One of the dots is telling a story to the other dots about their history or origin.
These circles all exist within a clean digital landscape. I thought it would be unexpected and delightful if these little characters actually found their origin in a much different world, an alien environment of organic plant life. It’s just weird enough for me to get super pumped on the idea.
Getting the circles from point A to point B was the exciting task ahead of me.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/db2a9451f4303b97e05613e10e88c6bf/82a07e7b-5e75-4261-9d60-4c3b344e1b0c_rw_1920.png?h=d3fff62ea275e11f819c2a32c43d1674)
For me the creative process flows in and out of everyday life. I don’t force it. I think about it, draw inspiration from my kids, life experiences, and interests. Eventually the ideas bubble up to the surface. In this case it was 2am one morning.
I jumped out of bed and scrambled for a pen and paper. My wife Kristina wondering what I was up to at first but she knows sometimes I just have to get those ideas out. Half-awake, I was able to jot down some words and sketches. “I’ll see if it makes any sense in the morning”, I thought to myself.
To my delight the next morning my idea still felt good so I went with it.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/db2a9451f4303b97e05613e10e88c6bf/f1f0e104-119b-4853-9cb3-f47662f56ee2_rw_1920.png?h=6f4227f1192a56eecd877f4c13b41e5d)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/db2a9451f4303b97e05613e10e88c6bf/0993ebc3-707e-4f4a-a7fa-7b50b3af6767_rw_1920.png?h=c86255524ce655fa372301504d782d51)
Some assets were created in Adobe Illustrator. Most often I'll create the majority of the artwork in Ai and then convert it to shape layers once in After Effects.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/db2a9451f4303b97e05613e10e88c6bf/0c06439c-9756-4caf-b771-642188444a1b_rw_600.gif?h=789f9302bb0f7cd93472b4afc845448b)
Above is a looping texture created in Adobe Photoshop. Essentially a bunch of 3-4 frame layers staggered across the timeline. This is a great way to add some subtle energy to an otherwise static element.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/db2a9451f4303b97e05613e10e88c6bf/f8082fe2-f633-4d01-ba44-523aa63e2373_rw_1200.png?h=24feb79fc43d8142892bf9f83e7a5ba3)
Folder structure & file organization are incredibly important to me with any project.