Motion Hatch: Helping Motion Designers Do Better Business (Hayley Akins)
Explore every episode of Motion Hatch: Helping Motion Designers Do Better Business
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06 Jun 2024 | AI is here. Future-proof your motion design career w/ Curious Refuge | 00:34:38 | |
Caleb and Shelby Ward founded Curious Refuge after going viral for using AI to create a fake Wes Anderson x Star Wars movie trailer. In this episode, you’ll learn:
Follow Curious Refuge: Website | Instagram Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 18 Feb 2020 | 060: How to use partnerships, strategy and content to get more clients w/ Philip Van Dusen | 00:52:14 | |
As motion designers, our primary goal is often centered on delivering our animations to clients. However, that’s not always enough to stay in business. Increasingly, there are more opportunities to work with clients beyond motion design and get involved in the design side of brand strategy. We also talk about how to use partnerships and content to get more clients. Philip VanDusen is the founder of Varhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy, design, and marketing agency in New Jersey. He also has a great YouTube channel where he shares his expertise on marketing design and entrepreneurship. Philip describes how we have the ability to play a huge role in marketing and brand strategy with motion design. This is an amazing, as well as lucrative, sphere to get involved in. Philip suggests that a way to stand out is to broaden your skill set into intellectual and strategic client partnerships. Simply put, motion designers need to be active business partners. If this sounds daunting, Philip has some good news. You don’t actually have to change much in your business to scale up. Philip explains how strategically collaborating with other creatives can increase what you have to offer without significantly changing the amount of work you need to do.
Getting your name out there and making those connections can be intimidating. Philip talks about how he has met the people he works with. Masterminds and conferences are great ways to do this. So is content marketing. Philip explains how anyone can use this strategy to get their name out and start getting more work as a result.
In this episode
Quotes “Design, and any kind of creative product or service, is getting increasingly commoditized. Part of that is due to the fact that we have a global economy and you can get creative services from anywhere and from any culture.” [2:28] “In order to survive in today’s creative economy, you really have to do more. You have to be more than just a motion designer. You have to try to nurture and develop a language of business.” [3:08] “It’s never a problem working the work. The problem is finding the work. If you can find the work, you can find people to work the work.” [10:37] “If you just share what you know, who you are, where you are, and what you’re learning, there are people who will benefit from that.” [26:05] “There’s a subliminal bank that you’re putting money into every time you put content out into the world. Where people find it valuable, they will start to put you -- your name, your personal brand, your presence -- on a shelf that is above everybody else.” [38:46]
Links Follow Philip on YouTube | Linkedin | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook | |||
| 12 May 2020 | 066: How to get motion design clients using your personal work w/ Nick DenBoer AKA Smearballs | 00:52:52 | |
We motion designers all feel like weirdos at times. Don’t fight it! It’s time to embrace what makes you unique and sets you apart. In fact, your surreal side can create its own opportunities. Today’s guest is in high demand precisely because of his weirdness. We chat about how personal work can get you big motion design clients. Nick DenBoer, AKA Smearballs, does a bit of everything. He’s a director, animator, editor, music producer, and remix artist. He’s worked on Conan and created unique music videos for deadmau5. Nick has worked on some very memorable projects for big brands including KFC and Old Spice. Personal work can get you big motion design clientsWe chat about what inspires Nick to create his unique personal work. Aside from fulfilling his artistic need to create, Nick credits his personal work with landing him commercial jobs. He doesn’t necessarily do personal work with this in mind. In fact, he thinks it may scare away as many opportunities as it creates. However, it also has landed him the type of clients who really appreciate what he has to offer. Setting client expectations in motion designAs someone who works with a wide range of clients, Nick honed his process of explaining what he does. Describing your creative process and timeline is important for setting client expectations. So is maintaining regular communication throughout the project so they know what you’ve been up to. The value of creating a team of freelance motions designersWhen it comes to large or complex projects, Nick finds that it’s helpful to bring in specialists. However, being too specialized can slow down the project if something unexpected comes up. With that in mind, we talk about the value of having a team with a wide range of knowledge as well as experts on something very specific. In this episode
