Iconography /īkəˈnäɡrəfē/

One of the more challenging activities as a visual development artist for an explanatory video production company, like Wienot Films, is to invent and use as much iconography or imagery as we can to tell stories or express ideas, especially with the abstract topics. 

We try to use as few words as possible on screen to keep the viewer from having to work harder in reading words in order to understand the story. 

There are a couple of main difficulties in this process, the first is to either use the same basic icons that everyone else is using. While being easily understood it can also lack in originality or that wow factor we strive to deliver to each client while maximizing the memorability of their video. 

The opposite approach is to create a new language of icons to tell the story or explain the idea. We feel this approach runs the risk of the audience not fully understanding the concept or simply getting lost in trying to understand what is being explained and concentrating on simply figuring out what each individual icon is suppose to mean. 

It is a constant struggle, one that we enjoy taking on as we help each of our clients fulfill their dreams and desires to explain their story one explainer at a time!

Canon Whiteboard Animation Video Quest for Color

The content for this explainer video could have easily felt a bit stale, but we were able to make it a fun journey with the theme of the medieval quest. We had the wonderful assignment at Wienot Films of creating an animation that showed color advances in digital video over time. It was a little difficult to work up the concept at the beginning but once we got rolling, it was a pleasure. It is always fun to try to include a few famous people as I draw these, even if they don’t look exactly like the person or are not well-enough known faces that everyone would readily recognize them. I wonder if any film buffs will recognize the people I used for inspiration for some of these whiteboard characters.

Daydream

Normally we don't hear the suggestion to daydream very often or at all, but another way to take just a few minutes and boost some creativity is to daydream. There are those that tend to have a more creative outlook on the issues and challenges in front of them when their mind is wandering. And the idea of being balled up in front of the computer screen just doesn't sound very creative thought provoking to me. So give it a shot, let the mind wander for a few minutes and see what kind of a journey you can have!