Getting to Know Animade – Interview with Ed Barrett

Animade are a London-based animation and digital production studio responsible for a whole host of rather brilliant animation and digital projects. We got to know Animade by speaking to their creative director Ed Barrett

Hello, can you introduce yourself to our readers

Hi, my name’s Ed Barrett and I’m a London-based animator and director working at Animade.

What is your role at Animade?

I’m the Creative Director. This mostly involves keeping a watch on projects that run through the studio as well as getting hands-on with specific projects.

How did Animade start, and what has the journey been like to today?

Animade started out five years ago as a company called Chambers Judd, founded by James Chambers and Thomas Judd. A year later, following numerous collaborations I’d had with Tom, I joined the company and the decision was made to have an animation-focused side to Chambers Judd, called Animade. The name came from a blog Tom had set up as a student.

Chambers Judd continued to focus on digital projects and was later rebranded to Hover Studio. At this point Hover States was launched; a blog that highlights new and interesting web and digital design.

The two sides of the company ran in parallel, building strong portfolios on both sides. As our work developed we started to realise the potential for combining digital with animation in our personal and client-based projects. This resulted in the rebrand of Animade as an animation and digital production studio.

How do you balance client work and the studio’s own in-house work?

In-house work is hugely important to us. It keeps the company buzzing with creativity and often instigates client work. In the past we’ve released personal projects that get shared and then referenced by clients for upcoming work.

With this in mind we try to balance the two as evenly as possible. Of course there are times when we have a lot of client projects running so it’s hard to allot designers and animators onto personal work, but as soon as there’s the opportunity we leap on it.

You recently launched Alpha Channel, can you tell us more about that?

Following the rebrand of Animade last year, we found the need to reposition our animation blog so it mirrored our digital blog Hover States. Alpha Channel is the result; an archive of animation goodness.

We’re also thinking hard on live events for both Hover States and Alpha Channel, but it’s early days right now.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Mostly from studio conversations in meetings, around the lunch table or even in the pub! We all work in one room so it’s easy to inspire each other and collaborate to get projects off the ground.

What’s been your favourite project?

Being a bit of a gamer I loved making our games Ready Steady Bang and Ready Steady Play. They were big projects with loads of problem-solving, design and animation to sink my teeth into.

I also have to mention one of our recent client pieces, IBM Research. It’s a massive mixed-media animation encompassing four films. We had the opportunity to fill the office with some amazing freelancers and deck out a meeting room with stop-motion equipment.

What’s been the most challenging project?

Again, probably the IBM Research job. We’d never taken on a project that required 2D, 3D and stop-motion all at once before. We’re not a massive studio so with everyone working on it, all the desks in the office were filled. It took a lot of organisation and design work.

The studio is an active curator on social media with its blogs and animation challenges (e.g. Full Secs), how important has this been in terms of driving the studio forward?

It’s shaped who we are. As I mentioned, Animade was a blog to begin with and from the very start we were active on Facebook and Twitter, sharing our personal projects and promoting our games. It gives us an amazing platform to get our work seen. It also means we can keep in touch with the animation and digital community and organise events and lunches, as well as ensuring we maintain a friendly, approachable feel.

The studio produces both animation and digital work, how important is it to have these different strands in your locker?

For us it’s hugely important. The crossover of disciplines offers up an extremely exciting playground for creativity and establishes a forward-thinking approach to our work.

Where do you come up with your best creative ideas?

In creative studio meets, my commute, in bed, on the loo. Anywhere really.

What can we expect to see from the studio in the future?

There are some very exciting things going on right now, but I can’t really talk about it. Just keep your eyes towards our social platforms for any new announcements!

Other than that, we’ll continue to explore the digital/animation crossover and develop tools we use for our workflow—some of which we may share.

How did you get into animation?

I’d wanted to be an animator since I was about fourteen. When I was eighteen and on a foundation course, I was told I could never be an animator because I couldn’t draw well enough. I need to thank that teacher because it just made me more determined.

I studied a BA and MA in Animation and started freelancing straight after that. I animated and directed around London for about three years and then Animade happened.

What advice would you pass on to those seeking to get into the industry?

Have fun making your own work and share it as much as you can. Make ripples and someone will notice. There are also some really good internships out there (we run some of those) and they are a fantastic way to get noticed and make friends within the community.

Which film if any do you wish you could have made?

I don’t wish I’d made it, because if I had it wouldn’t be as good, but I love Skhizein by Jeremy Clapin. It’s beautiful, it’s wonderfully animated and it always gives me chills.