Playful Designs, Bold Colours and GIF Animations

Motions design artist, Art Director and self-proclaimed ‘motion-lover,’ Tigran Manukyan creates sharp, playful and enticing motion graphics, both for a range of clients and for his own personal projects.

There is a sleek, impeccably-finished and attesting yet uncluttered feel to Tigran’s work which is constantly improving as his experience grows. The use of bright, warm colours characteristic of most of his designs, paired with the figures he creates, exude feelings of joy and delight and make for an enticing viewing experience.

Tigran’s creations boast an impressive variety in style. He successfully produces intricate short video animations, detailed GIFs ranging from skull-headed figures, small farm animals and miniature metropolises.

His ever-changing style spectrum is a result of the many different jobs he embarks on; including designing graphics for phone apps, animated videos, 3D digital illustrations briefed by the design studios he works for and imaginative personal projects.

We spoke with Tigran to discuss his path to becoming the artist he is today, creativity and his thoughts on the future of design in the digital age.

THE PLUS: What inspired you to first get into motion design graphics?

Tigran Manukyan: This is a difficult question to answer – many people ask me what prompted me to become a motion designer and I always jokingly say that I was born that way! I was probably encouraged by my love for movies, graphics and editing.

TP: Do you doodle or draw with pen and paper before turning things digitally or what is your process like? 

TM: It depends on the project type. Some of my projects are first sketched then illustrated, and sometimes I need to hire a pro illustrator for that job.

TP: Is there a lot of space for creativity or do you usually receive quite a strict brief?

TM: Usually there are restrictions from people or from the project, but sometimes briefs have helped me to expand my creativity.

TP: What is the most satisfying part of the design process for you? 

TM: Final payment! Joking… To be honest I love to explore new things, new techniques, and encourage more people to engage with my projects. When people say “wow” to your projects, that’s what a designer loves more than anything I guess.

TP: Who are some of your favourite motion graphic design artists? 

TM: Nersik Hajatyan is amazing – he helps me a lot to push up my 3D skills. Andrey Lebrov is a real Jedi in renderings and Roma Vyshyvanov, he was my 2D sensei. He helped me a lot at the initial stage. I’m really grateful for all of the other artists who have inspired and improved my work.

TP: The amount of things you can do digitally and the variety of software you can use to do so has increased rapidly in the past couple of decades. Do you have any thoughts on how animation will change in the future? 

TM: I think in the future people will use AI, rather than contacting real designers. But there will also be a design hand, design creativity, fast renders, high-quality pictures. And I really hope that the creators of After Effects will finally reconstruct the software and make it faster, this is a message to them!

TP: You work as an Art Director at Renderforest, what are the creative connections in your view between your gif works and the video projects?

TM: My gifs are mainly personal work, my personal view, collaborations with designers. For the most part, video projects are most of all orders and tasks for their implementation from the customer.

TP: Tell us about your hobbies.

TM: I love to travel, play sports, ride fast cars and walk with my girlfriend Yesh. I know she will read this!

Click here to view some of Tigran’s design tips…