Googly eyes, curious critters and perfect comic timing combine in Doug Alberts’ animations

It’s rare to see motion design and animation graduates who are already ridiculously accomplished at what they do. Not through any fault of their own, but simply because these disciplines demand so much from someone so young – from strong storytelling to a natural feel for pacing, a tonne of patience, and, of course, bags of technical skill. When we first encountered the work of Doug Alberts, we were immediately blown away, because it shows off all of these qualities and yet carries them with incredible ease and lightness.

Originally from Chicago, Doug studied at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. He admits he hasn’t landed on a precise personal style (though he isn’t sure he necessarily wants to), and has clearly experimented a lot, judging by the painterly style of Brother, the claymation aesthetic of Bugged, and the collage-like look of Plan(t). Even so, throughout his work there are plenty of details that reveal the creative’s own personality – in particular the colours, the playfulness and the perfectly judged comic timing.

Another challenge that animators and motion designers face is that their work is incredibly collaborative – more often than not, you’re working as part of a small team, rather than alone. And this is again something that Doug seems to have grasped early on as a student. “As fun as it is to explore independently, I owe all my knowledge to past employers, faculty, friends, and my parents,” he tells us. It’s this attitude that has seen Doug not only work on personal projects, but also pick up some client ones too (for MTV, Lyft and Ted Ed, to name just three), all whilst studying his craft. All this makes him a very deserving Class of 2020 Graduate.

INT: Your work has such a clear aesthetic and often a playful, humorous tone. How have you refined and developed this tone and aesthetic over time?

DA: I feel the “look” has really started growing slowly all by itself. I’ve always kind of put googly eyes on things and enjoyed how silly they look. The crazy thing that no one tells you is how long it takes to find an aesthetic. It includes so many wrongs before it feels right, genuine, and that it came from you. I feel I still don’t have a single aesthetic but have made enough things to know what I don’t like and what makes me smile. Aesthetics will always be an ongoing adventure. In terms of the playful tone, I think I just enjoy making people giggle. There’s something about a serious/emotional piece that makes you feel like you owe the audience a huge payoff in the end. With a playful tone, everyone in the audience is having a good time, even the guy who made it.

INT: Which project you’ve done yourself, or been involved in, are you most proud of and why?

DA: I’d have to point towards the Blend Titles from Gunner. It was the summer of 2019 and I was interning with them. If you don’t know the crew there, stop by and say hi because they’re absolutely incredible and talented people. We began the summer with storyboards, sketches and styleframes, but I think we all realised how large an undertaking this project was in the first few weeks. It was this “uh oh” kind of moment. From then on, we powered through and with many late nights, coffees and pizzas, we made the Blend 2019 Titles. I had a part in animating the little critters that had anywhere between two and six legs. It was an animator’s dream. Above all, it was such a blast to play a part in an awesome team and make something entirely original.

Beside that project, I’d love to mention rewarding personal projects like my Instagram series Lé Décision, which allowed viewers to vote for a story direction and see which path succeeds. Followers really got into it and it was one of the most rewarding projects to see the audience interact with a piece.

INT: What are your future plans? Are there any projects you’re really looking to get into in the coming months/years? Any challenges you're looking forward to tackling?

DA: I would absolutely love to start a studio. What this looks like exactly, I’m not too sure, but if we were the size of two people, I’d be ecstatic. It’s always been a dream to work directly with clients large and small. I feel with a small team, we’d be able to compete for gigs that a larger studio couldn’t afford to take on. In addition, commissions for MTV, TED Ed, and Lyft are always a blast and would love to do more of them. The thing I dream of most is starting a studio that plays as much as works. This means keeping doing jobs, but adding personal work to that. The things you could make would be incredible! And best of all, you’re doing that kind of work just for the sake of fun. That’s the dream.