Keli
Designer and Animator
Ghana
30 AUGUST, 2024
I was initially intrigued with character animation and heavily inspired by the work of the Disney company and Pixar. As I grew I discovered the world of graphic design which interested me quite as much as animation. The natural progression for me was to find a world in which I can have both disciplines exist and that led me to Branding and Motion design
The iterative middle portion of any project is my favourite part of creative process. The idea of juggling multiple potential directions is exceptionally fun especially when you find your flow. Depending on whether I am working in design or animation, I try not to get too attached to a particular direction, exploring ideas in fast blocks of ideas instead of refined pieces(although sometimes i get caught spending too much time on a particular iteration). When I think i have had enough iterations, I can start developing interesting directions that could potentially lead to the final idea.
A common misconception is the time it takes to churn out a piece of animation. It's usually considered as a relatively fast process achieved by hitting buttons that results in a finished animation. It's usually a very immersive and intentional iterative process involving research, technical know-how and good design.
One of the challenges I faced early on was having no mentor figure to have nuanced conversations about design and animation with. This was because it was a relatively new field with little to no local mentors. I researched and found Francis Duah Boafo (now a good friend, also with an excellent body of work). He advised and shared some important design and animation information that helped improve my work and we have since collaborated on multiple projects.
I worked with Francis Duah Boafo in Creating the Akwaaba Magic tv on air brand for DSTV and also collaborated with Curtis Essel in creating the short film Allummuah which went on to win the vimeo Staff Pick award at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival, selected for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival as well as best of year for the experimental category at the 2020 Vimeo Film Awards. Fun fact: I was introduced to Curtis by Francis.
I have an avid interest in basketball and I play twice or three times a week. Aside that I like taking long walks and I play a bit of video games. These activities clear my head, they are more or less reset buttons.
Would like to visit Zanzibar. Feels like a pristine getaway spot to retreat to, relax and appreciate nature.
Hard to stick to a particular mantra as I keep evolving and learning from the world around me, However, If if there's any advice I have returned to every now and then, it's to "look outside your creative discipline for inspiration". I liken getting inspiration and references directly from the creative industry to inbreeding. It mostly yields low quality results.
Lately i have been scratching my creative itch so to speak by creating short projects, motion or stills, inspired by forms found around us. Be it forms found in nature, technology and mechanics. I post these on my instagram account, @keli.studio.
