Creative Intuition: How Factory Merges Humanity with Beautiful Animation

“I’m putting my hand on my face - why am I doing that?!”, asks Jennifer Djehdian part-way through our interview.

The executive creative director and founder of Factory, the world-class animation and creative studio based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has an extraordinary passion for her craft. And, because of that, she’s equally passionate about people - working with them, telling their stories through her art, and studying them. So it’s those intricacies of movement - holding our hands to our foreheads when we’re trying to answer a question, for example - that make us visibly human. For an animator, especially one with a keen interest in character work, those details are like gold dust. 

“Great animation and creativity is all about those little details”, says Jennifer. “You need to know how humans move because that’s how we communicate the personalities of our characters - through movement”. 

To see this approach in action, there’s no better example than Factory’s work for this year’s Rugby World Cup in collaboration with the creative agency Ignite. In the gorgeous artistry, you can see that attention to detail and passion for character work shine through, all in the context of a stunningly unique blended 2D/3D art style that helps the work to stand out. 

“We’re so proud of that project and I feel it does represent Factory in a lot of ways”, notes Jennifer. “We love working with characters and environments in equal measure. And for this project we needed to animate ten different locations from across France, and around 35 different characters to exist within them”. 

The result is a piece of work that captures the kinetic spirit of the tournament itself, and combines it with the kind of artistry for which Factory is known. “I have to give credit to our creative agency partners at Ignite”, adds Jennifer. “They pushed us - they gave us the freedom to be creative, but worked with us to ensure that our creativity was at the highest possible level. Honestly, it was an honour to produce this project for them - we’ve been fans of theirs for a long time at Factory”. 

It’s easy to see how Factory have become popular collaborators for a number of brands and agencies. The Brazilian studio has worked on campaigns for the likes of Ben and Jerry’s, Oreos, Nike, Coca-Cola, TikTok, and many more besides. 

When asked what it is about the studio that helps their work to stand out, Jennifer’s reply is simple: “We love a challenge”, she says. “Plus, the journey is often just as important as the destination. Of course the result is the most important thing when it comes to client work, but how did we get there? Did we respect our partners? Was it a fulfilling creative journey for all parties? Did we grow? These are all factors that we need to consider”. 

It’s a holistic approach, but one which is anchored by the studio’s uncompromising approach to craft and quality. Jennifer has a lot of love for the art of animation, something which is shared across the Factory team. “Animation transports you to different worlds, it’s a different kind of immersion”, she says. “Your senses work differently when they’re confronted with animation as opposed to live action. When I walk out of a movie theatre having just watched something animated, I feel a sense of re-acclimatisation to the real world. That speaks to the magic of what animation can do”. 

And there’s a palpable sense of ambition, too. When asked to predict what 2024 has in store for Factory, Jennifer is characteristically open-minded. “Haha, I could say a lot - we’re all dreamers here”, she says. But, excitingly, the studio’s founder mentions that the team are working on their own new entertainment projects - original IP straight from the minds and imaginations of the Factory team. 

On top of that, the team’s work with Ignite on the Rugby World Cup project is opening global doors that Jennifer is excited to walk through. “We are putting a lot of energy to work even more with international customers and agencies”, remarks Jennifer.

Ultimately, whatever comes next from Jennifer and Factory, it will build upon those hallmarks of style, personality, and authenticity for which the studio has become known. It’s a studio of ‘dreamers’ with the skill and dedication to make anything happen - and, speaking to Jennifer, it’s easy to get the sense that Factory has really only just started.