Opposing Ampersands

The subject of this short animation is a pair of opposing words, dirty and clean. These words are used to tell the story of this glyph as it moves from the embodiment of one to the other. The story begins with a visibly dirty ampersand, there is trash, flies, and mud all around the shape. As the flies buzz away, water showers in from above to mark the shift away from the first word. The type slowly fades out and back in during this transition to avoid being jarring or distracting. The type for dirty is also bold and with sharp edges, while the clean typeface is simple and light.

The sound in the video simply adds to the visuals. The message would still be clear without it. But good sound design adds to the experience. The flies sound overwhelming, the showing sound adds action and depth to the motion, while the sparkle at the end wraps things up in a very satisfying way. This animation, however simple, tells a story and brings a character to life.