Dreamers Ink Aesthetics Updates

Posted by Justin Cone

Dreamers Ink Aesethetics (a.k.a. Mitchell Paone) has updated with an epic new reel and some sick new design work. I’m so impressed by Mitch’s range; he obviously strives to never repeat himself. He also rocks the typographic tip like nobody’s business. His work on the CN Elijah spot for Shilo is a masterpiece of illustrative typography.

About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.
More by Justin >

12 Comments

Nailed the Joke

Rumor Has It Mitch is also professional Jazz Keyboard Player in New York City.

heres some of the tunes:
https://www.myspace.com/mitchpaone

yes this is the same dude.

the doctor

All due respect to Mitchell and the scores of brilliant designers out there like him making badass work:

There seems to be a growing number of designers claiming art-direction on projects they did not actually art direct. Even in the case of a pitch- overseeing and directing a sizeable group of designers, being an intermediary creative voice between the agency and the design body, writing and packaging a studio’s final presentation, all the while concepting and executing your own direction(s) is a considerably challenging job whose title deserves a little more discretion in its use (more specifically over-use).

Nonetheless- amazing work (as good or better than most ADs out there).

LIKESYRUP

Awesome work man its been a pleasure working with you the past couple of months.

Nailed the Joke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_director

The Doctor is speaking in terms of what technically a creative directors job is, seems to be some confusion about this. “Individually, the art director is mostly responsible for the visual look and feel of the creative product.” Claiming the artist did “art direction” versus crediting himself as the “art director” are very different indeed. The rolls of artists within studios can be quite vague it seems to be a waste of time to address this as a serious issue.

Personal portfolios represent the talent of the artist whatever the description of the role is the work should speak for it’s self.

jojo

niiiiiice!

the doctor

I think a creative director does all that but on a more global scale- supervising the majority of projects in the studio- in essence, the art-director’s art-director. But all these definitions aside(and ofcourse the lines are blurred from studio to studio, mostly depending on the shop’s size): Yes, the work does speak for itself…in this case its really awesome, as i said earlier. But that’s not the end all be all in certain situations- sometimes its necessary to examine the context in which it was created- like when you are applying for a job for example.

As far as- “Claiming the artist did ‘art direction’ versus crediting himself as the ‘art director'” Doing “art direction” is art direction and in a motion studio there is typically one or two people per project/pitch that are responsible for this. Yes, as a designer you make your own decisions on your own direction- but in the studio environment that’s called ‘designing’ not ‘art directing’. All I’m saying is that designing one sweet pitch direction(though a completely admirable thing in it of itself) is different from overseeing a team of people while doing the same; there is more juggling involved and it can (often does) effect the quality of that particular ad’s own designs should he/she have enough time to make some. I think those people should be credited for that- discriminately.

Long story short, maybe people should be a little more sparing in their use of the term…and I’m sorry to bring so much attention to this most likely undeserving case- i mean this only as a response to a growing number of sites.

Nailed the Joke

Some serious passion felt in the that last post. Props for caring that much about this very specific matter. The process that is mentioned above seems very specific to a single studio. Maybe the opinion might change based on more experience in broader realms of this field beyond just the Motion Graphics work environment. Again, Very impressed by the amount of passion displayed. I think we should team up and make an organization called http://www.theartdirectorpolice.com and make a list of portfolios where the work seems to be incorrectly credited. or maybe it would be a waste of time.

the doctor

I’m sorry, I thought I was on a design site where ideas are not only presented but discussed and validated when necessary. When someone takes the time to respond to something i post by providing wiki link references I take it they want to have a serious discussion regarding whatever subject, small or large.

As for wasting time…yes, the issue has been exhausted.
As for your art director police joke…yes, it was funny.

the_ocho

The term art director is confusing, since there are many versions/variations.

The one that works at an advertising agency, and is usually partnered with a copywriter, these two come up with ad campaigns.

The other art director is the type found on film/commercial productions who is responsible for the look of the set or location and wardrobe. Similar to a production designer.

Another variation is the art director who works at a magazine, who is responsible for the look and feel of the magazine as a whole and oversee’s the team of photo editors, illustrators and designers.

Than there is the term applied to motion graphics, which now is being replaced with the title of “director’. Many motion graphic studios have started to follow the commercial film production model of naming their main art directors/designers as simply directors. It sounds more prestigious, even if all the “directors” are really designers, who hire freelance designers to make them look good.

I think if you come up with look and feel and most importantly the concept of a storyboard pitch, you can credit yourself as art director, because you supplied the client and the motion design studio that hired you, with a creative/artistic DIRECTION.

Everything after that is execution/production. Meaning pixel pushing (90% of time) and massaging the client during the process.

Nailed the Joke

Case and Point. oh and Nailed the Joke.

the doctor

Ocho, that is a solid sum-up of the variety/versions of art directors out there and the shnazy shift from ‘art director’ to ‘director’ that studios employ. Thanks for layin it down.

I’m still feeling, however, that (in regard to the studio environment) using the term ‘art director’ implies more than just designing and concepting. By your proposal an intern or junior designer who does a set of boards also art directed them. Why aren’t all these people paid the same? It’s not just a matter of experience but of job parameters. I think there is a level of team management that is implied in ‘art director’ that isn’t necessarily in ‘designer’. Often, in the way that studios shift ‘art-directors’ to ‘directors’ for the sake of prestige, it seems ‘designers’ shift themselves to ‘art-directors’. Though I’m picking up what you’re putting down- I think there is a valid point in this idea….again, we’re goin further with this than necessary( but I guess that’s what semantics is all about- oh well).

Thanks again for the post.

THA_DON

an art director is one who leads a team of people through a project and or checks in to ensure a project is going well regardless if they designed it or not.
if you think a designer has direction in motion graphics then perhaps you have not worked long enough in the industry.
often times u get a script and concept. if not something close to one.
most designers merely makes choices as to what color or medium to use for their boards. its simply artwork. and thats what they are being hired to do, come up with art work.
to say you are art directing because you chose to use paint drips in your boards does not constitute you being an art director.
again there are added responsibilities that comes with the title.
dont get it mixed up.

Comments are closed.