Quotes “I see my personal work as a business card…. People actually hire me because of that off-putting, weird, crazy stuff.” [6:32] “If you literally are in a financial position where you have to take every job, you lose control over your own career.” [13:42] “You need people who can put a whole project together and do everything from scratch and you also need specialists. So I think there’s shoes to fill in both realms. It’s not like one is better than the other.” [32:10] Links Follow Nick on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Vimeo | YouTube | |||
| 31 Aug 2021 | 095: How to make passive income as a motion designer w/ Justin Archer | 00:35:27 | |
Many motion designers dream of making passive income. But how do you actually go about doing it? Justin Archer is a freelance motion designer who also makes passive income selling templates for final cut pro editors. He has almost 22k sales from Envato alone! In this episode, we explore how he started making money through After Effects templates and how you can still be successful even if a market is saturated. About Justin Archer Justin Archer has been a professional motion designer for the past nine years. For half of this time he worked for companies and for the other half, he’s been freelance whilst also pursuing different personal projects. He started building templates for Final Cut Pro more as a way for him to start commissioning his own personal projects. He wasn’t getting enough work for 3D projects at the time and so he started using Envato as a way to make his portfolio more diverse - if he sold anything, that was simply a bonus. He did some research and noticed that it was more multi-purpose motion graphics that seemed to sell well, so he started creating these - things like titles and lower thirds. Before he knew it, he had a thriving side hustle that was generating him passive income. Here’s how he did it. | |||
| 07 Jan 2020 | 057: VR in motion design w/ Colin and Rosie | 00:46:05 | |
Virtual reality is one of the newest and most promising fields in motion design. There’s huge potential for growth as well as exciting opportunities to create unique art. But, if you’re like me, you may have more questions than answers about just what’s involved in being an animator in this exciting new field. Today’s episode is going to answer those questions for you and hopefully point you in the right direction to discover how to use VR in motion design. On today’s show, I chat with two great artists, Collin Leix from Gunner Animation and Illustration Studio and Rosie Summers, a VR painter at XR Games. They’re here to share what their role in virtual reality designs is and how we can use it as motion designers. Collin and Rosie explain how creating in VR is both similar and different from creating other types of motion design pieces. While it may share many of the basic aspects, they are very excited by how much more interactive and performative it can be in practice. There are many programs to use when making VR art and they describe some of these and how they use them as well. If you’re interested in getting started with VR in motion design, Collin and Rosie chat about avenues that you can take advantage of right away. Both Rosie and Collin recommend that you begin by creating storyboards and moving on to animate them in VR. They also share how they use these creations when pitching potential clients. If you’ve been making 3D art, then you’re ready to move on to creating in the virtual reality space. Collin and Rosie explain how they use their knowledge of 3D when making VR animations and share what you can do to try your hand in it too. In this episode
“One of the things I realized really fast about making VR art is how your body makes the artwork. Instantly I saw a performative aspect to this.” [2:30] “People who are making things in 3D are in the first most natural step towards trying to make something in VR because you’re truly working in 3D space.” [15:42] “I really hope that reality isn’t ditched for the virtual. I hope it compliments it. I hope we use these virtual tools to enhance our experience in the real world rather than replace it.” [28:39] “Trust yourself and your creative instincts. It’s early enough in VR that people who jump in still have time to shape it. What you bring to it might be different from anybody else.” [43:18] Links Follow Rosie on Twitter | YouTube | Instagram Rosie doing her performative VR painting
Follow Collin on Instagram
Join the Motion Hatch community Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 29 May 2018 | 019: How to use your network to move your career forward w/ Caitlin Cadieux | 00:37:53 | |
How much networking do you do in the motion community? Have you ever done a speaking gig? Even though these might not be first things that come to mind when it comes to advancing your career, they’re the kinds of practices that can make a huge difference, especially if you don’t live in a location with a lot of motion designers. Caitlin Cadieux is currently an animator for The Atlantic. She grew up in Oklahoma and currently lives in upstate New York, both locations which are lacking in much of a motion design community. Today she tells us about how she integrated herself into the motion community online instead, and how that’s helped her move forward in her career. She also talks to us about convincing a more traditional company to let her work remotely, as well as where the motion community is currently hanging out online. We also discuss her recent appearance as a speaker at the NAB Conference, and how speaking can open up doors for you! How has the online motion community added to your life or career? Let us know in the comments on the episode page!
