Inspired by the phrase "Error Is Creation," by festival curator Gina Valenti, Nice Shoes has created a glimmering, retro-futuristic opening identity for touring global electronic arts event 404 Festival that incorporates information systems, vector video games and sustainable architecture. "We incorporated a list of previous locations for the festival with the idea this history culminated in this year's event in Taipei," said creative director Brian Bowman.
Bowman and a team of four artists spent five weeks designing the opener in Maya and After Effects. The film, which screened before each program at the festival, opens with a tiny spark in space spurting into an electrified navigation system that grows and courses through a stark, glowing cityscape pulsating with abstract data streams. A heady mix of glowing light blues and greens, the color scheme and graphical look of the animation recalls the Walrus navigation system and 1980s vector video games such as The Tempest.
The film's sound design also nods to the evolution of technology. Bowman incorporated NASA recordings of an Apollo countdown and then audio of the festival's artists saying 'error is creation' in their mother tongue.
"Finally we end on an ethereal chorus as the manifestation of 'error is creation' completes itself," he said. "The challenge was finding the right tenor for each shot, not derivative and not necessarily what we first thought of when we started designing."
"I'm so happy with the spot," said Valenti. "I want to thank the Nice Shoes team so much for this effort and having the talent to do such beautiful things."