The Adafruit 8X8 matrix conveniently comes with the their GFX library which makes it increadibly easy to create shapes and animations on the 8×8 led grid.
Before making any visuals, some soldering is required to get the matrix running and working with the Arduino. The tutorial can be found here.
As a group between Zanzie,Kim, and I, we were able to make several simple bitmap images and animations.
Adafruit 8X8 LED matrix is really awesome and cool stuff. I love it