Google: Alex Varanese

Alex Varanese is a digital image maker from San Francisco. An extensive use of 3D in his work enables Alex to create lifelike depictions of architecture, product design and urban landscapes from scratch, without photography. He has a large following of enthusiasts and an equally healthy client base, many of whom are high profile companies like Google.
This latest project (click here to see animation) was to give Google's targeted, metrics-driven advertising technology a memorable introduction to the world of TV, director/writer David Bryant wanted to contrast the profound evolution that television has undergone in the last half century with the sluggish pace at which TV advertising has advanced. As such, the first half of the animated piece is a tour of the televisions themselves, from the clunky wooden boxes of the 40's and 50's to the sleek flat panels of today. Along the way brief motion graphics pieces capture the essence of each era, starting with the infamous indian head test card, then on to the colourful but ham-fisted world of animation in the 60's and 70's, moving through the laser grids and neon pink script of the 80's, and finally settling on the obnoxious excess of modern-day cable news packaging. We then zoom out to reveal a patchwork of televisions arranged as a single video wall, at which point narration and animation info-graphics take over.