The Self is an abstract exploration/retelling of Carl Jung's 4 major archetypes: The Shadow, The Persona, The Anima & Animus, and The Self.

Going in to this project, the purpose was to create a motion piece that informed the audience of something, whether that be a problem that needs to be solved or a topic that not many people are aware of. My personal goal, however, was to use narrative techniques to present information about Carl Jung’s four major archetypes, without outright explaining what they were. The archetypes are facets of the human psyche that are often represented in literature, folklore, and religion. Using metaphor and symbol, “The Self” tells the story of those archetypes and brings light to a somewhat lofty topic that not everyone has knowledge of.

On the technical side, I aimed to use multiple animation techniques to create a cohesive style. This included 2D animation in After Effects, 3D animation in Cinema 4D, and cel animation in Photoshop. The collage style aids these animation techniques in becoming one cohesive piece.

"The Self" was awarded a Top Talent Award at the Adobe Design Achievement Awards in 2019 and won Best in Persuasive / Informational at the Motion Design Education Summit (MODE Fest) in 2019.

I was heavily inspired by physical collage and organic typographic layouts, especially those by David Carson. I connected the idea of internal archetypes and pieces of self to pieces of a collage that come together to form a larger whole. 

I jumped right into Photoshop to create my storyboards. I got as specific as I could with the designs in order to prevent any confusion later down the pipeline.