What the "Word Crimes" Animator Did Before "Word Crimes"

YouTube / jmheather
YouTube / jmheather / YouTube / jmheather
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Before making Weird Al's instant-classic "Word Crimes" video, artist/programmer/musician Jarrett Heather dabbled in kinetic typography on a volunteer basis. Back in 2010, Heather released an incredible fan video for Jonathan Coulton's song "Shop Vac," reportedly spending one thousand hours putting it together. The effort shows, and it got him the Weird Al gig. Have a look:

Heather wrote an extensive explanation of the "Word Crimes" video on his website, including a bunch of trivia. Three bits that popped out at me (emphasis added):

The Care-o-meter has a certification sticker from the Division of Measurement Standards, a branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, where I was employed full-time as a programmer analyst while creating this video on nights and weekends. The coffee stain on the "no X in 'espresso'" napkin is the same art used in the chorus of "Shop Vac". The logo for the once-ubiquitous blogging site LiveJournal was originally designed by Jarrett Heather in the year 2000.

Not bad for nights and weekends. Not bad at all.

For more Jarrett Heather awesomeness, read this interview, or perhaps this one, and follow him on Twitter. If you're addicted to the catchy "Shop-Vac" song, it's on JoCo's Thing a Week One.