Where do you get your creativity from? Is it sitting in a jar on a shelf?I think creativity is innate within all of us (hopefully in a sweetie jar, on a shelf somewhere!), but the inspiration that lets it out comes in many forms for me. Often inspiration will strike when I’m not in a design environment (so I’m usually out cycling, or in the kitchen cooking because I love doing that). Often its idling minds come up with the best ideas! I’m not particularly disciplined in keeping a sketchbook/notebook so that is a habit I am trying to cultivate which I think will help give my ideas some permanence as I have a very disorganized list of projects buzzing around my head at the moment. I love the way that creativity is endless, and it always improves within you if you trust yourself a little more.

If you could be any animal what would you be? & Why?I’d definitely be a brown bear – for their love of berries, honey, their woodland surroundings and extreme snoozing abilities.

Do you feel the amount of technical knowledge needed in digital design restricts creativity, or makes more innovative designers?The amount of knowledge required to be a capable and employable designer can be very overwhelming, especially since software continues to march forwards at a relentless pace. Every designer should maintain a certain standard of knowledge, but it’s really important not to make technology the sole focus of your world – remember ideas transcend technology. I’ve already made this mistake by spending long periods of time just doing tutorials and not really creating. If you have great ideas and can demonstrate this, people will forgive the fact you may be less than perfect at After Effects or Cinema 4D.

Have you found freelancing more rewarding in the long term?Freelancing is a very different existence to having a staff job. It has made me get a lot better at what I do – and fast. You are expected to hold your own when you turn up at an animation studio, and be very professional. I enjoy the responsibility of controlling my own career on my own terms and there is undoubtedly the opportunity to make more money and work less (although saying no to work can be difficult). Freelancing keeps me on my toes – I’ll always be learning and improving as a designer, and I’m so grateful for that because many in-house designers quickly get stale and in a rut. It’s human nature to stay in a comfort zone – freelancing has no regard for comfort zones!

Is there any advice you would give to new motion/video designers?

1. Don’t just learn about what buttons to push – make sure you understand the anatomy and craft of animation and what elicits a response in the viewer. I also see a lot of young motion designers treat their screen space like a piece of paper (I used to be prime culprit of this when I started out), but remember you can put your viewer anywhere you like within infinite X, Y, and Z co-ordinates. So do!

2. Have a commercial awareness of what the industry is doing around you and what the industry needs. Being arty and cool is great – but can often be unsubstantial. Being arty, cool AND commercially viable gets you hired.

3. Learn a 3D package as well as any 2D packages you are using. Seriously. You will struggle to find work without a teeny-weeny bit of 3D in your skill-set.

4. “Hang your ego up at the door”. There’s a lot of people in the design industry waiting to give you their opinion and criticize your work so it’s useful to adopt a strategy to turn this sometimes challenging aspect of the job into a positive! Remember you can learn something from everyone you encounter in the business – even if its just tolerance! ; )

5. Which leads me onto: Be nice, be tenacious, and never, ever stop learning!

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