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The Motion Conference is an annual event held in Albuquerque, NM, highlighting the best the motion graphics and visual effects communities have to offer. At the conference, seasoned professionals mingle and present alongside students and aspiring visual artists. Since it’s inception, Ex’pression College has sent students of the Motion Graphic Design program to the conference to network and learn about current trends in the industry.

This year, Ex’pression MGD students Andrew Bauer, Charles Lee, Lauren Patterson, and alumnus Lydia Baillergeau showed off their stop-motion Jello™ masterpiece. The students were asked by the conference organizers to produce a motion graphics piece that embodied the feeling of “celebration”, as this was the 5th birthday of the Motion Conference. They chose to use famous, historical graphic design compositions (Piet Mondrian’s “Broadway Boogie Woogie” and El Lissitzky’s “Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge”) and “break” those design rules, to emulate how designers need to get together and break the mold sometimes. They presented their piece on the main stage at Motion, and were part of a Q&A panel with the other presenters from the segment of the conference, entitled “Now THAT’s Creative!”.

Ex'pression Students at Motion 11'

Student Charles Lee’s highlight from Motion ’11 was listening to William Lebeda¹ from Picture Mill speak about failure in the industry and how to turn that into a positive. “Overall, it was really insightful to see how professionals deal with clients, their design process, and other aspects of what it takes to be a working motion graphics artist,” said Charles.

Creating the jello inspired video took 2 weeks to complete and presented some unusual challenges. The jello would melt under the hot lights or it would become crisp when exposed to cooling fans for too long. The group also was mentioned for their work on the popular CGNews blog!

Portfolio sites:

• Charles Lee
• Andrew Bauer
• Lauren Patterson
• Lydia Baillergeau

¹ _{William Lebeda spoke at an Ex’pression College Ex’pert Series on May 23rd, 2011.}