Shynola

Last updated October 26, 2025

Shynola are a London-based directing team who have worked across live-action and animation for over twenty years.^[1] Chris Harding, Richard Kenworthy, Jason Groves and the late Gideon Baws formed Shynola while they were at art college in the late 1990s.

Their music video work includes musical artists such as Junior Senior, Radiohead, Beck, Blur, Coldplay, ABBA and Queens of the Stone Age, along advertisements for brands like Nike, Audi, PlayStation and Maserati. They also created title sequences for series and films: The IT Crowd , The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World , Mandy, and Netflix’s GLOW.

Their awards include a British Independent Film Award and three times Emmy nominations, with wins at Edinburgh International Film Festival, D&AD awards and UK Music Video Awards.

In 2008, founding member Gideon Baws died at age 33.^[2]

Notable works

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song title
1999	Unkle	"Guns Blazing (Drums of Death, Pt. 1)"
1999	Quannum featuring Lyrics Born and The Poets of Rhythm	"I Changed My Mind" (Stereo MCs Rattlesnake Mix)
2000	Radiohead	Kid A blips: 'Basement Bear', 'Bear Witch', 'Dead Air', 'Drown', 'Eyes', 'Geese', 'Giant', 'Planes', 'Scarecrows', 'Six Million Thom', 'Stars', 'Thom Over Planes', 'Valley', 'Wake Up', 'White Mountains', 'Yeti'^[3]
2001	Radiohead	"Pyramid Song"
	Stephen Malkmus	"Jo Jo's Jacket"
	Unkle	"Eye for an Eye"^[4]
2002	Lambchop	"Is a Woman"
	Junior Senior	"Move Your Feet"
	The Rapture	"House of Jealous Lovers"
2003	Queens of the Stone Age	"Go with the Flow"^[5]
	Blur	"Crazy Beat"
	Blur	"Good Song"
2005	Beck	"E-Pro"
2009	Coldplay	"Strawberry Swing"^[6]
2011	Coldplay	"Paradise"
2013	Black Sabbath	"God Is Dead"
	Black Sabbath	"End of the Beginning"
	Nine Inch Nails	"Everything"
	How to Destroy Angels	"How Long?"
2015	Hot Chip	"Need You Now"
2016	Tiësto and Oliver Heldens featuring Natalie La Rose	"The Right Song"
2021	ABBA	"I Still Have Faith in You"
2022		"Eagle" as part of ABBA Voyage
2022		"Voulez-Vous" as part of ABBA Voyage

Short films

"Doug Gives a Talk On Electronics" (1999)
"The Littlest Robo" (2000)
"Onwards" with James Jarvis for Nike (2009)
"Dr. Easy" (2013) Warp Films for Film4
Nowness and Audi presents "Untaggable - How does #music move us?" (2016)^[7] (Music by Mark Pritchard feat. Thom Yorke)

Film

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , guide animations (2004)^[8]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World , title sequence (2010)
SpectreVision animated logo (2014)
Mandy , title sequence (2018)
Daniel Isn't Real , title sequence (2019)
Color Out of Space , title sequence (2019)

TV

"SF:UK" documentary, opening titles (2001)
"Nathan Barley", various graphics (2005)
"The IT Crowd", title sequence (2006)
MTV "BRODOWN" ident with James Jarvis (2012)
Adam Buxton's "BUG", title sequence (2012)
Netflix's "GLOW", title sequence (2017)
Netflix's "Watership Down", prologue graphics (2018)
Showtime's "VICE", documentary title sequence (2020)

Miscellaneous

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don't Know : album cover, sleeve design, booklet
Radiohead and Epic Games – Kid A Mnesia Exhibition : virtual exhibition^[9]

Commercials

Nike Presto: "Brutal Honey", "Orange Monk", "Rabid Panda", "Shady Milkman", "Trouble At Home", "Unholy Cumulus" (2000)
PlayStation / Frequency: "Qbert", "Worm" (2001)
Nike / Foot Locker: "Uptempo Press 2", "School Ya Again" (2002)
Honda: "Tail Pipe" (2005)
Hulu: "Evolution" (2012)
Beats Music: "Vision" (2014)
Delta: "Center of it All" (2016)
Maserati: "Alive" (2019)
Facebook: "Fashion" (2019)

