Today LooseKeys turns two. It feels like just a couple weeks ago that I left Daily Planet ltd. and ventured out on my own to build this business. There hasn’t been a single day that I’ve looked back and second guessed my decision. 

It’s been an amazing journey with over 70 videos in our portfolio, some awesome clients and support of so many friends and family.  

If one year ago I had felt like I learned a lot, this year proved that I had no idea what I was doing because I was presented with a number of new challenges that I had to overcome. The biggest hurdle was in management of a team. This past year the team grew and Jake Williams came onboard full-time. One step closer to world domination… The team has been building steam and hopefully I’ll be able to add another person to it in the near future.

After two years, I think we’re doing something right over here. I’m slowly making sure that LooseKeys is more than just an animated explainer business. We’re storytellers, artists and with each video we do we’re able to show why clients pick us over the other guy. 

Thank you everyone for the support!

One thing that I quickly learned after starting my own business was that you have to start small, you can think and dream big but it has to start somewhere. Just because you think you and your team can do better work than that commerial you saw on TV, doesn’t mean you’ll get to do that work. Just because you can do the work doesn’t mean you will do the work.

You’re not going to score that big client or nab those huge budgets when you first start your business. I think that’s what a lot of students or younger people realize quickly when they start out. I know I wanted to believe when I first got out of school that if I grabbed a project with Nike or Google, either on my own or working with a studio then I’d be set. But I had a lot to learn… and at the time I didn’t even realize that. By starting small you learn about your business, yourself and you get better.

If I didn’t start LooseKeys small I wouldn’t of been able to learn how to manage people efficiently. Not sure if I could of handled a team of four starting out, but a team of two I understood. Being small allowed me to take risks and test new ideas, something that’s harder to do when you’re big and worried about making sure every piece of the machine is moving correctly. At some point you’ll add people and get those bigger jobs which is what I see happening now at LooseKeys  It’s not a straight climb up by any means but sort of feels like a game of shoots and ladders. I’m working my way up and soon this small team will be a small army.

Sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough time to get all your work done during the week. Often you don’t have the time or inclination to explore anything new or different in regards to work because of the amount on your plate. But its important to find time to explore and to be curious. Curiosity is a good thing. It can lead to you gaining information and its a chance to improve your skills. Whenever a new plugin or piece of software comes out everyone wants to know what it is and how it works. Sure sometimes the appeal of that shiny new thing can leave you with just that, a shiny new thing. It might seem like you’re wasting time by exploring this new piece of software but what you’re really doing is improving your skills and knowledge. How are you suppose to learn and grow if you aren’t curious about what’s new? Curiosity won’t kill you, it can give you insight and wisdom to make better work.

As LooseKeys is growing I wanted to take a moment to look at a couple core values of how we work and what’s been driving some of the success. With each new client we meet and with every project we finish, the LooseKeys story grows and evolves. The world moves fast, faster than ever before and it’s this speed and constant movement that keeps the LooseKeys team on their toes.

A LooseKeys video helps build the hype on a product, promote a service, educate or inform. The aim at LooseKeys is to get the audience excited for what’s coming next, because it’ll be here before you know it. We do that in a creative and unique way, helping businesses tell their story and get their message across.

Transparency at LooseKeys has become an important value. We share a lot of what we are working on along the way. Making sure not to give out too much sensitive information especially if we’ve signed NDAs, but enough to give a tease of what we’re working on.

Finally an important value is the talent within the team. You’ll never see a video posted online without an easy way to see who worked on it and the role they played in making that piece come to life. By being open with the team and our clients, we are able to build trust. New clients know what they are in for before we even get rolling on a project.

The foundation of business is relationships and by building trust within LooseKeys and outside with clients, I have a feeling we’re onto something great and we’re going to keep growing.

Face it this field moves quickly and it’s always pushing you to be creative at every turn. It can be overwhelming and stressful but at the same time exciting and full of possibilities. Seeing your work on television or in magazines is always wonderful and is a nice reward for doing something you love. Hopefully you went into motion graphics or design because you do indeed love doing it. This is something you should try and remember everyday, it isn’t just a job it’s a job you really enjoy. The passion and determination you demonstrate will likely come with success. Just try not to stress yourself along the way. Success will only come if you keep learning, creating and just don’t give up. Just because you run into an issue with a certain job don’t let that freak you out. Each and every project should deliver a range of new challenges that you can learn from. If you want to be the best designer you need to set a goal and then put in the hours to get there. Get knee deep in it and read books and do tutorials. But don’t worry if you are not meeting the goal you have set sooner or later if you put in the time, things will just click and you will be cranking out quality work to the level you had been working towards.