Say hi to Studio Yatta, a motion studio that dreams of sushi

Having spent over ten years building brands, Fiasco Design has been incorporating motion into their work for a good while now. During the first UK lockdown of last year, therefore, the team decided to set up a sister studio specialising in motion design. The result is Yatta, a motion studio set up with a single purpose: to make great motion work.

Written By: Giacomo Lee

15 January 2021

"There's so much to be inspired by in the world of motion design right now," says Ben Steers, Creative Director at Yatta and Fiasco. "We're also in a strange time which has seen industries such as music get struck by Covid-19 restrictions, and lean on animation in place of film."

"As we grew the studio at Fiasco Design, our skillset grew too. Along with new hires came a new passion for motion design and animation, which led to opportunities in new areas of work that sat outside of the usual realm of brand and digital work."

The new studio's name is inspired by famous documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about the 85-year-old sushi master who dedicated his life to the art of making sushi.

"It's a beautiful film that celebrates Jiro's dedication to a single craft," Ben gushes. "Yatta (which roughly translates to 'we did it' in Japanese) is a little nod to Jiro. Starting Yatta was a decision to specialise our skillset, hone in on motion and do one thing well – pouring all of our time and energy into a single craft. It seemed pretty fitting and made us smile!"

Alongside work for Just Eat and others, Fiasco was also asked last year to work on internal animations for National Trust. It was a pivotal moment for Ben and the team due to the work's relative scale and complexity.

"We were asked to create two animated videos, the first explaining why a consistent visual language is important, and a second to provide a condensed overview of the brand guidelines. We took on the full production, from scripting and storyboarding, to motion design and post-production."

"We're proud of the output which pushed our skills further and allowed us to delve deeper into motion design and storytelling."

Ben believes that in a fast-moving world, brands need to keep up and the demand for animation and motion design is only growing.

"Whilst we find ourselves in challenging times, we see there being great opportunities to work with brands as they adapt and move more of their communications online."

Follow Studio Yatta on Twitter.