We’re headed back to Vermont for our next installment of Showcasing the GIFted. In the spotlight today is Jonah Nigro, a Burlington based artist and designer. He graduated from Bennington College in 2016, but had his first freelancing animation job with Perrier when he was only a sophomore.

Nigro’s work connects the visual and visceral, and Variety included him on its 110 Students to Watch list in 2015. Since then he’s gone on to do work for clients such as MTV, CÎROC, and even tried his hand at directing a music video.

Take: Do you use a particular moniker for your GIF art?
Jonah Nigro: My moniker for this particular project is Popsicle Illusion!

via GIPHY

T: Where are you from?
JN: I grew up in the Putney/Brattleboro area of Vermont.

via GIPHY

T: What got you started making GIFs, and why GIFs rather than something else?
JN: The GIF format of continuously looping frames is very appealing to me. It allows you to take a single instance of animation and turn it into its own complete work of art. Growing up watching animations I was always blown away by the small details that are just on screen for a couple of seconds and GIFs finally allowed for those moments to be celebrated.

via GIPHY

T: What do you do when you’re not creating GIFs? (i.e. other jobs)
JN: I just finished my first directing project doing a music video for Flux Pavilion. I also do live visuals for shows when I can and dabble in software development on the side.

via GIPHY

You can follow Nigro on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr or his website.

Top image: Leg Flower Pattern. All images courtesy of the artist

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Following our introductory installment of Showcasing the GIFted, we’re turning our attention to Chris Piascik. You will probably recognize the unique organic style of his daily drawing project, and you’ve almost definitely used his playful and irreverent Facebook stickers.

After earning his BFA and MFA from Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, Piascik worked for award-winning graphic design studios around the Northeast before switching into a career as an illustrator. Some of his past clients include Coca-Cola, the Village Voice, Boston Magazine, Warner Music Group, Converse, and Nickelodeon.

Trump Dump. GIF courtesy of the artist.

Take: Where are you from?
Chris Piascik: Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

T: What got you started making GIFs, and why GIFs rather than something else?
CP: I started making GIFs as an experiment within my daily drawing project. It seemed to be a natural evolution in my work. I love GIFs, but I don’t exclusively make GIFs. Static illustrations are still what I do the most.

Fall. GIF courtesy of the artist.

T: What do you do when you’re not creating GIFs? (i.e. other jobs)
CP: I’m an independent illustrator. Sometimes that involves GIFs.

Go Ride. GIF courtesy of the artist.

You can follow Chris Piascik on Twitter and Instagram, and can also find him on Tumblr and through his website.

Top image: Pattern (cropped), all images courtesy of the artist

The post Showcasing the GIFted: Chris Piascik appeared first on Take Magazine.

Since the internet has integrated itself so firmly into our daily lives, it’s nice to step back now and then and recognize its unique artistic output. With that in mind, Take reached out to GIPHY to help us highlight some talented New England GIF artists. First up in our showcase of New England’s most GIFted is Burlington, Vermont-based artist Douglas Schatz. His work embraces the best elements of the image format with mesmerizing results.

Take: Do you use a particular moniker for your GIF art?

Douglas Schatz: I go by a few different handles online, but I’m most well known as GucciSoFlosy and whenthennow.

T: Where are you from?

DS: I’m from Nashville, Tennessee originally, but I’ve lived in Burlington, Vermont for the past four years. Before that I lived in western Mass. after graduating from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

T: What got you started making GIFs, and why GIFs rather than something else?

DS: I started making .gifs on the (now dead) chatroom website dump.fm. Dump was a project made by Ryder Ripps that combined the old school community of internet chatrooms with the new age image sharing and remixing (“talking with pictures”) that happens on Twitter and Tumblr. I was just hanging out there around 2010 and fell in love with what the other artists were making and wanted to make stuff like that, so I started teaching myself how to make them and asking the other artists for help. I like using the .gif format because it’s a unique digital medium—it’s got native alpha support (it can be transparent), its limited color palette creates beautiful dithering and moire patterns, and it’s one of the few file formats that continues to be supported even as the web changes and modernizes. I also think that humans are just naturally drawn to repetition, so the seamless loop of the .gif is sort of mesmerizing.

T: What do you do when you’re not creating GIFs? (i.e. other jobs)

DS: I do freelance video editing, motion graphics, and video effects work. I like to game and tinker with my computer, and when I’m not at my computer, I’m usually playing ultimate or watching soccer or just hanging out with my S.O.

T: Where can we find you around the web?

DS: Instagram: @pdschatz, Twitter: @thuglas4life, Tumblr: whenthennow, ello: @guccisoflossy; websites: http://pdschatz.com, http://freegucci.info

Top image: Static image from a GIF. All images courtesy of the artist

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