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Cozy Up to These Digital Yule Logs

Holiday cheer in animated form.

Yule Cogs, Foster and Flux. GIF by Beckett Mufson via.

This article was first published on December 19, 2014 but we think it still rocks!

'Tis the season for yuletide cheer, but what do you do if your dingy fourth floor walk-up doesn't have a hearth to house a cheery yule log? One answer comes from Daniel Savage in the form of a project called Yule Log 2.0. Started in 2013, the annual collaboration between designers, animators, and creative programmers offers a yield of pun-filled shorts that show us the diverse places one might find a yule log, from deep under the sea to the time of the dinosaurs.

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San Francisco design group Oddfellows helped Savage curate Yule Log 2.014, collaborating with nearly 250 of their friends, colleagues, and artistic heroes. "When Dan mentioned he could use a hand rekindling the flames, we jumped at the chance to get involved and offered our help to make it a tradition," says Oddfellows producer Erica Kelly to The Creators Project. Partnering with the sound designers at Marmoset and web designer Wondersauce, the Oddfellows team wanted to make sure Yule Log was as authentic a yule log experience for the digital medium.

So You're Saying There's a Chance, Ege Soyuer and Nick Petley. Screenshot via.

With so many animations under their belt, the Oddfellows team has learned a thing or two about how to maximize the yuletide cheer. "We love the classic hearths illustrated in timeless mid-century fashion and we love the oddballs that ignore all tradition and make something completely unexpected," explains Kelly. "The most successful logs are the ones that combine gorgeous visuals and chewy nuance with a smooch of storytelling. Even if it's super simple, it's those little moments of surprise and delight that make you feel all warm and fuzzy."

Cozy up to your very own digital hearth on your laptop right here, and enjoy a few of our favorites below:

Stay Tooned from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

So You're Saying There's A Chance from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

Los Angeles Yule Log from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

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Yule Cogs from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

Cretaceous Yule from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

20,000 Logs Under the Sea from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

Santamphetamine from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

Perpetualog from Yule Log 2.0 on Vimeo.

Visit Oddfellows' website for more of their design projects, and Daniel Savage's site for more of his animated films.

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