2D Animation Web Based Infographic

The venue I came up with for this assignment, is a five story Parisian building called Macaron Emporium; it is a Hotel, Spa, Cafe, and has a Dessert Buffet.

Story Board And What I Learned

The storyboard shows my ideas for the video, (the Parisian Building with popups) , but i realised i needed a hook to engage people, which is why i decided to ask relevant and humorous questions at the beginning, with fast moving visuals so as to keep people’s attention, and create a problem that needs solving, which is answered by the informative interactive section.

 

 During this exercise I learned how to delay a symbols start point on the timeline for controlled animation, how to pause a symbol before leaving the scene, and how to program buttons to trigger animations for popups, in addition to using the movie feature to have an isolated isolation within the scene. 

Logo

It can be seen that the logo also adheres to the pastel colour palette and mimics the roof sign on top of the building, with a bright background so that it has some contrast, making the typography visible. These colours will also be used across all branding for the Hotel.

Demographic

The target demographic for this venue are women of all ages because it is a Macaron Hotel and Spa, which according to a study by Good Spa Guide, 8,827 (90%) of their spa users are women, with the age range being mostly divided over ages ranging 20-60, (GoodSpaGuide 2023).

 

Colour And Style

The colour palette I have chosen is the “Kawaii fashion” pastel colours, and the colours and shapes are commonly associated with Macarons. An article by Rock & Art states that pastels are a “timeless refuge, offering a sense of stability and harmony” as well as stating “pastel hues remind us that simplicity and serenity can be enduring.”, (Shristi Sahoo. Rock & Art 2023),  which is ideal for a calming Spa and Hotel environment, and also pays homage to kawaii fashion.

The Animation

Please see above my completed 2D animation video for the Macaron Emporium; the process included designing all of the assets in adobe illustrator, including the Parisian building, of which i used a reference image to trace the shapes, and then importing them to stage, and making each item a symbol, before animating them, and incorporating interactive button elements, which allow the user to experience a sense of gamification and inclusion, by displaying colourful buttons on the building; these buttons then bring up pop up information encased in aesthetically pleasing macaron shapes. The buttons used the coding feature in adobe animate, in order to associate the values of the buttons, with the information pop ups, and triggering the interactive animation.

Blender Modelling

Can First Design

Here you can see my first designs for the can i modeled and uv unwrapped. I created the wrapping print in illustrator, and then imported the image texture onto the can net shape in the uv unwrapping workspace of blender, which allowed me to project my design onto the can, before sizing it appropriately. Due to my research earlier on what sells well in giftshops, one of the responses stated that consumables, and drinks do particularly well, and with the establishment having a heavy focus on sweets, i decided to design a branded drinks can, in pistachio matcha, macaron milk tea flavour, which adheres to the brand typography, colour scheme, and iconography.

Glass First Design

Next i modelled a standard shaped glass/beaker cup, and wanted it to look like it had a printed design on it, however i ran into quite a few complications with this design; first, it was difficult to get the design on top of a translucent glass texture, of which i had to do using complicated nodes in the shader panel, as well as using the uv unwrapped to get the net shape of the cup, and project the repeat pattern i designed in illustrator onto the cup. I also found that after this, the top of the cup looked slightly distorted, perhaps due to the lighting of the HDRI that I used, and so later on I decided to improve the texture by using a different print design over the glass.

Mug First Design

I designed a pattern for a mug that includes a repeat print of macarons in different colours in illustrator, before using the uv unwrapping workspace to project the pattern onto the mug. However at this stage, the mug has the pattern printed inside it, and it did not have any further textural details such as the shine that a ceramic mug should have, as I intended to use this to improve the texture further for the next section. 

 

 

I modelled the mug from a cylinder, and bridged four faces on the side, which allowed me to create the shape of the handle; after this i added a subdivision modifier to create more geometry for the uv unwrapping to wrap to, as well as shading smooth to create a smooth surface. I had attempted to use the lathe tool to create a handle, however I do not yet have the skills to understand how to troubleshoot this tool, and so I overcame this by shaping the handle from the faces of the mug.

Notebook First Design

I also wanted to add something to the gift shop that would be an appropriate item for the younger age bracket of the hotel and spa, and so decided that a notebook was a practical item that would be enticing to a younger demographic of 18 and upwards, for use at college or university, as well as being a pretty, yet functional, memorabilia. I used face select after modeling to create the uv unwrapping, and added a decal that I designed in adobe illustrator. I wanted the book to have a texture like vegan leather, and chose to improve upon this further in the next task of the assignment.

The book is modeled from a mesh plane, which is extruded, and added a series of loop cuts, duplicating them with the wheel mouse, and spacing them up using shift and z; loop cuts were also used to create the pages, which were also then beveled to create depth.

