Architects, Illustrators and Gif Creators: The Foundations of World Class Animators

Greek-born animating duo and co-founders of NOMINT, Christos Lefakis and Yannis Konstantinidis met when studying at University College London. Unlike many who tend to stumble their way into animation or post production from the arts and media world, this duo studied a whole different level of 3D drawing - as architects. Having completed an intensive seven-year course, they only worked on one architectural project together before deciding they’d rather switch their attention to animation. Why? Because “you don’t have to wait 10 years to see your drawing come to life.”

For the next 5 years, the pair established a successful animation studio in Athens before taking the leap to set up in the city that they first met in – London. Expanding on their studio offering, Christos and Yannis have accrued an eye-catching roster of talent in order to open their very own independent animation production company. Speaking from their London office, they apparently ‘don’t miss the sun’ in Greece’ - cue all Londoner’s gasping in horror and disbelief. 

Nuchello - Christos & Yannis

Christos & Yannis describe their personal style as ‘part-collage part-surreal, with a dark humour laced throughout’.  They also like to turn their hands to different styles, pushing the boundaries of their animation experience. 

Based in the heart of Shoreditch, NOMINT boasts a unique roster composed of commercial animating stalwarts, born-again illustrators and creative mega-minds. As a result of this exceptional combination of artists, the work completed for their clients is almost always visually hypnotising.

“We’ve built our roster organically over the last few years and we only sign people that we think are the best in the world at what they do,” says Yannis.

Hermès – Hippopolis – Ugo Gattoni

Ugo Gattoni has a lifelong contract with Hermes Paris. He has designed a series of limited edition silk scarfs for the brand which sell-out in a matter of hours. From his illustrations, Ugo creates unique animation content. 

Priding themselves on the diversity of their team, it isn’t just commercial talent that Christos and Yannis look to sign. Despite boasting big names such as Bat and Planktoon, they’ve opened their roster to the likes of leading illustrators, including Rami Niemi and Ugo Gattoni and gif animators like Stephen Vuillemin.

“ In my mind animation is the art of the amateur. That's where it thrives. We want our directors to experiment as much as possible. That's one of the reasons we sign so many fresh and unknown names. That's why we have set up the studio the way we have, so we can support our directors and provide structure to the production without compromising their raw creative freedom.”

Stephen Vuillemin has been crafting bold and exciting work mixing illustration, comics, and animation, with no order of preference. His compositions include opulent palettes, where sci-fi meets fashion and lifestyle, on a sometimes vulgar, sometimes grandiose mode.

NOMINT’s high calibre roster is complemented by the in-house animation studio NOM NOM NOM (I told you they were hungry!), which provides a more flexible production solution to the traditional animation workflow. Acting as creative directors for NOM NOM NOM, Christos and Yannis oversee every project. When a style is set, they’re happy to deviate from their own preferences to protect the artistic integrity of their directors.

“We've called our studio NOM NOM NOM because we are always hungry for more and we will always bend over backwards to help agencies and clients realize their vision. As a studio we will happily consult on and produce any style of animation for a client. There is a lot of preciousness in the traditional animation models, and we don't believe this helps the end result”.

Balls of Deviance - NOM NOM NOM 

Google – Super Sync Sports – NOM NOM NOM (Rami Niemi)

Rami is quite possibly one of the most sought after illustrators/writers/directors/LP collectors/hair-models of rural Sweden. Half Finnish, half farmer, half drawing machine, he has created clever and naughty visual candy for the likes of Google, Nike, The New York Times, Wired, Tropicana and Espn.

Yannis and Christos don’t just provide their expertise to projects run through NOM NOM NOM, they are great believers in looking over every project that comes through NOMINT’s doors. “We think there is such an amazing opportunity for agencies and brands who want to use untapped original high-end art in their campaigns. Some of our talent is raw, but most importantly it’s fresh and it doesn’t come without guidance. Every job we do at NOMINT has both the eyes and ears of 20 years of commercial animation experience, in the form of Christos and I.”

Some might say the pair are biting off more than they can chew, but NOMINT are chomping their way through high profile projects for some of the world’s most exciting brands as their world-class roster continues to grow.

Fendi – Hypnoteyes – Dario Imbrogno 

Hogan - Style Lab, Episode 6, Urban Landscapes - Dario Imbrogno

Hogan - H Club Episode 2, Urban Landscapes - Dario Imbrogno

Dario Imbrogno directs and animates films with surgical precision, a master of stop motion animation, he continuously experiments and bends the rules to create stunning stop motion masterpieces.