What’s the secret ingredient behind truly good animation? A memorable character design? A unique approach to movement? Research. Everything starts with it. Think about it: before creating “Madagascar”, the DreamWorks creative team actually traveled to the island itself to study wildlife firsthand. Artists and animators immersed themselves in the environment—exploring baobab trees, observing lemurs, capturing landscapes, and even noting the unique colors of the earth and sky.

My own research journey focused on Norwegian traditions surrounding Constitution Day was a bit more modest :) A trip to Norway is still on my wishlist. But even through online research, I uncovered a wealth of fascinating cultural insights. I then translated these discoveries into a series of hand-drawn concept sketches, which I presented to the client’s Norwegian team. The concepts they approved became the foundation of a vibrant animation celebrating Norway’s Constitution Day. I created all the vector illustrations in Sketch and then animated them in Rive.