Sumo Bjorvika
I worked together with Simonnæs Holding AS to create animated pieces for Sumo Restaurant's new branch, an asian fusion concept restaurant in Bjørvika Oslo, Norway. The looping ambient animations are meant to be displayed as moving artworks on a large screen that seamlessly blends with the environment and the ambience of the restaurant's interiors.
Role
Creative Director and Motion Designer
Client
SUMO Restaurant
Geisha
The client was very particular in wanting a visual of a peaceful Geisha in the middle of the frame with subtle movements like sakura petals falling from trees. To fuse together with the contemporary feeling of the restaurant’s location, I proposed for a simplified and somewhere in the middle of geometric and organic shapes to visualize the merging of two seemingly different cultures. I drew inspirations from both Bjørvika's vistas and photos I took from when I went to Japan in 2018.
Assets
The design mostly focuses on a few couple of pieces: the Geisha, palace, and sakura flowers. I wanted to keep the details minimal but still create depth, volume and interest.
In this animation, I’ve incorporated a process of cel animation and finalized the colored animation as shape layers in After Effects, as seen on the swallow-tail bird.
Koi
To compliment the Geisha, the client also wanted another installation in the bathroom floor display to have koi fish swimming around as if you're looking on top of a pond. The challenge was to make it look calming and less distracting when people get in the bathroom. With the style of the Geisha in mind, we made them both look like they exist in the same world just on different camera angles.
Eversince its inception in 2021, the Geisha series has been adapted to different installations in the restaurants both as an animated pieces and as physical part of the interior design printed on chains.
