For Project 04, we were tasked with creating an animation for the logo we designed in Project 01. My logo for BASS PUBLISHING is an outline of a bass fish. For this animation, I opened my original logo design file and inverted the colors. The original logo features a red fish and letters on a white/transparent background, which didn’t suit my idea, so I switched the colors.

Next, I decided to create bubbles for the animation. After searching extensively on YouTube, I found a tutorial that allowed me to create bubbles from scratch in Illustrator. Following the tutorial was actually quite fun, and I think it added a unique touch to my animation. The bubbles look really realistic!

I used the puppet pin tool we learned in After Effects to move the fish’s tail without moving the entire fish. Navigating the fish around the frame was the hardest part. I wanted the fish to move across the frame and then come back from the other direction, so I had to ensure all my keyframes were correct to prevent the fish from turning around on frame. It was a tedious process, but I’m very pleased with the result.

After completing these steps, I felt the plain red background made the animation look somewhat boring and flat, so I added some movement with a gradient. I started the animation in blue to enhance the underwater feel with the fish and bubbles. The part I’m most unsatisfied with is the popping of the bubbles at the end. I tried my best to make them look like they were popping, but I couldn’t get them quite right.

Overall, I’m pleased with my animation and enjoyed using and learning the features of After Effects, as it was a new application to me.