Bob Singer is an American animation artist, character designer, layout and background artist and storyboard director of animated television programs. Originally born in 1928 in Santa Barbara and raised in Santa Paula. He worked in advertising until the industry moved to the East Coast, where he went on to attend the Art Centre College of Design in Los Angeles graduating with honours and a BPA in 1995. Through his studies he mastered the art of storyboarding and layout drawings, being the first to visually connect drawings with the written story. As it was not uncommon for Singer to be referred to as the animator most able to give cartoon personalities human-like characteristics, his storyboards indelibly helped set a cartoon's action, mood and pace. Equally talented as a layout artist, Singer created detailed drawings that set the visual standard and defined the field of action for numerous animated ventures. Singer's early training in illustration and live action drawing benefited the cartoon in telling us as much of the story as would the main characters in the foreground. After that, Singer really made his mark in animation when joined Warner Bros in 1958. In 1960 he joined the UPA animation studio where he became a layout artist on the television series Mister Magoo and Dick Tracy. Singer next worked at Hanna-Barbera beginning in 1965 where he remained for the next three decades. Holding positions such as character designer, art director, and layout artist, Singer was responsible for crafting many of Hanna-Barbera's most popular series of the 1970s and 1980s, including Super Friends, Laff-ALympics, The Smurfs and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, for which he designed the Mystery Machine and many of the monsters in the series. Singer's passion for illustration continues to this day.
