Recent graduate, Christian Caraballo’s senior thesis was a lyric video for the song, Nights in the Chill.
Screen shot of the final visual outcome of the project
As a graphic designer and musician Christian wanted to create something that would incorporate both skills. With this in mind, he decided to focus on creating a visual based off language and symbols.
Illustrated symbols I’ve created used throughout the visual
Instead of creating a traditional lyric video for a song he had composed, Christian decided to alter some words and phrases by either using their slang equivalent, spelling them phonetically, breaking them apart, or completely replacing the word with an icon. He was curious to see if the lyrics would still be legible, as they quickly flash across the screen in various ways.
Screen shot of the final visual outcome of the project
Christian was interested in testing whether people would be able to decipher the text as the song aided them in the background. The song is titled “Nights in the Chill” and is accompanied by a neon sign theme, which seems appropriate given the subject matter.
Typeface used throughout the video titled “Beon Medium” created by Bastien Sozoo
What were your favorite classes at Parsons?
During my time at Parsons, my favorite classes, I’ve attended would have to be anything involing motion graphics or animation. My first introduction to motion graphics and the use of After Effects was during a course titled Motion Concepts instructed by Michael Waldron. It was there I discovered my love for animating, editing, and creating on after effects. From then on I continued to Animation 1 instructed by Ana Mouyis which furthered my interest into animating and revealed new techniques I had never before seen that I utilize to this day. Lastly, Advanced Motion Graphics instructed by Dennis Cheung which solidified my passion in creating visually appealing graphics in various different forms/methods.
Who do you look up to in the design community?
Someone I look up to in the Design community would have to be Cryssy Cheung, a person I met through my time at an internship who ended up turning into one of my favorite illustrators. Her vector illustrations are a prime example of the quality of work I’d like my own projects to reach at some point. Another artist I look up to was a previous instructor at Parsons. His name was James H. Romberger, a brilliant artist whose pastel pieces blew me away and only motivated me to master my craft as he did his to generate magnificent pieces as an outcome. There are many names I could mention but these were the first two to come to mind at the moment.
