“Kiki’s Song” Lyric Video

Overview

Built across three programs

The project spanned the full production pipeline from initial illustration in Procreate to animation in Adobe After Effects to final editing in Premiere Pro. The finished video runs for about 2 minutes.

Design Direction

The look and feel of the video

"Kiki's Song" is vocal-heavy and unhurried, with a floaty, almost weightless quality to it. I started by sitting with how the song felt personally, then grounded that feeling in the album cover it came from. Soft colors, floral imagery, and gradients became the visual language. I chose these to echo the airy nature of the track without competing with it.

Florals and gradients inspiration board

Storyboarding

Sequencing the scenes

With the look and feel established, storyboarding mapped out how the visuals would move through the song. I sequenced the scenes and planned how the lyrics would sit within each one before any illustration began. This is when I brainstormed composition and transition ideas as well.

Storyboard sketches

The Illustrations

The illustrated foundation

The key screens were drawn in Procreate, building out the soft, floral world defined in the direction phase. These illustrations became the foundation that the animation was built on top of.

Sample of Procreate illustrations

Final Video

See the final cut

The illustrations and text were animated in After Effects and the full video was put together in Premiere Pro. The full lyric video is available to watch below.

Reflection

Notes & Takeaways

This project was my first time working in After Effects, and navigating a new tool while completing a full production pipeline from illustration to final edit came with its own set of lessons.