the secret language of plants
The Challenge
Create an animation, which may vary in exact length, that visually brings to life a Medium article. One frame will be used as key art for the article.
Be smart, clear, and beautifully simple. The movement should amplify the piece beyond illustrating the narration.
-
ART DIRECTION | Rin Yokoi
DESIGN | Kendall Gathas + Rin Yokoi
ANIMATION | Kendall Gathas + Rin Yokoi -
WORK | Explainer Video
CLIENT | Medium
PRODUCED AT | Ringling College of Art and Design
Research
ABOUT MEDIUM
“Everyone has a story to tell.”
With an educated audience seeking to further expand their own horizons, Medium is a platform for anyone seeking read, write, or deepen their understanding.
They’re on a mission to be a creative lighthouse for writers and readers in a sea of noisy, chaotic sensationalism.
audience
Given that Medium’s readers and writers already have the mindset to seek out knowledge, they openly absorb information and have an apt interest in stories.
Visitors likely value sophistication and playfulness, as Medium provides content for a wide range of tastes.
THE RISE OF PLANT COMMUNICATION: EXPLORING THE HIDDEN LANGUAGE OF NATURE
For a long time, people thought plants were just simple life forms without nervous systems. But recent research reveals something extraordinary- Plants can talk.
Plants can produce electric impulses in response to stimuli, similar to the nervous systems of animals. This implies that plants are aware of their surroundings and can 'decide' appropriate responses, hinting at consciousness.
Through chemical signaling, plants can alarm one another of threats. Other plants receive this warning and strengthen their defenses, like producing toxins to be less tasty to pests.
The "wood wide web" is a fascinating underground network where roots, fungi, and plants communicate and help each other. It’s about sharing nutrients and information, creating a
community that we once thought was impossible.
As we learn more about this secret language of plants, we’re discovering that the natural world is far more connected and intelligent than we’ve ever imagined.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY AYESHA SIDDIQA
visual development
direction 01 | LOOKING GLASS
When we observe the world at the macro level, even the most complex things reveal themselves as simple patterns.
By focusing closely through the frames framing and visually breaking down information using the audience gains a deeper understanding of the intricate ways plants interact with one another.
direction 02 | ENCYCLOPEDIA
A combination of typography, flat graphics, and 3D elements modernizes scientific illustrations and livens research off the pages.
The visuals guide the audience through navigating a graphic map of words and information.
ANIMATIC
From here, we received notes on portions that weren’t reading well and went back to ideating new visual interpretations for a few parts of the script before animating.
Since we included motion tests, we were also able to get feedback on initial rough movements.
KEY ART
The brief also called for key art to represent the article on the Medium website to readers using the same visuals from the animated piece.
We chose the scene of binoculars spotting various plants in the forest because it illustrated the variety of plant life and insinuated that there was more to see.
FINAL
Designing with simplicity is a skill, and this project pushed me to learn exactly that. It was an opportunity to practice not only deeply considering what the client stands for but also conveying values with simple, clean design.