/Interview/ Luke Whittaker
23/03/2007 | Filed under Design > Interview
Luke Whittaker shot to prominence in 2004 when A Break in the Road hit the big time. When he’s not working on new web projects, he’s co-editing Creative State, an online magazine that showcases the personal work of illustrators and writers.
.net: You’ve won a bunch of awards for your work. What are you most proud of?
LW: A Break in the Road (www.breakintheroad.com) is probably the project I’m most proud of; it was definitely one of the most enjoyable to produce. That’s because it combined a bunch of my favourite things – illustration, animation, music, gameplay and storytelling – into one package, so I was always challenged, developing all these things in parallel. They all influenced and grew around each other, and hopefully that gives the project a certain coherence. I’m also quite pleased with the way The Sound Factory came together (www.mtv.com/#/games/arcade/brain), since it involved bringing a larger team together and making sure each element of the game stayed true to the original intentions.
.net: You’re an animation specialist. How did you learn your trade?
LW: It’s true that animation remains at the centre of my work, although it’s often alongside other things, such as game and sound design. I’ve never had animation tuition, but I’ve always gravitated towards environments where there have been the tools for the job. I used to do very short animations on my Atari ST when I was 10, painting frame by frame onscreen in Deluxe Paint, but the programs were so complicated to use (and my attention span was probably much shorter) that it wasn’t until Art Foundation that I managed to sneak some time on the degree students’ rostrum camera to animate some cell drawings.
.net: A Break in the Road is a phenomenon. How did you perfect the animation technique?
LW: A big part of animation is patience, either that or foolishness. I came up with the style one evening when there wasn’t much else on, and thought it fitted into the hand-drawn environments nicely. But these little tests took only a few hours. And, after I’d launched myself into A Break in the Road properly, and past the point of no return, only then did I fully realise the magnitude of the task.
.net: Do most clients choose you for your animation talents or your web design talents?
LW: I suppose it’s a combination of both. One of the things clients seem interested in is an appreciation of the two. Animation for interaction perhaps. It’s something that I’m very interested in – using animation as part of the whole interactive experience. The power animation has is that it’s obviously not shackled by looking photorealistic, and can stimulate the imagination to help people engage with these things onscreen. In its simplest form, the animation helps suspend disbelief, but the style of the whole world should also fit its purpose, and always lead you into a way of thinking that fits the project.
.net: Apart from commercial work, what else do you love designing?
LW: Recently, real things. I’m absurdly proud of the things that I’ve designed and built for my house – from the desk for my new studio to the shelves on the walls. I think I just wanted to prove to myself I could still build things in the real world. I recently helped to set up www.creative-state.co.uk, an online magazine to showcase the personal work of illustrators and writers and give them an excuse to make noncommercial work.
.net: You have quite a sketchbook style. How do the latest design tools help you in perfecting it?
LW: Flash and After Effects have enabled me to explore various techniques such as turning sketchbook illustrations into a 3D space, and they can help add real depth to an animation that can move the camera through a space to tell a story. Using a Wacom tablet in Flash speeds up the hand-drawn animation process considerably. Having said that, I haven’t yet found anything that could replace the look and feel of pen, paper and printmaking.
.net: What would your ultimate, ideal project be and why?
LW: That changes all the time, but broadly it might be a project that combines illustration, animation, narrative, music and gameplay, and tries to do something new with them. With increasing connectivity and convergence between our entertainment devices, it will be exciting to see where this leads us.
.net: Which other agencies do you admire and respect, and why?
LW: Santa Monica agency BL:ND makes some incredible work. The music video for Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy was one of the last things I saw that stunned me. It’s a work of art, something where everything just fits. The lyrics, the images emerging sinisterly from the butterfly test ink-drops like they were creeping in on your mind. I loved that there was more to it than meets the eye.
Comments
Mathew Browne / 16/05/2007 / 13:14 / http://www.mbwebdesign.co.uk
What an astounding talent. It's always fascinating to read how such creative minds work.
Caroline McKelvey / 31/07/2008 / 16:49
Just shows how good a piece of work a break in the road really is, it must be about 4/5 years old now, and the style and concept hasn't aged!
