The Japanese delicacy known as hachinoko (baby bee larvae) lends its name to this track from electronic duo Simian Mobile Disco brought to life in a “3D-animated whirlwind of the surreal and humorous” by London creative agency DesignStudio and AD/designer Jack Featherstone.

“The idea developed around hatching and evolution combined with inflatable characters that expanded and pulsated to the beat of the track to create a narrative displacement suggesting something slightly sinister but still humorous.

“The characters were then developed to craft a personality that emotionally connected with the track. From this it was decided 3D was the best route to explore the video and the track was storyboarded in detail to plan the exact movements.

“Using Cinema 4D and Nuke, the tracks narrative started to come to life. We only had the space of two months to create the final video so creative solutions had to be thought out to any problems as they arose. Lighting the animation was key to bringing the story to life and was carefully considered to emulate that of a club environment, showing glimpses of the characters, moving and growing in the dark confines of their surrounding, lit by strobe and flash.”

Direction and Production: DesignStudio
Art Direction: Jamie Thompson and Jack Featherstone
Direction: Jamie Thompson
Design Studio team:
Jamie Thompson
James Greenfield
Hadrien Malinjod
Nikolay Kulishev
Javi Marti
Chris Hacking
Julien Simshauser,
Miguel Rodrigues,
Paul Carpenter,
Foad Shah
Eva Nazarova,
Shin Hye-Lee