Donaldson and Quercia: Thoughts behind “Magnus”

The all-Brooklyn duo of Joe Donaldson and Jay Quercia take inspiration from the Magnus typeface for their stab at Animography’s monthly animation project.

“We didn’t have any preconceived notions of doing a film noir style short. Typically, the Animography monthlies are very short visual-based explorations primarily using typography.

“From the beginning we knew we wanted to shape our story around the Magnus typeface but at the same time we didn’t want to make it just about the type itself. Early on in the development stage we observed that the way the type animates on is similar to the movement of opening and closing blinds so windows and blinds became the root of our idea.

“Soon after we landed on the noir genre and consequently built the story around the theme of high contrast lighting, corruption and a tortured detective. Overall, it was a great experience in focusing on style while also reaching further into the realm of storytelling.” [Watch]

Immediate Byte