By Dominic Ayre RGD, Creative Director at Hambly & Woolle
As I started to think about my first Top 5 of 2021 I quickly realized that it had to be focused on my continued fascination with animated type compositions. I, like I imagine many of you, have spent hours of my life staring at beautiful, moving type, while daydreaming.
As I assembled a list of my favourite pieces, it dawned on me that 5 was much too small a number to even scratch the surface of the stunning and innovative works. There are just so many of these kind of pieces created every day in some form or other so I made the decision to do a Top 5 x 5.
The Future is Ours.
A great mantra from Guillermo Vigil. The movement is so clean and simple that this carries great effect.
The letterforms from Ljudje just make me so happy.
There is an awkwardness and kind of ugly feeling to the characters.
Into 2021 from Max Cheval.
The slash through O is a great add. This calms as it flows.
Anything DIA touches...
Love Yourself (love these characters) from Picton Studio.
The type immediately feels simple but on further viewing is really quite complex.
Lovely and twisty piece from Olliecatton Designs.
I love that the forms are so simple but the the rotation adds so much.
A tribute to the sad news about MF DOOM from Das Boogie.
Nuff said. MF DOOM was a big inspiration and so was this piece.
From Paul Richards.
Love anything named after an Underworld tune. This throws back a little to the work of Tomato in the 90s... of which I am a sucker.
Love The Crash Bang Series from Bureau Bordeaux.
So many details and so much fun... watched it many times to catch everything.
What A Time To Be Alive by Daniel S.
Ohhhh, shiny... The gradient is so nice.
CODE: Just a stunning piece by Josef Pelz.
One of the things I love about animated type is when I have no idea how they did it...
Shoes AND Kinetic Type... C'mon from Calango.
It is great to see animations like these applied to major brand projects.
Beautiful... and Playful! by Design Process.
I love anything that looks techy and blueprint
Lovely Gravita from Lena Weber.
The letterforms are so simple but the strobing adds a great layer of detail.
This kinda creeps me out, but is awesome from Kristjan Dekleva.
The crawling growth makes my skin tingle, in a pretty good way.
Yes by Burak Ozcan.
Feeling like a classic Emil Ruder composition come to life.
Okay, Okay, Okay by Charlie Le Maignan.
The Swing typeface just looks so good as a living animation.
Another ushering in for 2021 by Matt Fowler.
I'm a sucker for geometric forms (who isn't?) and animated ones even more.
A classic Swiss type study with a twist from Javier Lopez.
Again this feels like an original Swiss study come to life.
We have all seen it but it still is pretty by Collab Studio.
The repetition and flow just makes this look great.
Gaz Burns has been doing a daily motion piece for 2021.
The outline look makes this look clean and the movement makes it look complex.
Mat Voyce really does beautiful work.
This feels great. Love the colours and layers. Makes me smile.
Cute and fun by Studio BND.
We have all seen cascading type like this but the clean lines and energy grabbed me.
"Just Remember, I am Here...' by Andreion de Castro.
I always love water effects on type. Liked how poetic this was
Again from Burak Ozcan.
The 3D here is one thing but the cyclical movement pops it even more.
Dominic Ayre RGD
Dominic Ayre RGD has worked in Toronto as a designer for more than 25 years. At Hambly & Woolley, Dominic focuses on high-level strategic initiatives with clients such as York University, the RGD, OCAD University, CIFAR and Quadrangle Architects. Currently on faculty at OCAD U, Dom is an enthusiastic mentor to new designers and is known in the design community for his expertise in typography, web platforms, design trends and popular culture.
