Mark Coleran Visual Designer

Breaking up is hard to do…

Saying good bye is hard. Even more so when you have invested a huge amount of time and effort into something that you care very much about. There comes a time however, when you need to do so. I am currently wrapping up design on version 2.0 of Flow at Gridiron and will be moving on shortly, too new things.

I am however happy to say that I am not moving on for bad reasons. Working in software this last three years has been a huge shift for me and extremely challenging. During that period I have learned a hell of a lot, developed an intimate understanding of the process of creating and developing software and had the opportunity to work with some incredibly smart people. It is an experience and insight I will not soon forget.

In addition to that, we created Flow. Just for what has been done so far, it was an extraordinary achievement. Simply as a piece of technology it was a radical and nothing anyone had previously achieved. As an artists tool it had some rough edges but for a version one product was remarkably robust. The feedback from those who got it was incredible. Something capped and recognized when we received a Macworld Best in Show in 2008 for a product that had yet to even ship.

Where it is going next and what it will be able to do in future versions, will leapfrog version one and I hope, will become an indispensable part of all creatives toolsets. Some great new ideas and changes to make it far easier and far more useful.

Despite being sad that I will be leaving such a great team and brilliant project, I have got the itch to get involved again in the front lines of creative work and looking forward to getting stuck in, on some great new projects.

I must say I am proud to have been a part of team who created Flow and wish Gridiron all the best in the future with it.

Mark

A Face Made for Radio

As a result of the recent and unusual interest in what I and others have done in the weird and wonderful world of FUI, I got asked to do a couple of radio interviews.

The first was with Petra Mayer on the weekend edition of NPR’s All Things Considered that went out on the 23rd January. A short but interesting look at what we do. Show site is here and you can get the audio, show notes and transcript.

The second was with Nora Young from CBC Radio One, Spark. A great little show I have long enjoyed and a real honor to have taken part in. The full length interview is available on the site, here. The show itself will go out with an abridged version on Sunday 31st January at 1pm EST.

It is wonderful to get to talk in detail about the subject and share some of the insights and background with those interested.

Mark

Credit Where Credit is Due

It has been a very strange week.

On Thursday I noticed a sudden surge in people following me on Twitter and was a little confused as to the reason. Some days, one or two people follow you. All of a sudden, there are hundreds! It turns out the reason was an article in Gizmodo that had a write-up on the work I have done in film.

It was really nice to see the article and great to get good coverage of what is usually a much scorned, misunderstood and hidden area of work in film and television. The core of the article really hit at what we try to do when we create these things and it was refreshing to see such insight.

There is however something I wanted to add to the discussion and it comes down in essence to the title of the article. Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them. I have nothing wrong with them being called Ridiculous. I agree, they sometimes are. What I would like to expound upon is the ‘man’ part.

Continue reading…

Broad.cat 09 in Barcelona

Presenting at the Broad.cat 09 conference in Barcelona on Friday 27th November.

Who do you think you are?
“What do you do?” has always been a harder answer for designers to give than you might think. Using his own career and work in print, broadcast & film as a backdrop, Mark looks at what we think we do, what others think we do and what we really do – and how they are sometimes very different. Those differences can have huge impacts on the way we work, our mental state, the way we see opportunities and our futures as designers.

This is a subject I am interested in exploring more and more and would love to hear feedback and stories from people. Who do you think you are?

Motion 09 Presentation

I will be down in Albuquerque next week, from the 10th until the 14th October, for the Motion 09 conference. This event has been running for a few years now, and although small in comparison to some, it has attracted some really good people, presenters and attendees alike. I am really looking forward to being a part of the event and a synopsis is below.

You can still sign up for the event here, but hurry, not much time left!

See you there!

Presentation: Screen Design, Imaginary Visual Interfaces
The camera cuts to a close-up of a computer screen, showing an incredible ‘futuristic’ application – software you’ve never seen. That’s because it doesn’t exist – except for in the mind of visual designer, Mark Coleran.

Join Mark as he takes you on an in-depth look at the tools, workflow and techniques used to create screen graphics for films. How does he use Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects to create these works of art? Learn about his process for gathering reference materials, along with looking at how to make the most of resources you have – and how to re-use them for other things.

Take part in activities that focus on design and storytelling as one step in the process of creating screen graphics.

Session 3hrs, 13th October

IBC Amsterdam

I will be in Amsterdam with Gridiron for IBC over the next week. If you get the chance, swing by the JVC stand in Hall 10, where Angie Taylor will be showing off Flow at the following times…

Friday – 12.00-12.30, 14.30-15.00
Saturday – 9.30-10.00, 13.00-13.30
Sunday – 9.30-10.00, 16.30-17.00
Monday – 9.30-10.00, 16.00-16.30

If your nice to her and say sweet things, she might also give you an invite to the Gridiron party where I will be doing a short presentation on screens and UI design; Screens: From Fantasy to Reality.

At most other times we will be hanging out at the Adobe booth.

If your there, send a tweet and catch up.

Mark

FXPHD Classes

Last year I had the pleasure of contributing to a term at FXPHD and they are being re-run in the new July 09 term.

