Who are Kino Bino?
Leicester based Kino Bino is run by co-founders Steff and Jack. They met in the naughties while creating educational animation and games and knew that, together, they could do great things. They both share a passion for all things animation, having been inspired at an early age by classic films from Disney, Pixar and Studio Ghibli, and both share the same creative drive to draw, paint and make things.
Steff took the plunge and started freelancing full-time as an animator and illustrator in 2014. As the business brains of Kino Bino, Steff could never be satisfied working for someone else so set up Steff Lee Studios to give herself a creative outlet that allowed her unique talents to shine. The long term goal was to create a business that was fun to work for, provided a happier, more fulfilling and successful life and acted as a platform for creating appealing ways for children and adults to learn and be inspired.
As the business grew it became impossible for her to manage all the work on her own. Fed up with the 9-5 and looking for a better work life balance, Jack joined Steff in 2018 and shortly after Kino Bino was born.
Kino Bino - what does it mean?
It took a long time to find the right name. There were so many good ideas it was hard to settle on one. Steff, for some reason, liked the sound of beans… After a lot of playing around with words and meanings, Kino Bino popped up out of nowhere. Appearing as if by magic on a discarded list of potential names.
It had everything! It sounds fun and friendly and is steeped in very clever meanings. Kino, as in Ancient Greek kinētikós (“puts in motion”), which put the movement in moving pictures (kínēma). Bino from the Latin bīnus (“double”), like the two ‘oculars’ in binoculars!
Kino Bino [kee-noh bee-noh]
noun
1 top-notch animation studio.
2 a double act who like to make things move.
3 a pair of keen beans.
How about those Binos? What are they?
We wanted something cute and friendly to use an icon for our brand. And so the Binos were born. It started life as a simple, magic bean, grew into a tiger and a bear, and multiplied in to a cast of creatures, including producer penguin and graphic design dog.
