The Square eyed boy” produced for the BBC by the animation studio Blinkink
In the company’s own words,
“the 60-second film uses an innovative stop-motion approach to capture the whole family’s imagination, kids and parents alike. sam’s eccentric hand-crafted characters have a tactile feel, brought to life by inventive mixed media techniques combining digital and analogue animation. “
You can learn more about the process in their short making-of-featurette here:
Stop-motion is becoming increasingly widely used across social media, particularly to give a bit of life and flair to product and food photography.
This is an example of brands reaching out to influencers in surprising and creative ways. Influencer Bakersmann cookies created this charming piece of influencer marketing for the cookware brand Le Creuset
Target used stop motion in this ad for their serums and creams:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/7529524364763555/
And finally, there’s this lovely example from studio Jeli animations
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccx8E56McXe/
So, I hope this blog post has once again expanded your mind as to the possibilities with the creative application of stop-motion and social media. It can really drive engagement and interest users in your brand in different and unique ways.
If you would like to talk to us about using stop-motion to highlight your brands or any other social media queries, you can reach out to us at the immediate future contact page. Remember to stay calm and keep a healthy work-life balance.