Damer’s Winning Design – Malaria Kills – Raises Funds and Awareness for Malaria No More Foundation
NEWBURY PARK, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 23, 2012 — MAXON, a leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, congratulates digital artist and motion designer Barton Damer on winning first honors place in the Veer Creative Catalyst: Design for Change Competition, an international contest inviting artists to design a compelling socially-themed piece for a charity or cause of their choice. Damer, best known for connecting large brands to core markets under his moniker AlreadyBeenChewed.tv, relied on MAXON CINEMA 4D to create a sophisticated digital illustration entitled Malaria Kills to raise awareness and funds for the Malaria No More Foundation.
The contest was run by Veer.com, the creative source for exclusive fonts and images, in association with other highly regarded international design industry resources, including Slanted, a web portal and quarterly print magazine dedicated to typography and design; onedotzero, a London-based organization that commissions, showcases and promotes innovation across all aspects of moving image, digital and interactive arts; and Depthcore, an international collective focused on modern digital art, incorporating illustration, photography, animation and audio.
Damer’s winning design entry netted Malaria No More a donation of € 2000 from Veer, was recently projected at public spaces in Berlin and London and will appear as a feature story in the February issue (#197) of Computer Arts Magazine.
“It’s really cool to be part of Veer’s competition and I’m honored to receive recognition from several design industry leaders and know that my work will benefit Malaria No More, an exceptionally worthy organization,” says Damer. “Having access to a tool like CINEMA 4D gave me a competitive edge and overall has allowed me to add a whole new dimension to my work – depth! My ideas are no longer bound by what I can draw or what I find in photographs.”
According to Billy Tennent, Creative Director at Veer and one of the competition judges, more than 175 entries were received – all of fantastic quality. “Barton’s design shone out as being exceptionally well crafted and set an unprecedentedly high bar for all other entries,” outlined Tennent. “We’re pleased to be able to make the prize donation to Malaria No More, Barton’s selected charity, that will help save lives and to also show the top winning designs in public spaces around Europe to bring attention to this and other worthy causes.”
“MAXON congratulates Barton on receiving this exemplary award win from the Catalyst for Change Competition judges,” said Paul Babb, president/CEO, MAXON US. “We continue to marvel at the imaginative way Barton pushes the artistic boundaries of CINEMA 4D and appreciate the small role it played in raising awareness for this important cause.”
In Damer’s Malaria Kills piece, shiny, abstract 3D elements generated in CINEMA 4D were composited with photographs of tree limbs, mosquitoes and rocks to make the continent of Africa appear like a large hair piece of a young African queen, artfully using the silhouette of the eastern coast of the continent as the facial profile. The hair tools in CINEMA 4D was also used to create the "shoulder pads" of the African woman. Damer’s workflow also included Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects, with which CINEMA 4D integrates effortlessly.
For Damer, the devastating impact of Malaria in Africa is represented by blurring images of beauty and decay. “At first I want viewers to notice the continent of Africa and a beautiful woman,” said Damer. “Then, on closer introspection, I want people to notice the troubling things about this portrait of “Africa” – Malaria being a big one. The abstract 3D renders were incorporated because they make people question whether they are really seeing a stunning image within the hair or perhaps the shiny backside of a beetle?”
Based in Dallas, Damer has been using CINEMA 4D for the past four years on numerous artistic and corporate projects for clients such as Scion, CBS Sports and AT&T. His previous award wins include the 2009 Digital Artist of the Year, sponsored by Computer Arts Magazine, 3D World Magazine and Intel. Damer will be a guest presenter with MAXON at the Portland User Group, 3DPDX, monthly event on January 26, 2012, where he will explain his creative process and how he relies on CINEMA 4D for both print and broadcast projects.
About MAXON Computer
Headquartered in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, MAXON Computer is a developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions. Its award-winning CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D software products have been used extensively to help create everything from stunning visual effects in top feature films, TV shows and commercials, cutting-edge game cinematics for AAA games, as well for medical illustration, architectural and industrial design applications. MAXON has offices in Germany, USA, United Kingdom, France, Japan and Singapore. MAXON products are available directly from the web site and its worldwide distribution channel. For additional information on MAXON visit, www.maxon.net.
