Vukolaj Žakula, known among his teammates as Vuk, was the first one to take over both creative and challenging role of motion graphic designer at ILBE Studios. His MGR team gradually grows bigger, and he is happy to share his passion for the animation art with colleagues across all ILBE Studios departments. 

In his comprehensive and inspiring interview Vukolaj talks about his early interests in film and animation, types of projects he deals with, and challenges in his daily work. He also describes the culture and atmosphere of ILBE Studios and the way he sees the motion graphics design in content for children.  

Enjoy the story of his professional jorney. 

 Q&A with Vukolaj Žakula 

You have a broad experience on television, in gaming industry, and in animation.  What your career path looked like, and what would you emphasize as the greatest value of each of these industries? 

V: It was all part of the carefully prepared plan at the beginning of my professional career (laugh). I’ve been into animation and film since I was a kid, but that dream seemed too big at the time. I got my degree in industrial design, but I didn’t find this field very challenging. However, this education helped me learn about color theory, composition, and visual art, which was important for my later jobs in television, film, marketing, and gaming.  

Apart from the film professionals, many people don’t really understand motion graphics design as the individual and valuable art in the world of film. How would you describe your profession? Which artists and films inspire you the most? 

V: Depending on the project, the motion graphics designer can have a bigger or smaller part in it. For example, in the world of classic film, television, and feature content, motion graphics design plays an important role in introducing the viewer to the story. Thanks to the intro graphics, including the film title, the viewer becomes to focus on what’s coming next. Therefore, the motion graphics designer takes huge responsibility to make the audience stay with the program, and don’t reach for remote to switch to something else. My favorite directors are Stanley Kubrick, Spike Lee, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and Edgar Wright. My role models in MGR are Cooper, Saul Bass, Dan Perri…  

What are the things that a motion graphic designer should focus on? 

V: It is important to know who the viewer is, how to attract and keep their attention, and how to convey information to them. It is also important to understand the tone and aesthetics of the project and to select graphic elements, colors, and typography accordingly. It is also crucial to keep up with the trends in the animation industry, and to constantly expand knowledge in order to be able to understand different disciplines in animation. Animation often targets the youngest audience and therefore it is important to track what they like, and how should we address them.  

How did you find out about ILBE Studios and why did you decide to work here? 

V: As a person who follows the local film industry since childhood, I was aware of ILBE Studios from its beginnings. Most people who work here, including myself, have chosen this place because of their true love for animation which dates from their youngest age.    

As a kid, I used to copy characters from screen to paper and tried to understand what I can do to make them alive and moving again. Work in animation and on the television provided me with the chance to participate in large projects both in our and in surrounding countries, and to meet quality people who share the same love for art. Today, I have a chance to work on this with a group of open-minded and talented people who share my love for this art, and together, we can create new worlds for the screen.  

What does fall under the scope of your activites at ILBE Studios? What are the projects you work on? Which programs and tools do you use in your daily work? 

V: I currently work on the Puffins Impossible animated series which is the key project of our studio. I develop the graphic elements for the series, which also include the content on the screens that the characters use and interact with. I both maintain the existing and come up with the new graphics.  I complete the majority of my tasks by using the Adobe tools, such as After Effects and Photoshop. I also work with the Cinema 4D program whenever my ideas overcome the possibilities of the basic available tools. I have support of the team which works in more complex 3D environment and thanks to mutual collaboration we achieve the best results.  

What type of assignments do you enjoy the most? 

V: Everything related to animation and the design of title sequence and end credits makes me very excited and focused. Over the last year, I have had the pleasure to work on several feature films and to personally sign some of the greatest Hollywood names.  

  How would you describe your team? 

V: For one year the motion graphics design at ILBE Studios has been a one man show, and recently, the MGR team has been expanded with the new member, my colleague Aleksandar. It is my pleasure to have a teammate who fits well and speaks the same language of graphics animation as I do. I look forward to the next projects challenges that we will face together. Also, some of the scenes require teamwork of people from all animation disciplines within the studio. Thanks to the creative direction of Peter Nalli, the storyboard, the animation, the rigging, the texture, the VFX, and motion graphics teams consult and exchange views in order to make each process run smoothly. So, they put everything together in a nice piece. This is when our team spirit comes to its full potential.  

What are the greatest values and the greatest challenges of work with the animated content? 

V: The use of animation as the way of communication with the global audience was mostly apparent in gaming industry. After the opening of ILBE Studios the situation changed significantly.  

What is your favorite animated movie? 

V: The Rescuers, from 1977, Paprika, from 2006, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, from the newer productions.  

Which character from Puffins Impossible are you? 

V: TacTik for whom I animate the content on his tablet with great pleasure. I hope he is satisfied with my work (laugh).  

  What superpower would you like to have and why?   

V: I would choose the ability to fly so that I can fly over the traffic jam on my way to work and back… 

 #MeetILBESPeople 

As a creative animation studio, our main goal is to create great stories for the young and young at heart, and we know that it wouldn’t be possible without the incredible people in our #ILBESteam. Stay tuned for the next interview in our #MeetILBESPeople campaign.