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Glite Dictionary
CalArts style

CalArts style

7.5
A style of animation that uses simple shapes, expressive faces, and a playful look
  • noun
translation icon : estilo CalArts
  • She experimented with different techniques before settling on the CalArts style for her graduation film.

Examples

  • The new cartoon series boldly uses the CalArts style to appeal to a younger audience.

  • Many independent animators criticize the overuse of the CalArts style in mainstream projects.

  • The new cartoon features a unique CalArts style.

  • Many animators prefer the CalArts style for its simplicity.

  • Many independent animators criticize the overuse of the CalArts style in mainstream projects.

  • She experimented with different techniques before settling on the CalArts style for her graduation film.

  • The new cartoon series boldly uses the CalArts style to appeal to a younger audience.

Synonyms

artistic style
vsCalArts style
1 4.0

A particular way an artist makes and shows art

is a specific informal animation look with simple shapes and expressive features

Surface Forms

CalArts style singular
CalArts styles plural

Morphology

CalArts + style

The phrase follows the transparent composition pattern 'X style' (the style associated with X), so a learner who knows 'style' and that CalArts is an art/animation school could infer it refers to an aesthetic tied to that institution. However, 'CalArts' is a proper name with no inherent lexical meaning about animation for most B1 learners, and the specific connotations of the 'CalArts style' require cultural/world knowledge, so the expression is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

CalArts style comes from the California Institute of the Arts, a school where many animation students learned to draw with simple, rounded shapes and very expressive, often quirky faces. Because so many cartoons used that school look, people now use the phrase to describe a cartoon with a 'simple, playful' design.