TourBuds – Animated Explainer Video

Our team was ready to pack our travel bags and jump straight into a plane when Tourbuds challenged us to create an animated explainer video that visualizes the concept of living like a local when traveling.

The narrative follows Mike’s journey as he explores mesmerizing Italy and experiences its unique and rich culture with the help of audio-tours offered by Tourbuds. As we follow along we see Mike confidently traveling on his own and getting a full-local experience while listening to audio tours from resident guides.

Sketches

Similar to any other project, the core of the story gets crafted in rough and loose sketches. Below you can find several frames selected from the storyboard, which was by far the most exciting and research fueled stage of the project.

2. Inspiration

Apart from finding muse in historical architecture and touristic hotspots we tried to incorporate elements specific to Italian culture.

The biggest example would be the Statue of David that plays a crucial role in the video. Being one of the most famous sculptures, the Statue of David is used for the purposes of creating a connection with the audience, as it is an artwork known worldwide. The second reason is that by frequently reappearing in the video, the statue of David becomes a funny side-character.

Visuals

When it came to crafting the visuals, we mainly went for bright colors to capture the warmth of Italy. In particular, vibrant tones of yellow, green, purple, and red dominated the overall palette. Simultaneously pastel shades of pink and blue were added as secondary colors to add balance to the composition.

Architecture

Our biggest source of inspiration was the irresistibly stunning architecture of Italy. Given the challenge to maintain stylistic consistency with the rest of the visuals, the structures of the buildings were simplified with the details and decorations eliminated. Similarly, when it came to environmental design, we opted for abstract, wavy shapes composed of solid colors to make the buildings at the focal point of the composition.

Animation

The animation incorporated the use of both traditional and modern techniques. Given that certain scenes needed a slightly more delicate approach than the others, our talented team of animators opted for Adobe Animate to get a more handcrafted feel.