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards (2018) Nomination for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special "Vice"
Emmy Awards (2018) Nomination for Outstanding Main Title and Graphic Design for an Animated Program "Watership Down"
Emmy Awards (2018) Nomination for Outstanding Main Title Design "GLOW"
British Independent Film Awards (2013) Nomination for Best Short Film "Dr. Easy"
D&AD Awards (2012) Illustration for Design – Laura Marling album "A Creature I Don't Know"
D&AD Awards (2010) Music Video (Animation) – Coldplay "Strawberry Swing"
UK MVA Awards (2009) Video of the Year – Coldplay "Strawberry Swing"^[10]
UK MVA Awards (2009) Best Rock Video – Coldplay "Strawberry Swing"^[10]
UK MVA Awards (2009) Best Animation in a Music Video – Coldplay "Strawberry Swing"^[10]
Arena (magazine) (2005) - Men of the Year
Edinburgh International Film Festival McLaren Animation Award (2004) – Blur "Good Song"^[11]
UK MVA Awards (2004) Best Animation in a Music Video
D&AD Awards (2004) Best Direction
D&AD Awards (2004) Best Animation
British Animation Awards (2004) Best Music Video – Blur "Good Song"
MTV VMA award (2003) Best Special Effects in a Video – Queens of the Stone Age "Go with the Flow"
UK MVA Awards (2003) Best Director
UK MVA Awards (2003) Best Rock Video – Athlete "You Got The Style"
LEAF Award (2002) Best Pop Promo – U.N.K.L.E. "Eye 4 An Eye"
Edinburgh International Film Festival McLaren Animation Award (2002) – U.N.K.L.E. "Eye 4 An Eye"
NME Brat Award (2002) Best Music Video – Radiohead "Pyramid Song"
UK MVA Awards (2002) Best Rock Video – Radiohead "Pyramid Song"
UK MVA Awards (2001) Best Alternative Video – Morgan "Flying High"
UK MVA Awards (2001) Best Marketing Campaign – Radiohead Blips Kid A
LEAF Award (2000) Best computer-animated Advertisement – Nat West "Fishing Line"
BBC2 Awards (2000) Best Music Video – Quannum "I Changed My Mind"
UK MVA Awards (2000) Best Budget Video – Quannum "I Changed My Mind"
Ottawa International Animation Festival (1999) Best Computer Animation "The Littlest Robo"

References

↑ "Shining a spotlight on Shynola's 20-year legacy". 29 May 2020.
↑ "Remembering and running for Gideon Baws". 22 September 2009.
↑ Zoo. Purple House Limited. 2001. ISBN 9781841180298.
↑ Jayne Pilling (29 May 2012). Animating the Unconscious: Desire, Sexuality, and Animation. Columbia University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-231-85014-8.
↑ "Lens Recap: The Story Behind Queens Of The Stone Age's 'Go With The Flow'". MTV . Archived from the original on 7 September 2014.
↑ "Shynola Imagines Coldplay in 2-D – Interview Magazine". 20 July 2009.
↑ "Untaggable: How does #music move us? A film for Audi (Music by Mark Pritchard feat. Thom Yorke)". YouTube .
↑ "David O'Reilly: The 'Wrist' Behind 'Son of Rambow'".
↑ "Instagram".
1 2 3 "Strawberry Swing video scoops three awards – Coldplay".
↑ "BBC – Films – Festivals and Seasons – Edinburgh – Award Winners". BBC.

External links

Official website
The Directors Bureau's Shynola Section ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
Annotated Videography Archived 12 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
Biography
The Littlest Robo
Raster Interview
Profile of Gideon Baws, on his death

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[1] "Shining a spotlight on Shynola's 20-year legacy". 29 May 2020.

[2] "Remembering and running for Gideon Baws". 22 September 2009.

[3] Zoo. Purple House Limited. 2001. ISBN 9781841180298.

[Pilling2012-4] Jayne Pilling (29 May 2012). Animating the Unconscious: Desire, Sexuality, and Animation. Columbia University Press. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-231-85014-8.

[5] "Lens Recap: The Story Behind Queens Of The Stone Age's 'Go With The Flow'". MTV . Archived from the original on 7 September 2014.

[6] "Shynola Imagines Coldplay in 2-D – Interview Magazine". 20 July 2009.

[7] "Untaggable: How does #music move us? A film for Audi (Music by Mark Pritchard feat. Thom Yorke)". YouTube .

[8] "David O'Reilly: The 'Wrist' Behind 'Son of Rambow'".

[9] "Instagram".

[UKMVA-10] 1 2 3 "Strawberry Swing video scoops three awards – Coldplay".

[11] "BBC – Films – Festivals and Seasons – Edinburgh – Award Winners". BBC.

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