Digital Hitchhiker

My mom taught me lots of lessons growing up but there was one thing she helped instill in me that has helped me greatly over the years. It was a solid work ethic. My mom possessed a fantastic work ethic, something that she learned from her parents and worked hard to instill in me and my sister. Looking back on it now, it’s amazing that she worked a full-time job as a teacher, had a couple of part-time jobs and still managed to raise me and my sister into a couple pretty awesome individuals. Whenever I think about how hard work is I think about what she had to do and the amount of hustle she had. Hard work and passion have a huge pay off and I thank her for that mentality because without that I don’t know if I’d have the drive to work as hard as I do. The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Men are what their mothers made them” and in my case I couldn’t agree more.

To my mother and every mom out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

“Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” I’m sure you’ve heard that before many times. Its good advice that can also be applied to your portfolio. You need to be showing off the work you want to do. It can take some time to figure out the type of work you love doing and want to be doing. But once you figure it out, you need to immerse yourself in it and work with the businesses and companies that do that type of work. And make sure the work is heavily represented in your portfolio. If your website is dedicated to wedding videos, you’re not likely to get a music video project. You have to show prospective employers or clients that you can handle their specific job. They may have seen the work you’ve done in the past but sometimes they just can’t visualize how your previous work applies to them and their needs. And doing a free animation for them just to win a job usually isn’t a great option. If you want to model mobile phones for commercials then you need to have a mobile phone commercial in your demo reel or on your website. I love working with startups and social apps are some of my favorite projects to work on. On these projects I’ve created primarily 2D characters with simple shapes. This is the type of work I continue to get and I rock out every one I have the chance to work on. Clients trust that I’ll be able to deliver a quality product for their brand because I’ve proven what I’ve done for similar businesses. If you’re not happy with the types of projects you’re currently working on, make sure you portfolio reflects the types of projects you want to work on and leave out the projects you don’t.

I’m just getting done with a rush job and the coffee and adrenaline are still at peak levels. Rush work is work with an extremely short deadline, a deadline you usually would have never agreed to. As I’m wrapping it up I’m wondering if it was really worth it. I either take on a rush job because it comes with an extra bonus or it’s for a client I have enjoyed working with in the past and want to help them out. More often it’s the cold hard cash that really makes the deal seem sweet. However, after this job and years of accepting rush work it has really started to seem like a mistake. First and formost it really wears on you and burns you out in the long run. Was the extra cash really worth having to take a week or two off because you needed to recover? Wouldn’t you have been better off taking on a job that didn’t come with that bonus but allowed you to still enjoy the project and your life? The other reason I’m really over rush work is because the clients start to expect it. They know that if they kick a little extra cash your way you’ll bend over backwards for them. If every job comes with a bonus, is it really a bonus?

Don’t let the money blind you from seeing the amount of work the projects going to take. And no job is worth missing or spending time with your family. Talk with the client first and find out why it’s needed and when. You’ll find that even those tight deadlines can often be negotiated.

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.