The first Node Fest was a roaring success! I have been counting down to this event and I was not disappointed. As founder and self appointed 'Headmaster', James Cowen said, this will be the highlight of the Melbourne motion design calendar.
What drew me to node was the fact that it was one concentrated day specifically for and by motion designers. I have found other events (Pause) to be too general and too spread out, with confusing programs and ticketing. Node was one simple, solid Friday where everything was relevant, lunch and dnibbles were laid on and there was free beer from Adobe at the after party, all at one venue!
The speakers were a perfect range of masters, overseers, philanthropists and wildcards, who all make big contributions to Australian animation and motion design and influence the Melbourne industry.
From Tim Clapham's philosophical comparison of the handcrafted vs the procedural, to Superstar title designer Raoul Marks' cocky casual couch conversation as the closing segment, Node was inspiring, fun, informative and a really good way to meet new people who I didn't know were around, doing really amazing and varied work.
I think my favourite part was Dom Bartolo's presentation of the process work from his company, Flutter. Their advertisement for Libra is a beautiful piece of motion design, and the style frames that he presented were works of art in themselves.
Thanks so much to James, Kim and everyone who made Node possible.