Nervo for Zune

God bless Microsoft. They just won’t give up on promoting the Zune, and as long as they keep funding work like this latest series of animations from Portland-based Nervo, that’s cause for praise.

The series can be broken into two parts: the first four animations on the Nervo site are themed around the Zune cage logo, while the last two are built around a liquid motif. While the latter set sports some silky smooth animation, the first set snared my heart with its quirky textures and macrophotographic feel. I want to reach out and cuddle the little cages as they tumble around the screen. (I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt that way about Microsoft before.)

I’m also digging the decision to reduce the frame rate. Nervo’s not trying to fool us into thinking these are stop-action, but they do channel a little bit of stop-action’s charm in the process. No harm there.

Darrin Wiener’s music fits nicely as well. His rounded tones and music-box jingles imbue the animations with a child-like playfulness that’s spot-on for the subject matter.

Don’t miss the companion Flickr set. Credits can be found on Nervo’s project page.