Joyce N. Ho
Murray Bell
Patrick Clair
Jonathan Kim
Dropbox
Semi Permanent 2018
Title Sequence
2018Made in partnership with Dropbox, the Semi Permanent 2018 titles were a grand collaborative project where I had the opportunity to assembled and led a dream team of ten super-talented people of different disciplines, from all around the world.
I was tasked by the founder, Murray Bell, to create titles that spoke to the event theme of ‘creative tension’ while being playful, uplifting and would make the audience feel excited about the three days at the conference. Inspired by Ernst Haeckel’s work, the titles delve into a microscopic world and brings to life the real beauty of this unseen world. It follows the story of microorganisms from birth to death: representing ‘creative tension’ in three stages: pushing and pulling, friction, and release.
The process into making the titles were documented through four films by Ways & Means and accompanied by editorials for Semi Permanent (Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV). If you’re interested in learning more about the process, I’ve released a workshop with School of Motion and Holdframe on the project.

Inspiration came from Ernst Haekel, Klaus Kemp's diatom arrangements and microscopic cell structures
Type design and animation by Worship. I wanted the type for the sequence to be a focus of the piece, a conscious decision to go against the typical small, white type that titles are known for. Check out more BTS on the SP type on their project page.
Behind the scenes photo of live action paint textures by Davy Evans. These were then comped and used in animations by Somei Sun and I.
I was on a panel moderated by Gemma O'Brien with Murray Bell (SP Founder), Lana Kim (EP of Ways & Means), Cameron Ferrin (Creative Strategist of Dropbox), discussing collaboration.
The process videos and stills from the titles were used in The Studio: a place for people to relax, connect and be inspired over the three days of Semi Permanent.
Design explorations for the pitch and production