In this episode:
Quotes: “I’ve done stuff with physical media [while working remotely] that would be a lot harder to do in the office.” 5:34 “I’m pretty introverted… but cultivating an extroverted side is really beneficial in a lot of ways.” 24:16 “I don’t have a cool Nike campaign to show, but there’s an audience out there that’s similar to how I was not too long ago, and that’s who I want to talk to.” 33:47
Links: Follow Caitlin on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Dribbble The interview with Jeff VanderMeer
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 02 Jul 2019 | 044: Change your mindset and build an intentional career w/ Sander Van Dijk | 00:53:12 | |
Many motion designers have personal projects that we would love to have the time to work on. But with the need to earn an income through paid work it can feel near impossible to find the time to work on them. However, as my guest is about to tell you, passion projects and paid client work have the amazing ability to support each other, providing you with the time and resources to work on both. Sander Van Dijk is an incredible motion designer who teaches Advanced Motion Methods through School of Motion as well as his own freelance course. Sander’s philosophy is centered around creating work that has true meaning for him while helping other motion animators do the same through his projects, tools, and community events. Today, Sander and I dive into how to what it takes to make it as a freelancer in our field. We explore the importance of being part of and contributing to a community of people doing the same work as you. We also discuss mindset and what it means to have our work be a force for good in the world as well as the importance of taking time for ourselves and our own personal projects. In this episode
“It’s very beneficial and helpful to have some kind of other interest that gives you inspiration on how to approach specific things in your own work.” [3:39] “I’m driven by creating value for the community but I also know the value of my work and I’m not afraid to charge for it. As a result, I get more revenue so I can actually make more time available for the community.” [17:25] “You can just see what you can do with the skills you have and your problem solving mentality as an artist -- what story you can help tell.” [24:52] “There’s a lot of different opportunities that can work for our motion design world, especially now that it’s so much more integrated into any type of business.” [47:05] Related links Follow Sander on Instagram | Twitter | YouTube Ultimate Freelance Guide - Sander’s Freelance Course Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 11 May 2021 | 087: How to get hired by big motion design studios | 00:49:38 | |
Our Mastermind Mentors have a wealth of experience behind them. So when we gave our students the opportunity to hop onto Clubhouse and ask for their advice about something they’re struggling with in their careers, they jumped at the chance. About the Mograph Mastermind Mentors Hayley Akins is the Founder of Motion Hatch. Jess Peterson leads business, operations, and concept development at Mighty Oak, an award-winning creative studio specializing in hand-made animation and design. Monique is a San Francisco-based, Miami-born, animator, illustrator, and director. Christopher Bernal is a Bay Area Motion Designer with over a decade of experience in the animation industry. And Jason Mallet is an award-winning freelance motion designer and video editor. About the Mograph Mastermind students Gabrielle is a motion designer and illustrator from Philadelphia. She’s a serial Mastermind student who has enjoyed the program so much, she’s returned more than once! She’s joined by student Brent, a freelance motion designer and animator and Ivan, a motion designer from California. In today’s episode, they asked the Mograph Mastermind Mentors to help them to tackle the biggest issue they’re currently facing in their careers. Apply for a place on the Mograph Mastermind before registration closes. Download our free Social Media Guide for Motion Designers. | |||
| 26 Mar 2019 | 036: Making Money in Mograph Part 5 w/ Victoria Nece | 00:41:05 | |
In Part 5 of the mini-series, Making Money in Mograph, we’re looking at more of the non-conventional ways to earn an income as a motion designer. We spoke to someone who definitely plays a big part in the motion design industry but she doesn’t have a role many people are familiar with. Victoria Nece is the senior product manager for Adobe After Effects. Motion design is truly a life calling for Victoria. In fact, she’s been involved with it since she was a teenager. Before getting involved with Adobe, Victoria oversaw graphics, animation, and design for dozens of productions across broadcast, theatrical and educational markets as Director of Animation at the Documentary Group. Today you’re getting an inside look at what the Adobe After Effects team does. Victoria talks about how her job takes her all over the world to work with some great talent. She also shares what it’s like to speak in front of large audiences and how to do so in a natural and comfortable way. Victoria also shares some ideas about how you can make some passive income as a motion designer. This is particularly the case when it comes to making templates and Victoria gives some advice on what to keep in mind when making these. She also shares where she thinks the future of this industry is heading and how you can position yourself to take advantage of these changes. In this episode:
