We love Industry Spotlights because it gives us a chance to take a step back and see what’s going on in the world around us. There are so many great motion design and animation studios around the world producing cutting edge work, beautiful work, and inspiring work.
Lumbre, a design studio and branding consultancy out of Buenos Aires, Argentina is doing all of those things, and they are doing it really well.
Let’s dig into some of the work that is making Lumbre stand out in the crowded design and animation world.
Lumbre translates to fire or light, and that is exactly what the Lumbre team brings to every project. It’s apparent from looking at a few projects that they have a fiery passion for the work and every piece shines with originality.
A great place to start is with a branding piece that Lumbre did for themselves. The 3D animation involves some incredibly complex 3D animation and rigging, all perfectly choreographed to form the inner working of a mechanical machine.
The textures and lighting are reminiscent of quality real-world materials like brass and wood. And the final result is a symphony of movement that mesmerizes the viewer.
What’s most interesting is that Lumbre put all of the work into an internal piece because they had spent time on some projects with these ideas, and they hadn’t been able to complete them. So, they put their love of the work into an internal piece that perfectly sums up the studio.
Lumbre took the complete opposite visual approach for their rebrand of Spain’s Sol Musica Network in 2013. Here they decided to take the music channel in a fun direction using old school animation techniques that harken back to 60’s and 70’s animation styles, with 80’s color pops.
After developing a look and feel, they had the not easy task of applying the look across a whole host of design elements like idents, menus, and lower thirds.
The final package was bright, fun, original, and cohesive. What more could you ask for in a network rebrand?
Sometimes the right approach for a project is a combination of live-action and graphics. Lumbre doesn’t shy away from this style either. In fact, they took this 2014 project for “The Ultimate Fighter” from concept to completion.
With this particular season being about women fighters, they took the old idea of feminine beauty and turned it on its head by juxtaposing what appears to be a fashion shoot, with hard-edged graphics, shatter effects, and fight sequences.
The result is something that feels equally feminine and masculine, perhaps appealing to a wider range of audiences. And like the rest of their projects, it’s fun to look at.
Let’s take a look at one final project recently completed that plays into Lumbre’s 3D capabilities and branding expertise. In this project for Turner’s Boing Network, Lumbre created a wide range of whimsical 3D characters who interact with each other and vivid environments creating a sense of fun and action.
The team at Lumbre worked closely with Boing to build a concept around the theme of “better together”. They created program block openers, promos, and other elements for the network refresh.
They even included a making-of reel on their site that shows a bit better how the whole process worked.
Lumbre has shown that they definitely have a set of skilled artists who excel at both 2D and 3D animation techniques. They can easily handle live-action and motion graphics. But more so, they have a unique vision and perspective that comes out in their work and gives them an edge in a crowded field of studios.
