When your friend gets asked by Pearl Jam to design a concert poster — and then asks you to bring it to life — you know you’ve landed in one of the cooler corners of the universe.
Collaborating with artist Nathan Mckee, I was tasked with translating his cut-paper illustration style into motion for a short animated piece featuring the band surfing together. The challenge was to honor the handmade texture and charm of Nathan’s original artwork while introducing animation that felt fluid, character-driven, and full of personality — without losing that analog, collage-like feel.
The animation was designed to feel like an extension of the original artwork — not a reinterpretation. I approached it as an exercise in motion translation, studying how paper edges, cut layers, and flat forms could move believably while retaining their crafted imperfections.
Using principles of limited animation and timing theory, I focused on achieving movement that felt natural yet deliberately restrained — evoking the rhythm of waves and the laid-back energy of the band.
The final piece combined 2D character animation, textural compositing, and subtle parallax effects to maintain dimensionality while preserving the tactile quality of the original poster. The band loved it, fans shared it, and I got to surf that high (figuratively) for quite a while.
Role:
Motion Design
