The most colourful time of year in Australia is summer and new year. I wanted to create a design that animated from blue to purple to pink, with stars of the Southern Cross twinkling alongside, emulating the night sky.

Using a brush pen on Rhodia paper, I wrote Happy New Year several times then outlined in pencil. This one was a relatively quick process because I had given myself a deadline of two days to complete it. After moving the vectors into After Effects, I applied trim paths to animate the lettering and stars. Here’s the complete process video.