Matt Taylor and Mark Simpson of Sixty40
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How to achieve a balance between commercial, the interesting and the beautiful.
Sydney motion graphics and animation studio, Sixty40, is definitely on a roll. Headed by Matt Taylor, Animation Director (the non-bearded one) and Mark Simpson, Design Director (bearded), one word that seems to sum up the last seven years of Sixty40 is ‘awesome’.
Beginnings
The two founding members of Sixty40 come from relatively different backgrounds and areas of Australia. Mark grew up in Adelaide and moved to Sydney to work in digital design and interactive media (which he now claims to despise). Meanwhile, Matt studied Graphic Investigation in a Canberra art school before returning to Sydney and finding work at a ‘doomed Internet company’ where is also where he and Mark met. Soon afterwards Sixty40 was born and they have never looked back. Rather, they both have their eyes fixed on the future, producing more work that reflects the 60/40 balance between the commercially focused and the interesting and beautiful.
The Eduganda Panda Show
Sixty40 has become well known for their creative ideas, innovative approach and their wacky sense of humour which constantly shines through in their work. One such example is the 26 x 30 second animated series, ‘The Eduganda Panda Show’ which is broadcast as part of The Music Jungle on Saturday mornings on Channel 9 Australia. Dubbed ‘Australia’s strangest, shortest cartoon’, it is scripted, voiced and drawn by the team at Sixty40, playfully pushing the limits of its PG rating. Inspired by its short duration, the show is jam-packed with colourful graphics and sound as another misguided, crazy lesson from the Eduganda Panda (Education + Propaganda + Panda) is conducted. Episodes of the show first aired in April, 2007 and plans for a second series of thirteen 11-minute shows are currently underway.
The Eduganda Panda Show
The Music Jungle
Sixty40 are also responsible for The Music Jungle’s logo, titles and packaging for the show, commissioned by Headlock Media. The brief was simple, it required a monkey and a certain piece of music. Sixty40 leapt at the chance to create their ‘no holds barred’ idea which would follow the monkey (named Em’ J) as it travels through different realities until he lands in a field of flowers to join a sing-a-long to the song ‘La’. Drawing their inspiration from the design community, pop culture and even the Muppets in their work, Matt and Mark used ‘every animation style [they] could think of’ from old school 2D and newer 3D animation, to puppets, animal fur, plants and cardboard cut-outs, with the intention that the finished title sequence would ‘stand out even with a Saturday morning hangover’.
The Music Jungle
The Comedy Channel
When The Comedy Channel moved to Melbourne, Sixty40 were given a brief that would help the channel feel at home to its audience in a new city. Matt and Mark’s response was to take their logo, C’fer, and place it within the context of Melbourne’s hot spots, landmarks that would be recognisable to a local audience. To do this, they created a 3D version of the C’fer character in order for it to be able to react effectively within its new environment. The realistic result was due not only to the animation of the character but also matching all the aspects of lighting and other environmental factors, as well as Sixty40′s playfulness showing through in the character’s movement.
Comedy Channel Station Idents
MTV Asia
In building upon and expanding the brand for MTV Asia’s worldwide show MTV Motoalert, Sixty40 recruited work from outside artists to incorporate new artwork and music for the brief. Matt and Mark worked with stencil artist Piers Greville to combine animated stencils with a ’3D matrix like spray paint effect, big fat extruded 3D lines with leaping graff arrows to a slick but gritty title sequence’. Set to a soundtrack composed by Adam Maggs of Sydney electronic outfit Stick Figures fame, the new identity was achieved for the show that highlights the week’s hottest artists on MTV. The flexible design of the identity meant that it could also be adapted to work across not only broadcast, but online, print and merchandising avenues.
The future
Sixty40 has strong ongoing working relationships with clients from the ABC, The Comedy Channel, MTV and VH1 Australia, Sony BMG Australia and Headlock Media, and it’s not hard to see why these clients keep coming back. Aside from winning several awards including Gold for the ‘Best Sponsor Spot’ for their client Jagermeister at the Promax BDA Awards in 2006, Matt and Mark have an infectious sense of humour combined with a good sense of professionalism in their approach to their clients, and this is well reflected in their work. The basis of this stems from a genuine enjoyment in what they do, and an admirable close partnership in which ideas can be bounced back and forth, developed and seen right through to the end, all with a good sense of fun.
Kate McCurdy
