Press Release
Nomad Animation by Yetong Xin and Muwen Li Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Movie, Video and Animation Design
The international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Yetong Xin and Muwen Li for movie, video and animation design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ Nomad Animation by Yetong Xin and Muwen Li, designed for Reraner, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Movie, Video and Animation Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Silver A' Design Award Explained
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About Nomad Animation
Nomad is a science fiction animated short film about the future of the Amazon rainforest. The film shows a moving city that can carry Amazonian tribes to new habitable areas when a location can no longer support human life. The machines in Nomad keep a mechanical structure but are built mainly from natural materials instead of metal. This nature inspired approach avoids the coldness of traditional machinery and gives the city a sense of vitality. Sketches and storyboards were made first, followed by modeling, animation, rendering and compositing. Motion capture was used for the characters.
About Yetong Xin and Muwen Li
Yetong Xin is a director and 3D artist specializing in 3D visuals, motion design, AIGC, XR technologies, and human-computer interaction. Her work integrates computer graphics (CG), AI-generated content, and immersive technology, spanning animation, interactive installations, architectural projections, and new media experiences. Through her creations, she explores the convergence of the virtual and real, challenging perceptions of identity, space, and reality. She has collaborated with Harvard CAM Lab, NOWNESS, NetEase, Sense, and AOYA, delivering cutting-edge digital and tech-driven art experiences.
Award Record
This recognition makes Yetong Xin and Muwen Li a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Movie, Video and Animation Design Award
The A' Movie Design Award is an international movie design competition recognizing outstanding movie designs by best movie designers and directors worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to movie designers, animation artists, directors and film producers from all countries. Entries typically include feature films, short films, documentaries, animations, music videos and experimental films. Awarded movie designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/movie
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/164631
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/164631
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!164631
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/358996
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://reraner.com/NOMAD
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Nomad Animation
- Function
- Animation
- Category
- Movie, Video and Animation Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Entertainment and Arts
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Midnight Blue, Dim Gray, Slate Gray and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Reraner
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yetong Xin and Muwen Li
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #164631
Credits
- Team
- Muwen Li, Yicheng Zhu, Zuochu Liu, JoNine Liu and Gabriela Bila Advincula
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The mechanical design in the video has a unique style: while it retains a mechanical structure, it primarily uses natural materials instead of metal. Through this nature inspired mechanical approach, the design aims to portray a human city that values nature, reflecting a vision for future cities—harmony between humans and the environment. This design breaks away from the coldness of traditional machinery, giving it a sense of vitality that resonates with the audience and enhances their immersive experience.
- Inspiration
- This scifi animation short was created in 2023, with a focus on environmental protection. By 2024, due to urban expansion, the forest cover in the eastern Amazon had decreased by 31 percent. This inspired the project to reflect on how humans should coexist harmoniously with nature in the future. The concept envisioned a city capable of moving freely; when a location can no longer sustain human activity, it would transport the Amazonian tribes to new habitable areas, achieving a dynamic balance of natural resources.
- Research
- This project originated from MIT Media Lab's City Science Group research on Amazonian tribes, focusing on the Amazon rainforest's decline due to human activity. Collaborating with scholars and urban designers, the team explored the tribes' beliefs, such as shamanism and totems. Their findings suggest that future Amazonian tribes may continue to respect nature and build cities that harmonize with the environment, shaping the film's worldview and production.
- Challenge
- The challenge was how to create a worldview that respects nature in the context of a high tech future. Many futuristic films, such as those with cyberpunk aesthetics, often depict highly mechanized cities, which conflict with the message of nature conservation the project aimed to convey. To address this issue, multiple discussions were held, ultimately leading to the adoption of a biomimetic approach, designing a city that embodies advanced technology while coexisting harmoniously with nature.
- Realization and Technology
- First created design sketches and storyboards in Photoshop, then modeled in Blender. Used Cinema4D for scene building, animation, rendering, and simulations, and finally composited everything in After Effects. The character movements were captured using motion capture technology.
- Operation and Interaction
- This animation uses a widescreen cinematic aspect ratio, and the music is highly aesthetic. It is best suited for viewing in a completely dark environment, such as a cinema, with a large screen or projector. The audience will experience an immersive and ultimate audiovisual experience.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in September 2023 in MIT Media Lab in Boston and finished in January 2024, and was exhibited in Brooklyn Film Festival, D ARCH Film Festival, A plus D museum in Los Angeles, and METAXIS plus PROMPT Festival in Budapest in 2024.
- Specifications
- 4K Video. Screened on a large display.
- Keywords
- animation, nature, scifi, emotion, future
