Daisy Chain is the new motion studio creating “off-kilter work in the industry’s weird corners”

Motion designer and art director Connor Campbell (of CC Studio) and motion designer Harry Butt (Butt Studio), have launched their new motion studio, prioritising playful, experimental and vibrant aesthetics. Their collaborative journey started in 2020, creating a visual universe for Dua Lipa’s Hallucinate single. Named Daisy Chain, the studio emerged after the duo began “cramming our huge PCs into a small studio space” in 2021, Connor tells us. “We used to overload the only plug sockets with extension cables, daisy chaining them together,” he explains. But their nifty beginnings aren’t the only inspiration for its name – it’s the fusion of two minds and distinct visual styles.

Both Connor and Harry hope that Daisy Chain will offer an alternative to the visuals seen throughout animation studios at the moment. “We want to create off-kilter work and find the weird corners of the field,” Connor shares. This is first seen in their logo and website, where “everything is being pushed into something more than just the default”. The website, designed by Two Much Studio, unifies their work in an airy motion layout that presents the many connotations of Daisy Chain as a name; there are references to daisies in nature and a visuals-first approach highlighting their subversive ethos. Alongside a hover feature in the navigation bar that allows viewers to activate the animations and a scrollbar squishing giant daisies as you move down the site . “We wanted our website to bring our work together in an interactive way [...] Two Much have done an amazing job of making our wildest dreams come true,” he adds.

The Daisy Chain logo, created by London-based graphic designer Ciaran Birch, boasts a bulbous “end terminal” inspired by monograms and patterns found in Art Nouveau and throughout nature . “Initial references were snails, curled plants and typography lifted off European headstones,” Connor adds.

What’s certainly evident throughout the website and logo is the duo’s care for the viewer’s perspective, clients and design-lovers alike. But there is also a focus on concept, and cementing the studio as an overarching home for a broad range of creativity, as grand as nature. “Both of us really love storytelling and building silly narratives together,” Connor shares. When looking at the launch video all of these elements unite, although it was originally drawn from a pitch they created for Elton John’s re-release of Hold Me Closer featuring Britney Spears. The video consists of a world of rabbit-like characters traversing a deserted landscape (designed by Nina Muro) before meeting a giant flower, carrying it up a mountainous hill where we begin to see a large chain of daisies emerge in the sky. This portion of the video precedes the transformation of the landscape into a green bursting setting filled with rainbows and meadows, which visualises Daisy Chain’s emergence in the industry.

As well as being an excuse for the pair to drive headfirst into collaborating on the work they love, the launch video also represents the process of starting something from the ground up, and watching it emerge, with Connor sharing that “Daisy Chain has come to life through these bunnies”. He adds: “There’s something we realised as we were making it: this whole world basically only comes to life once Daisy Chain is formed. Everyone’s been waiting on this barren landscape for us to finally come together. Biggest ego-trip launch film of all time? Maybe, but we stand by our little fable.”

All in all, Daisy Chain shows us just how transformative collaboration can be, especially when fusing different styles. But it also reveals the invaluable impact on the creative output when you set a guiding ethos and commitment. Among the studio’s dreams is the opportunity to focus on work that continues their love of storytelling while also combining their skills in graphic design and typography; “title sequences for A24 come to mind or maybe a product launch film for Brain Dead”, Connor shares. “We’re really excited for what the future holds, combining our skills and our in-house motion team.”