A 404 page typically appears when a URL is mistyped, or when a website no longer exists. Despite serving as an error message, it presents an opportunity for something creative. For example, Google's approach turned a 404 into a playable game! In this project, I aimed to transform a typical 404 page into something engaging and fun.

In this project, my goal was to create a series that felt cohesive but was able to stand alone as individual pieces. I sought to create something charming and fun that did not immediately scream "error" to the viewer. Additionally, I used this project as a chance to experiment with animation, which is something I don't do often.

The exercises used for this project were based around the importance of not fixating on a single idea, and instead giving us the opportunity to explore many different avenues in a short amount of time. It began with rapid-fire post-it sketches and word lists, which we then expanded on as we moved into the Crazy 8s exercise. 

The Crazy 8s exercise was similarly fast-paced, with only a minute to finish a sketch in each of the eight squares. From there, I was able to choose the strongest ideas and flesh them out into something more refined while also beginning to consider how I would add movement to them.

My final designs drew inspiration from mythology, featuring a sphinx, mermaid, and dragon (which was sketched and added after this round of sketches). I related their nonexistence with that of a 404 page, as a 404 inherently means that a page does not exist. I wished to experiment with my art style, so I sought to emulate the Corporate Memphis style for its clean, simplistic vector aesthetic.

Once the animations were finished, they were then uploaded to Adobe Express to act as 404 pages. Each Express page is linked below.

Although this project was initially based around using Adobe Express, I found that it was rather limited in terms of animation. This caused me to have to problem solve and, in doing so, I branched out and learned an entirely new program. Although my animations created in Adobe Animate aren't extremely complicated, it was still uncharted territory for me. It gave me the opportunity to depart from my previous experience doing frame-by-frame animation, which in turn expanded my skill set.