Support your local gif makers! In celebration of my one year gif-iversary, I am posting shoutouts to gif makers who have motivated and inspired me with their creativity in the past year. This post is for Maggie, whose gifs can be found here.
Maggie has been making gifs since 2014, and over the years they have gathered a diverse skill set that they use across many fandoms, characters, and ships. I love Maggie’s gif making style because although they are clearly established and capable of maintaining consistency, no two gifsets of theirs look or feel completely the same; while a lot of us tend to settle once we find our style, Maggie is not afraid to experiment with different effects, fonts, sizes, and colorings, keeping their content fresh and exciting.
MUST-SEE EDITS
Barry Berkman in Make Your Mark - This gifset uses color in a briliant and subtle way that doesn’t overwhelm the senses, but instead sneaks up on you with its clever coordination. Subdued, neutral colors accompany strong, vibrant hues, and the whole thing is topped off with a colorful caption. The gif of Barry in the shower wows with its striking green, and it is immediately followed up with perhaps the most impactful gif of the set. Maggie is a seasoned gifmaker who understands that sometimes less is more, and the gif of Barry against the black background plays well off of the colorful gifs in the set, breaking up the excitement for a small, dramatic display of the (metaphorically and literally) darker parts of the show.
Five and Diego - This gifset deserves to be appreciated for the bold choices Maggie made in creating it. They could have made it your average, “normal” colored scene that is driven by the caption text, but instead, they chose to bring out and emphasize the yellow background; if you make gifs, you know that yellow is not an easy color to work with, as it is difficult to manipulate without impacting the skin tones. However, Maggie pulled off this effect smoothly and effortlessly, using the soft yet vibrant yellows to draw attention to the scene and frame the action. Pay special attention to the third gif, where the coloring stays consistent even with the increase in the amount of motion.
Jaskier and Geralt: Please Don’t Go - While Maggie is highly skilled in using color in gifsets, they have also proven that they can do it all, as they post a decent amount of black and white gifsets. Black and white as a color scheme can sometimes be regarded as muting the full experience of a set, but not the way Maggie does it! They consistently use black and white as a way to further the tone of a gifset and let the font play a starring role in the work, and this set is no exception. The tone set by the sad but smooth motion of Jaskier walking away is bolstered by the text that reads “please don’t go” and fades into weaker lines. Maggie uses the effects of text not as just an element of their gifsets, but a storytelling device; they also know how to format captions in interesting ways that complement their gifsets, as this caption fades to grey in a similar way to the text in the gifs.
Shazam - This gifset uses vivid pinks and greens to bring the film to life, and the level of control over coloring demonstrated here really speaks to Maggie’s talent as an editor. The pinks, blues, and greens are all coordinated and match well from gif to gif, showing that Maggie has a sharp eye for coloring and a diligent spirit. The first gif featuring handwritten text in bold colors grabs the viewers’ attention instantly, and the brilliant pinks guide the eye comfortably through the rest of the set. The third gif wows with its yellows and oranges that give way to blue, and as always, the caption coloring fits perfectly with the gifset as a whole.
Steve and Nancy in colors - This gifset shows off both Maggie’s eye for colors and their mastery of text and fonts. Maggie used bold, bright yellows, oranges, reds, and pinks to bring this set to life, and they used the colors of the text to further the aesthetic. The fonts they chose play off of each other well, emphasizing certain parts of the text and softening others. The fourth gif features a stunning pinkish purple that draws the eye and holds viewers’ attention.
CREATOR’S TOP PICKS
Maggie very enthusiastically compiled their personal top 5 as follows: “ this one is recent ! this one was fun ! this one i really like ! this one outs me as a recovered spn fan lmao ! and this is probably my favorite on this account !”
Thank you to Maggie for inspiring me over the past year! Be sure to check out all of their amazing gifsets, reblog them, and leave nice feedback! And if you want an amazing header, make sure to commission them as well!
Thank you for existing, you are loved! Send this to ten people, who in your opinion deserves such a sweet message in their inbox. Nothing bad will happen if you don’t, but imagine the smiles! 💜
Thank you for existing, you are loved! Send this to ten people, who in your opinion deserves such a sweet message in their inbox. Nothing bad will happen if you don’t, but imagine the smiles! 💜
maggie!!!!! right back at you my dear!!!! i love you, have a beautiful day
Thank you for existing, you are loved! Send this to ten people, who in your opinion deserves such a sweet message in their inbox. Nothing bad will happen if you don’t, but imagine the smiles! 💜
maggie, i absolutely ADORE you!!! thank you sweet angel