If you have never come across it before, FXPHD is a superb teaching resource for visual effects professionals, film-makers, editors etc and all those aspiring to be so. Detailed and professional courses taught by people who do the work; day-in, day-out.

I did 4 classes of (one of which was a recorded interview). These were looking at the design and animation of screen type elements using Photoshop and Illustrator, but mostly at After Effects.

Overall the course went down well. A relief as it was the first time I had attempted such a thing and fitting the production of the course into daily work was tricky. There were however a few complaints.

The main thread of all of them was that it had been billed as a 302 level course; Advanced After Effects. It did make me chuckle at the time. I do not get out of bed in the morning with the aim of doing ‘advanced After Effects’. I just want to design and animate something that works well, appropriate for the brief and production and hopefully looks good.

The irony is that a lot of the work ends up looking complicated. The reality is rather more mundane. When you have a deadline you do not look too exotic and sophisticated techniques. You use good and trusted tools, techniques and workflows to deliver. In a fast turnaround environment there is only one rule. Deliver. It is not always as important what you deliver as long as you do.

I would almost describe myself as lazy. I want to find the easiest and best way from A to B. It gives me more time to spend on other areas of the production and makes later changes far easier.

Hopefully the sessions I did give a small insight into this process and they are available in the current term which has just started. Course AFX207.

Check it out.

Flow is Complete

2 years is a long time; at least, It is for someone who was used to working on projects that range in length from 3 hours to 3 months. Taking the time to get something right is a luxury that you rarely get in most areas of production. At least time that you get paid for. It was for that reason I originally took a position with Gridiron Software. Making a move that few people understood and others called me crazy for doing so. Why would I essentially walk away from what some people have described as one of the coolest jobs in motion graphics to work for a small startup software company in a city that ranges in temperature from -40 to +40. And working in software?

The reason why is now available for all to see, try and hopefully buy.

Continue reading…

Concentric Rings Project

Recently Satya Meka created a tutorial for AETuts based on a sequence that was done for The Island. The sequence involved the creation of a concentric ring animation that was stepped off using expressions to delay the motion and create an unusual rythmic effect.

In regard of the great job Satya did in reproducing this, I have attached here for download, the original After Effects test project used as the base for this. Unfortunately it is an older project that contained project specific elements I had to remove and clean up in CS4. I am unable to supply it in any project version before that.

Continue reading…

Let’s Try Again…

Interviews & Discussions

01.2010 CBC Spark – Mark Coleran on Fantasy User Interfaces
Interview with Nora Young on CBC Radio One, Spark.

01.2010 NPR, All Things Considered, Telling A Story In A Flash.
Interview with Petra Mayer on NPR’s weekend edition of All Things Considered.

10.2009 Motionworks: Unplugged interview with John Dickinson
Had a great time talking with a good friend, John Dickinson for his Uplugged series of creative and developer interviews. John also runs the excellent Motionworks blog.

06.2009 Venture Beat interview with Dean Takahashi
Had the pleasure of talking with Dean Takahashi when I was down in S.F. a short while ago for the S.F. Mograph user group meeting.

05.2009 Scott Barnes at Mossyblog
Interview with Scott Barnes, Rich Platform Product Manager at Microsoft.

02.2009 FX Mogul
A chat with Stephan Dube for FX Mogul.

10.2008 Motion TV
Discussion with Becky Padilla and Elaine Montoya. Organizers of the excellent Motion conference in Albuquerque.

11.2007 How sci-fi influences today’s gadgets
Brief mention and reference to the past work in a short New Scientist technology blog.

06.2007 Long Zheng at “I Started Something”
Discussion with Long Zheng about the desk top computer realized in the Michael Bay directed film, The Island.

01.2010 The Escapist
Meet The Designer of Fake User Interfaces

01.2010 Creating Motion Graphics Blog at Pro Video Coalition
User Interface Design for Hollywood

01.2010 Gizmodo
Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them

Interview

Interview I did with Scott Barnes, Rich Platform Product Manager at Microsoft for his blog.

Press Pains

It looks like getting things the way I would like them in WordPress is going to take a lot more work and time than I anticipated. Especially difficult for a code idiot like myself. Until I get the new layout functioning just the way I would like, I am going to refrain from fixing the images and folios and uploading the rest of the content. It will be coming along soon. In the meantime if any one has any good tips on creating themes and using WordPress frameworks, give me a holler.

Returning Calls

One thing that has come to note whilst updating the site is that my old site had my old telephone number on it. Unfortunately I was never able to pick up the messages on that number while abroad and would like to apologize to anyone who never received a call back. Certainly did not mean to be rude. Drop me a mail if you did so.

Old Is New

It has taken a while but I finally got around to updating the website. It is a work in progress and over the coming weeks I will be adding a great deal more content as well as refining the look and layout.

The reason for this tardiness is not down to any lack of desire and more to do with circumstances. I have taken a sidestep from my time as a freelance designer & motion graphics artist to work with the great people at Gridiron Software in Canada. We have been working on a radical new way of visualizing creative workflow and the result of that is Flow. Check it out and download the public beta now.