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MGM
Resorts:
Engage
Entertain
Inspire

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Teamwork makes the dream work, and that is nothing short of the focus in this corporate team building, whiteboard style, animated PSA for MGM Resorts International, aspiring to motivate employees to bring their “A-game” everyday.

31 spot illustrations in 30 days, all created in Adobe Illustrator, to be animated by the in-house animation department was the request – and by Jove, that is exactly what was delivered.

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roles

art direction
illustration

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style

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Having the script, a loose storyboard, and some general style reference in hand, like Ponce de León, exploration was on. A cartoonish style with a color treatment that not only suits the project and client’s needs, but wouldn’t take a million hours to replicate in Illustrator. Providing some loose line options with some refined color treatments achieved sign off, allowing to quickly push onto production.

I mean there were 31 of these things due in 30 days – hiccups like revisions, mechanical problems, Alpha Centauri being to close to the dog star could really throw a monkey wrench into things, so yeah time management is critical.

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illustrations

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Crossing styles off the checklist, it was time to dig in with the ole trusty Cintiq 12wx tablet – the true savior of the time crunch – refining shapes in Photoshop to flesh out the provided storyboards, then building all assets in Illustrator. To my benefit, a very few revisions were requested thanks to the photo resources provided for locations and uniforms.

Some characters included extra articulation, break points for arms, hands, legs, and the like, in order to provide subtle movements within the illustrations – because there’s nothing wrong with a little additional shimmy shakes.

suite76-mgm-housekeping-vector-1258×900-1

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credits

Animation:
Cecil Hughes — Squidgital.com

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To be fair, all 31 illustrations, including revisions, were completed nearly a full week ahead of schedule – a storybook example when great communication meets working proficiently. It’s always good to come in under budget, ahead of deadline, and exceed expectations while providing quality and performance.

For a corporate whiteboard animation – it was well recieved by the powers that be, with positive feedback from employees I had the oportunity to connect with. All in all, everyone on the team went home big winners.