Sesame Street
Teaching kids to count through an animated short film
Art direction/Illustration
SERVICES
UI/UX
Graphic Design
Illustration
Whatever
I worked with writer/musician Ian Keteku and Sesame Street to create illustrations for a new animated musical short.
Challenge
I was approached by writer and musician Ian Keteku to collaborate together on a creative pitch for Sesame Street. Ian was working on a pitch for a song, and required visuals to illustrate the story and bring the song to life. If chosen, the pitch would be created into an animated short.
Solution
I created a simple illustration style and storyboards for the animated short that would be appealing to and understood by preschool children.
Process
Ian shared a draft of the song he was creating, as well as a draft breakdown of scenes he envisioned for the short. Together we created a list of necessary illustrations required to flesh out the story and create an animatic. I was responsible for developing a style for the short, designing the characters and illustrating backgrounds.
Feedback from Sesame Street was very positive, and eventually the concept for the short film shifted. We were requested to pitch for a new concept around the letter C instead of S, and to change the setting from nighttime to daytime. Ian provided a new script and music, and I developed a new set of characters for the updated pitch.
Our pitch for C is for Counting was then accepted by Sesame Street; after final illustrations were approved, I provided assets and storyboards to motion designer Andrew Rewfoe who brought the animation to life.
After initial approval of the illustrations and general art direction, I created character rigs, props and backgrounds which would be provided as motion assets to our motion designer.
Results
On Thursday, February 11, 2021, the animated short “C is for Counting” premiered during the episode “The Counting Booth Counters” on season 51 of Sesame Street. The episode is currently viewable on HBO Max.
