I’ve been a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s work for years. Every so often, I find myself creating small illustrations inspired by corners of the Cosmere simply for the joy of diving deeper into those worlds.
But with a background in motion design, I’ve always wondered how I would approach one of Dragonsteel’s videos in my own style. It was an idea sitting in the back of my mind for a long time.
When we had a short window of downtime between client projects, I finally had the chance to explore that curiosity. At Ranger & Fox, personal growth and skill development aren’t just supported, they’re part of our culture. So using that time to experiment felt completely natural.
I decided to take this opportunity, and my love for the material, to refresh my Cinema 4D skills. Over the years I’ve used C4D less in day-to-day production, often jumping in mid-pipeline rather than building a scene from scratch. This project became a perfect way to retrace those steps from the ground up. I used the announcement video for the upcoming Second Worldhopper Ball as inspiration, exploring what a fully 3D logo reveal for the event might feel like.
Creatively, I knew I wanted the push-and-pull forces of Allomancy to drive the transformation of the logo. For the environment, I pulled from the familiar imagery of ash drifting from the sky, red ambient light, and the nocturnal mists that define Mistbornes’ atmosphere.
I also challenged myself with a realistic, production-friendly schedule: something polished, but created within just a few days, similar to the constraints studios face in the real world.
In the end, the project became a chance to reconnect with my craft, to remember why I fell in love with motion design in the first place, and I’m grateful for the space to pursue it.
Link to the reference video: https://youtu.be/ohkcHx3uKC4?si=f7byib7Ya_XXwklF
