Castlelab Loops
Castlelab was a design studio based in Canada, and its name joined an old castle and a new lab. In 2019 the studio asked me for illustrations and loops for their website and told me to do my thing. I drew every sketch, directed the look and made it all in Blender: the header, the About header and three value icons. The loops went live on castlelab.ca, and Behance featured the project in Motion Graphics.
- CLIENT
- Castlelab
- YEAR
- 2019
- ROLE
- Art Direction, 3D Motion
- DELIVERABLES
- Website illustrations, Animation loops, Value icons
- TOOLS
- Blender
The header
An old castle and a new lab on one island.
The concept had four points: loops that keep people looking and make the brand easier to remember, diverse characters everyone can connect with, one theme that joins an old castle and a new lab, and a playful look taken from toys and modern design.
I drew three header sketches. The first went to a clay prototype, then to the final loop.
01 Header sketches. The first went on to 3D.
01 Prototype
02 Progress
03 Final loop
02 From the clay prototype to the header loop.
03 The five materials of the set.
04 Two of the scientists.
About
Same principles, more people.
The About section needed a header with the same principles, but about the people. I reused the header's assets and expanded them into a scene of people working together inside the castle-lab.
Two first takes, one on the castle wall and one on the island, ended up joined into a single tower.
05 Two first takes, joined into one tower.
Three scientists, a glass pipe and a test tube, all on one castle tower.
Values
Icons that sit with the text, not over it.
The body of the About page needed graphics for the studio's values. They had to be more concise than the illustrations, so they could sit with the text without overshadowing it.
I designed them as ordinary icons first, then modelled and animated them in 3D, so they'd be more engaging and match the rest.
07 Three sketches per value, in columns: Ownership, Multi-disciplinary, Inspiring others. The top row went on to 3D.
08 Finished icons: a crown, a puzzle and a telescope, modelled and animated in 3D.