Texturing And Concept Render

Can Improvements

Please see above the uv unwrapping example for the can design. 

Above are my rendered images of the tea can I designed; during the process of improvement, I modelled the top and bottom metal parts of the can, and made them look more shiny and metallic by turning up the IOR to 1.500, allowing it to reflect the light better. I also turned up the roughness slightly because I wanted the can to have a matte effect, and then I turned up the metallic values a bit too so it resembled metal. I also put in a HDRI to make the lighting appear like the can was inside a Parisian building.

Glass Improvements

 

Above it can be seen that the glass texture has been improved from the first rendition. I used the textural nodes for this one and the process is slightly complex to explain so I will insert a screenshot of the exact nodes i used, which utilised the uv unwrapping image texture, to display a print on top of the glass, in addition to this, the distortion seen on the top of the first glass has been removed, and does not interfere with the pattern.

Mug Improvements

I improved the mug texture by upping the ior to make the surface seem more glossy and reflective of the light, to emulate the texture that a ceramic mug would have, as before it was purely matte. I also went into x-ray mode, hid the rim of the mug, and used ctrl  + to be able to select and isolate the inside faces of the mug, which then allowed me to put a white ceramic texture inside, as the print had gone all over before due to the uv unwrapping.

Notebook Improvements

As you can see above, I greatly improved the texturing on the backing of the notebook, including using the texture nodes in the shading workspace, to create an attempt at a leather style texture, which uses bump nodes to make the pattern have bumping in it in the way that leather does. In the future, this is a skill I would like to improve upon, as my knowledge of the shader workspace is limited, and I found it a difficult challenge, as there are many different nodes to use, with complicated numeric values and linking factors. 

 

I have also shown my evidence of uv unwrapping, and you can see the net made up of the faces of the model, and my illustrator design projected onto it.

Animation And Lighting

The set for my finished 3D animation includes a fitting Parisian hall HDRI, which provided a contextual background to the video, as well as appropriate and complimentary lighting to the assets. I designed four macarons in the brand appropriate pastel colours, and I wanted them to stand on a tall marble plinth; and then I had the idea to have them open like clam shells revealing a pearl, as I noticed the shape of the macarons were perfect for this presentation. I hid the assets inside of the macarons, and had the camera rotate around, to show off each product individually. All the visuals are for a majority female demographic, and so the hyper femme visuals and colours pair really well with the macarons, creating a unique showcasing of “kawaii” fashioned products, in an appropriate setting, with props that align with the branding and business venue in question.

Harvard References

 

eHotelier (2022) Gift shops, guests, and gratitude: What you need to sell at your hotel. Ehotelier. Available Online: https://insights.ehotelier.com/insights/2022/10/07/gift-shops-guests-and-gratitude-what-you-need-to-sell-at-your-hotel/#:~:text=Collectibles%20and%20souvenirs&text=In%20other%20words%2C%20don’t,souvenirs%20just%20might%20surprise%20you! [Accessed 12/04/2025]

eHotelier (2015) Souvenirs are an important part of the holiday experience. eHotelier. Available Online: https://insights.ehotelier.com/global-news/2015/07/29/souvenirs-are-an-important-part-of-the-holiday-experience/ [Accessed 12/04/2025]

 

GoodSpaGuide (2023) State of Spa Report: Do Sustainability and Wellness Matter? Available Online: https://goodspaguide.co.uk/assets/uploads/press/State_of_Spa_Report_2023-1.pdf [Accessed 10/04/2025]

 

Grantley Hall (2025) Products-Grantley At Home. Grantley Hall Website. Available Online: https://grantley-at-home.myshopify.com/collections/all [Accessed 12/04/2025]

 

Grzegorz Wronkowski (N.D.) Mirrored Hall HDRI. Polyhaven. [Download] Available Online: https://polyhaven.com/a/mirrored_hall [Accessed 10/05/2025]

 

Legna69 (2020) Parisian tenement typical facade stock photo. Istock. Available Online: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/parisian-tenement-typical-facade-gm1262415258-369401389?searchscope=image%2Cfilm [Accessed 07/04/2025]




Shristi Sahoo (2023) The Timeless Charm and Psychological Impact of Pastel Colours. Rock & Art. Available Online: https://www.rockandart.org/pastel-power-appeal-color-palettes/ [Accessed:10/04/2025]



Theo Ponthieux (2022) Japan’s Fashion Trends Enters The Kawaii World. Japan Crate. Available Online: https://japancrate.com/blogs/news/what-is-kawaii-fashion. [Accessed: 10/04/2025] 


Wendy Huther (2022) Blender beginner tutorial – How To Create A Coffee Mug Coffee In Blender. YouTube. Available Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QiPDBoDyjI [Accessed 12/04/2025]