FreshDash - Fresh Food Fast!
A fun project full of flying veggies and fresh food,
where modern convenience meets snappy animation.
The Development
This project took a while to complete, not necessarily because of the production time, but because other professional and personal commitments had priority. So I developed a pitch deck early on to refer back to throughout the process. This built confidence in the final result and kept the vision on track.
Curious to see what a deck like that looks like?
The Character
The goal was to create a ‘cool’ home cook: a character that is expressive, stylish, and fun. I tried to stay away from the traditional chef look, opting instead for that ‘friend who is a really good cook’ vibe.
They also had to be expressive and easy to read in a flash, especially given the fast-paced nature of the animation.
Some initial character sketches and animation tests
The illustrated design of the character
The Storyboard
To ensure the story would work, I thumbnailed and then storyboarded the most important story beats, making it clear what the project would look like and how it would play out.
The Design
Before starting in 3D, I illustrated several 'style frames' in Procreate to lock in the aesthetic. Since the colors and mood were already established, I was able to focus purely on lighting and texture during the 3D look-dev phase. This pre-production work ensured that I was confident in the look and feel before the production started fully.
Storyboard frame > Illustrated frame > Animated frame
The Food
Food and animation are a tricky combination, it can start to look unappetizing very quickly if not properly designed. The challenge was that the stylized nature of this project wasn't compatible with realistic food, so I had to find a middle ground. This exploration was a lot of fun, I spent time analyzing examples of animated food and comparing them to photos of real food to determine what would work and what wouldn't.
Spagetti simulation > Added food > Final render
16:9 VS 9:16
One of the major challenges in developing projects for today's media landscape is ensuring compatibility with both 16:9 (landscape) and 9:16 (vertical) formats. Animation offers a great deal of flexibility in this regard, allowing me to adjust the framing so each shot feels 'at home' in both aspect ratios.
Use of AI
I used AI sparingly during this project, primarily to generate additional icons based on my existing vegetable renders to ensure a consistent style. I am currently developing AI-integrated techniques that are flexible enough for commercial use while ensuring the creative process remains uncompromised. Since those techniques were still in development during this project, I relied primarily on traditional methods.
Thanks!
