Gifs

I wanted to teach myself how to create Gifs using Procreate. I once had a workshop on how to make GIFs using Photoshop however I mainly work on Procreate, and so wanted to give it a go. I watched a quick video to get the jist and soon got the hang of it. I didn’t find it too difficult, my only issue was continuity as I had to remember certain orders and details which I had to carry throughout each layer (as each layer is a new frame). 

My first concept was to respond to the fact that 40% of girls have had to use toilet roll as they are unable to afford sanitary products. 

The main image of my GIF had to be toilet roll, yet I wanted it to be moving. I decided to use the “Female” bathroom sign printed on the toilet roll to show the amount of women rather than just showing a statistic. As seeing a visible image is more shocking and shows the reality clearer than numbers do, In my opinion. I used red to show the women who unfortunately are unable to afford sanitary products. The statistic worked out as 4/10 and so ⅖ women have had to use toilet paper as they are unable to afford sanitary products. 

My second gif was to highlight that women on average spend around £18,000 on menstrual products across their lifetime. I wanted to show this through replacing money in a purse with sanitary products.  

I explored a couple other ideas however after mocking them up quickly I realised the ideas I already had would work a lot better.

Making the GIF

I found it tricky at the beginning to figure out how to add extra pieces to each frame as you can’t really use layers but I worked out that grouping layers works or I’d merge down the layers into a frame. Merging down the layers became an issue if I had to change something in the future as it didn’t allow for any changes but other than that it keeps the frames neater than if I grouped the layers. I’m still figuring out which I prefer to use. I also need to keep practicing at making them and creating them to be smoother. I much prefer creating gifs on Procreate to Photoshop or Illustrator as it is easier to draw on the image and add in additional details.  Before creating the real thing I created a mock version quickly so I could understand what went on each layer.

With more practice I will produce better gifs, however, for a first attempt I am quite pleased with how they turned out. I think I will be creating more gifs to hone the skill. I want to then progress and create gif stickers to use on apps such as instagram, giphy and messaging apps.