Looking at existing animations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OumHY4gVgTg
This video is called 'Windmills' uses a mixure of 3D animation and detailed backgrounds, which look like they have been painted.

The detailed imagery used in the video is inpiring as I could create a similar effect using Photoshop brushes and textures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URNlAFP1KPY
'A World of Thing' uses a much different art style, which would be more suitable for using Illustrator for creating the images. It uses a lot of shapes and 2D animation, which would be a simpler approach than drawing everything in a handpainted style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMZQauWPzUU
 This video is similar to what I am creating, as it is an animation that seems to be based off of a quote. It is also created by an animation student, which gives me a kind of goal to reach with my own animation.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACHVwA1D8fE
Tarboy uses 2D animation, and mainly uses silhouettes during the animation. To contrast with the simple art style, there are also some realistic lighting effects used to make it look more dynamic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfkMLf05Ip4
 Taxi is an animation that was solely created in After Effects, and the animation style seems to be using assets created in other programs, and then creating the movement when editing in After Effects. For my video, I could pull off this style as I have some experience with it from past projects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLDyrun_Cc
http://webneel.com/video/seedling-beautiful-2d-animated-short-film
http://webneel.com/2d-animation-best