Project 26: Animated Cities by Shillington Manchester Graduate

We always encourage our Shillington students and graduates to work on personal projects. They’re a fantastic way of staying active and adding something unique to your portfolio. They can help keep you culturally aware and open up opportunities for collaboration and skill sharing.  

After catching a glimpse of what Shillington Manchester graduate Hannah Tyson was up to on twitter, we were eager to find out more about Project 26. Alongside her role as a designer at agency, Buffalo 7 Hannah decided to team up with fellow graduate and freelance illustrator/animator Sam Jones to launch Project 26; a playful project which illustrates 26 landmarks from 26 cities.

Blissfully addictive, you’ll find yourself watching them on repeat to enjoy the various quirks and unique details which define each city. Visit Project 26 to see the whole collection (site by Duncan Kenning).

What inspired you to make Project 26. Have you always wanted to experiment with animation? 

Since finishing at Shillington, I’ve tried to keep up the habit of playing around with different design ideas, and bettering my knowledge of the Adobe creative programmes—Illustrator in particular. My friend Sam Jones is an animator at Kilogramme—the Animation studio based in Manchester, and after I finished the course, we started to work on a few little bits together—mainly one off pieces of typography I’d experimented with, flung her way to be brought to life! I can’t really remember exactly how it all came into fruition; I think she’d seen one of the city landmarks I’d illustrated and we decided to do a whole series together. I guess the alphabet acted as a brilliant starting point as it gave us a structure to work from—a brief, almost. 

Has working on Project 26 made you want to collaborate on any future work of a similar nature?

Yes, definitely. The name ‘Project 26’ was chosen for exactly that reason. Following our first series of 26 cities, we’re currently deliberating what topic to choose next. It’d be great to do several series under the name, and then beyond that, who knows! But I’m sure we’ll definitely continue working together—it’s so great seeing something you’ve designed interpreted in motion by somebody else. Two brains are always better than one!

We love how you released a new animation each week, it keeps your followers in suspense! How did you decide on the 26 cities, and do you have a favourite? 

Some were simpler decisions than others. We wanted to cover a mix of iconic and the unknown; at times dismissing obvious choices for the more obscure. We also wanted it to be a bit fun, injecting bits of humour in now and again—the shark in Sydney, the wind in Pisa—but other weeks keeping it simpler, simply highlighting the huge array of architecture across the world. Our only rule was that we couldn’t cover two cities from the same country; so it was 26 landmarks spanning 26 cities in 26 different countries. In terms of favourites, it’s tricky! I really like the ways Quebec and Kathmandu animate. I’d also probably pick out Pisa and Budapest as personal favourites.

Project 26 has obviously been a great success, and really shows your abilities as a designer. Being a Shillington Graduate would you encourage graduates to work on personal projects? 

I would, absolutely. For me it’s been really important to always have something I’m working on away from ‘work’. I think it’s good to challenge yourself and it’s definitely helped me to further develop skills I learned at Shillington.

There’s so much to learn and I think it’s important to keep that mentality going once you leave the course.

I’ve found it also really helps maintain enthusiasm and keep you feeling inspired on days when you’re working on those slightly less interesting projects!

Would you recommend Manchester as a city to work in as a designer?

I’d definitely recommend Manchester, it’s a great city. It’s such a manageable size but with so much going on. Design Manchester 2016 is back in a couple of months, which I’m really looking forward to. There seems to be so many different events going on at the moment, it’s tricky to keep up!

We’re excited to see what Hannah gets up to next! If you’re a Shillington graduate with an intriguing personal project on the go, please share it with us, we’re always curious to see what our graduates are creating.

Keen to gain skills like Hannah’s? We’re currently enrolling for our September intake in London, Manchester, New York, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane –> www.shillingtoneducation.com