There's something about a bit of imperfection that makes an image feel alive. A wobbly line, an awkward movement, a texture that doesn't quite sit right, or a character that feels like someone has actually put their hands on it.
I'm a big believer in that stuff.
As an animation director and creative, I'm interested in work that has a strong visual identity and a sense of personality. Work that feels considered, crafted and a little unpredictable. Sometimes that's achieved through traditional hand-drawn animation. Other times it's a combination of 3D, illustration, graphic design, compositing and a healthy disregard for keeping everything too tidy.
The technology can be incredibly sophisticated. The finished result can still feel scrappy.
Finding the sweet spot between 2D and 3D
One of my favourite approaches is to combine the structure and flexibility of 3D with the visual qualities of traditional 2D animation.
Building characters and environments in 3D gives you control over lighting, camera movement, perspective and staging. But applying hand-drawn textures, graphic treatments, stepped animation, toon shading and illustrated details can completely change the personality of the image.
For Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar's Mona Lisa music video, I explored this combination through stylised 3D characters, cinematic environments, motion capture and traditional 2D effects. The result sits somewhere between a graphic novel, an animated film and a live-action heist movie.
It's a technique I keep coming back to because it offers so much freedom. You can build something with all the technical possibilities of 3D, then deliberately break it up with elements that feel much more organic.
Getting your hands dirty
Hand-drawn elements can bring a completely different energy to an otherwise digital image.
Doodles, scribbles, rough outlines, paint strokes, animated flourishes, messy textures and little graphic interventions can all help give a piece its own identity.
They don't always need to be elaborate. Sometimes a few frames of hand-drawn animation, an imperfect line or an unexpected bit of movement can make an entire shot feel more interesting.
I've always enjoyed working across illustration, animation and design, and finding ways to let those disciplines overlap. In the Marvin Gaye What's Going On music video, we explored that space between 2D, 3D and hand-drawn imagery to create a visual world with its own personality.
The trick is knowing where to introduce these elements and how much to leave alone. Too much polish can sometimes remove the very qualities that made an image interesting in the first place.
A little rough around the edges
There's a certain charm to animation that doesn't try to hide every join.
Stepped movement, slightly awkward timing, loose character animation, visible brushwork and rough compositing can all contribute to a style that feels more personal. Even a deliberately janky approach can have a surprising amount of sophistication behind it.
For my own short film projects, I've enjoyed pushing this idea further. On From Round Here with Pete Elsewhere, I used 3D character builds and motion capture, but deliberately kept the animation scrappy, with minimal clean-up. The characters retain some of that slightly unpredictable quality that comes from performance and imperfect movement.
The same thinking applies to environments. A carefully constructed 3D scene can be layered with kitbashed objects, textures, stickers, doodles and visual clutter until it feels like somewhere with a history.
I'm interested in the little details that make things feel lived in.
Art direction is everything
Achieving a handmade aesthetic isn't simply a matter of adding a few rough lines over the top of a finished animation.
It starts much earlier, with the visual direction.
The choice of colour, shape language, typography, materials, composition, camera movement and animation style all contribute to how a piece feels. These decisions need to work together, whether the final result is a short commercial, a music video, a game trailer or a piece of branded content.
As a director, I enjoy being involved across that whole process. Developing the initial idea, establishing the visual language, storyboarding, designing characters and environments, directing animation and getting into the finer details of the finish.
Sometimes the best result comes from a small team working closely together, with the director able to stay hands-on throughout.
Making work that feels human
With so much digital content becoming increasingly uniform, I think there's real value in work that has a recognisable human touch.
I'm not particularly interested in making things look perfect for the sake of it. I like character, texture, personality and the occasional happy accident. I like seeing the artist's hand in the work.
AI-generated imagery has made it easier than ever to produce a convincing image, but making a distinctive film still takes creative decisions, visual direction, craft and an understanding of how images work together over time.
For projects where originality and a specific artistic identity matter, I believe there's a lot to be said for building the imagery, making the decisions and getting stuck into the process.
That's the approach I bring to my work at Cultlovesyou.
Whether it's a fully animated commercial, a hybrid 2D/3D film, a character-driven campaign or a short piece of visual storytelling, I'm always interested in finding a way to make it feel individual.
A bit wonky. A bit scrappy. And unmistakably made by people.
Tim Fox
Animation Director / Art Director / Cultlovesyou
Animation Director / Art Director / Cultlovesyou