Happy Friday! It’s been quiet here at Planet Nutshell as our team members head out on various adventures, but we’re working hard on some exciting projects that we can’t wait to share with you. In the meantime, here are some things we’ve been loving lately. This week we bring you a colorful promo video, a new short from an animation legend, and a series of music- and architecture-inspired illustrations. Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

Lovaganza – The Academy

We discovered this beautiful video shortly after posting our last round of favorites, so into this week’s post it went! This short film is a promotion for Lovaganza 2015, which is a global event aiming to bring people together in a quest for peace. We love the geometric shapes, vibrant colors, and smooth motion graphics. There are so many amazing details, you may need to watch it more than once.

Duet – Glen Keane

Even if you are not familiar with the name Glen Keane, you’re probably familiar with his work. The legendary animator brought to life such iconic Disney characters as Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas and was officially named a Disney Legend in 2013. On June 26th, at Google’s I/O conference, Keane’s latest project was unveiled. This beautiful short, which we first discovered through Slate, was created as a Google “Spotlight Story,” an animated video designed for mobile interaction. The limited color palette, sketch-like quality of the drawings and beautiful soundtrack allow the viewer to focus on the story and highlight the brilliance of Glen Keane’s animation.

ARCHIMUSIC – Federico Babina

“ARCHIMUSIC,” created by Italian illustrator Federico Babina, unites music and architecture in a series of unique, colorful, graphic images. Babina is no stranger to architecture-inspired illustrations, having created previous series like “ARCHICINE,” which celebrates the famous buildings in classic cinema, “ARCHIBET,” which imagines the letters of the alphabet as buildings, and “ARCHIST,” which features buildings inspired by famous artists. Check out his complete portfolio here.

Happy Friday! It’s finally summer and boy, has it been a long time coming this year. Here’s to warm weather, sunshine, and lots and lots of barbecues!

This week’s roundup features two animated shorts, a music video, and a cool artist we’ve just discovered. Enjoy!

Totem – Caleb Wood 

Described by the artist as “a celebration of anima,” this beautiful short was animated by Caleb Wood for the “Worship” episode of the Adult Swim series Off The Air. The two minute animation features some amazing loops and beautiful colors, and the overall effect is mesmerizing.

The Art of Robin Davey

We just recently discovered the artwork of London-based artist Robin Davey, and we’re hooked. Much of Davey’s work uses vibrant colors and geometric designs to create fun and unique images and gifs, but a quick glance at his website shows a wide range of styles. We love finding new inspiration, and a visit to our Pinterest reveals that we found plenty of it on Robin Davey’s website.

C2C’s Delta Music Video – CRCR

This music video was created by French studio CRCR for C2C, a band of DJs also from France. The colors are gorgeous, the story is powerful, and it doesn’t hurt that the song is pretty great, too. If you like the sound, be sure to check out the band’s other music.

Johnny Express – Alfred Imageworks

This charming and fun short features slick 3D animation, great visuals, and a story that is out of this world (literally). There is almost no dialogue, but the perfectly executed sound design tells us everything we need to know. Johnny Express was created by Alfred Imageworks, an animation studio based in South Korea.

Happy Friday! It’s been a while since our last Friday Favorites post, but we’re back with a few treats for you today. We hope you’re enjoying the beautiful (almost) summer weather as much as we are, and wish you a very happy weekend.

Modern Love, Animated

The Modern Love column in the New York Times’ Sunday Styles section is always an interesting read, featuring a new non-fiction essay about love each Sunday accompanied by a fantastic Brian Rea illustration. Earlier this month the Times released this new video, an adaptation of a Modern Love essay brought to life with a simple color palette and beautiful motion graphics by animator Freddy Arenas. This is one of eight videos in a series of animated essays, all of which can be found here.

World Cup Google Doodles

We’re in full World Cup mode here at Planet Nutshell, and the Google Doodles team is clearly sharing our excitement. There have been numerous doodles daily celebrating the event and the nations playing, sometimes changing in response to the current score. Our favorite came this Wednesday, when the letter “L” bounced a soccer ball against a building amidst the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The simple animation shows us why soccer is so popular worldwide – it can be played anywhere, by anyone, with nothing but a soccer ball.

Don’t Fail Idaho PSA

Production Company Buck has created outstanding work in a variety of media, from live action and puppetry to mixed media and stop motion. This animated PSA combines strong graphic design elements with character animation and motion graphics to tell a compelling story about the state of education in Idaho. We love the visual style of this piece, and we always appreciate seeing animation being used for good.

Annecy 2014 Bumpers

Motionographer introduced us to these 5 beautiful shorts, created by students at Gobelins, l’ecole de l’image for the 2014 Annecy International Film Festival. Each short runs around a minute and tells a unique and beautiful story. The above short, entiltled “Le Coup du Lapin,” was directed by Emilie Almaida, Pierre Butet, Magali Garnier, Clémence Maret and Hugo Weiss.

Happy Friday! It’s been a few weeks since our last Friday Favorites post, but we had to bring it back this week to share some of the things we’re loving. First up, a Google doodle welcoming Spring, followed by a Muppets tumblr and another behind-the-scenes look at Ernest & Celestine .

Spring Equinox Google Doodle

This sweet animated Google Doodle features artwork by Eleanor Davis, and was a perfect way to usher in the new season. Read more about the doodle here.

Muppet Art Collab

Above: Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker (duo), by Burt Durand

With Muppets Most Wanted arriving in theaters today, this tumblr is fun AND timely. Artists from all across the internet have each signed up to illustrate a different character, and the results are delightful.

Animating Ernest & Celestine

We first mentioned Ernest & Celestine here, and were excited to see a behind-the-scenes video pop up on Vimeo. Watch the video above to learn more about the making of this beautiful film.

Happy Friday, and cheers to the end of February! Spring is one week closer, and we’re bringing you favorites this week that are sure to distract you from the cold outside. First up is a beautiful Google doodle celebrating the works of John Steinback, followed by two fun shorts and an innovative piece of street art.

 John Steinbeck’s 112th Birthday Doodle

Whether you’re a fan of John Steinbeck’s writing or not, the illustrations on yesterday’s interactive Google doodle are sure to impress. As a bonus, there is an archive of past Google doodles here. Who knew they had doodles back in 1998?

 “Selfie” by Andy Martin

Now that “selfie” has been named 2013’s word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary and become ubiquitous across social media platforms, it’s no surprise to see parodies popping up on the internet. The video above, created for the Character Selfie Project, is by Andy Martin, whose work we previously featured here.

 “Cinematics” by Pier Paolo

This short and sweet animation gives us a brief history of popular film. The characters are adorable, the music is catchy, and the animation is seamless.

 “Paradise” by ROID and INSA

The above gif is an animation of a real wall that was painted, then re-painted, by London-based street artists ROID and INSA for POW! WOW! Hawaii. We first learned about this incredible piece of art here.