Cisco

The Four-Dimensional Network

ACI

Animation Art Direction

The inner workings of a network can be scary to those who aren't in IT. I art directed a unique, Escher-esque approach to this world for First Person that depicted how advanced networking technology brings order and balance to a mind-bending inner space.

The inner workings of a network can be scary to those who aren't in IT. I art directed a unique, Escher-esque approach to this world for First Person that depicted how advanced networking technology brings order and balance to a mind-bending inner space.

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The creative brief for this video wanted to play with the idea that the inner world of a network can be mind-boggling. This can be particularly true for executives who may not understand the complexity but nevertheless task their IT officers to solve mind-bending tech puzzles with limited time and resources.

Working with our creative strategy team, I designed a series of literal larger-than-life puzzle environments that referenced Escher, Penrose, Kubrick, maze-like structures, optical illusions and four dimensional playgrounds.

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As our network architect leads us through a day in the life of his IT team, we see that this brain-bending puzzle box can be solved through the use of intent based, application centric technology. 

The art direction affected a high-contrast illustration style that pushed line and halftone patterns to give us a colorful, bold and posterized look. Although the animation was done almost entirely in 3D, we felt this distinct 2D rendering look enhanced to otherworldly and illustrative quality of the creative direction.

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During the design phase, I devised a set of halftone cel shaders in Cinema 4D that let us use bold primary brand colors while responding to in-scene lighting. This made it really easy to shade objects and characters with our half-tone pattern and get some cool two-or-three tone character looks without having to do a lot of post-compositing in After Effects.

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My Role

Art Director

Agency

First Person

Creative Director

Ergin Kuke

Narrative Strategist

Tony Welch

Animators

Hannah Addington
Peter Herrmann
Micah Jordan
Aaron McGriff
Eli Woo

© Casimir Fornalski 2010 – 2024

© Casimir Fornalski 2010 – 2021

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