Quotes: “Just keep doing it [public speaking] and you’ll be more comfortable every time. It’s also helpful to remind yourself that the audience isn’t hostile; they don’t want you to fail. They’re not sitting there waiting for you to mess up.” [14:45] “If you’ve made three options for something and the client goes for Option C, why not turn Options A and B into stock templates and sell them? It’s a way to reuse work that might not otherwise see the light of day.” [19:28] “With a motion graphics template you don’t just design your design, you’re actually designing the experience of using it as well.” [20:54] “Everything we do is based on user feedback.I don’t think we’ve built a single feature in the last several years that I couldn’t put specific people’s names on.” [36:32]
Links: Follow Victoria Nece on Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook Get Adobe’s free guide to motion graphics templates Look for a job with After Effects here Episode 31: Adam Plouff - Making Money in Mograph Part 1 Episode 32: Zack Lovatt - Making Money in Mograph Part 2 Episode 33: Jake Bartlett - Making Money in Mograph Part 3 Episode 34: Matthew Encina - Making Money in Mograph Part 4
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 08 Jun 2021 | 089: Time management tips for motion designers w/ Matt Ragland | 00:54:38 | |
Do you constantly find yourself wishing you had more hours in the day? With multiple clients, deadlines and projects looming, life as a freelance motion designer can be stressful and overwhelming. But what if you could find a way to structure your days so that stress became a thing of the past instead of a regular occurrence? It might sound too good to be true, but this week’s guest will teach you how. About Matt Ragland Matt had tried blogging and podcasting before he settled on YouTube as a final creative project. What he realised through his prior experiments with blogging and podcasting is that the reason he hadn’t hit the goals he set himself was because he hadn’t been consistent enough. YouTube was really his last attempt at growing an audience on a platform. He started out by posting one video a day for the entire month of February, then one new video a week for the rest of the year. Matt says that consistency truly is key when it comes to creating any form of content. You also have to let go of your perfectionism - just focus on creating something and sharing it consistently. It doesn’t need to be perfect. | |||
| 19 Dec 2017 | 008: The Most Important Freelance Lessons From 2017: Christmas Special w/ Austin Saylor | 00:47:09 | |
This week on Motion Hatch we’re getting festive and reflective with Austin Saylor, as we reflect on our top 3 lessons learned in 2017 and our top 3 things we want to achieve in our motion design careers in 2018. We also have a bit of fun with a motion design gift exchange! Austin Saylor is a freelance motion designer, and creator of The Lettering Animation Course which will be launching in 2018. He’s also an active member of the Motion Hatch Community and a good friend, meaning this is a super fun episode with a lot of laughs and some great insight. While listing off our selections, we dove into the importance of community, not being scared to put yourself out there, and how accountability can make one of the most significant differences in your career. We had a lot of fun recording today’s episode and even made each other holiday short animations which you will find a link to below. What lessons did you learn in 2017? What are your goals for 2018? Share with us by leaving a comment on the episode page!
In this episode:
Links:
Find the full episode page and all the links here
| |||
| 19 Jul 2021 | 092: How to use brand strategy to grow your motion design business w/ Melinda Livsey | 00:47:41 | |
When you price your motion design projects, do you think about the value that you’ll bring to your client? How about asking them what success would look like? These two things in combination will allow you to create your best work and get paid well for it. Join Brand Strategist Melinda Livsey as she teaches you how. About Melinda Livsey Melinda Livsey started her career as a graphic designer before turning to brand strategy and education. She teaches other designers how to make the switch from designing to becoming a brand strategist. She really wanted to work on bigger projects so she made the move from graphic design to brand identity. From there, she learned she could solve even bigger problems and help businesses to make their brands more profitable and memorable. | |||
| 03 Nov 2017 | 000: Introducing Motion Hatch | 00:02:14 | |
Motion Hatch is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by veteran motion designer Hayley Akins, discussing the business side of animation and motion design that so many creatives struggle with. Offering quality practical advice and insight for freelance, full-time or aspiring animators, illustrators and motion designers, hear from a wide range of voices within the industry, including how leading animators started out, tips on managing your business and career advice. For more info on how to take control of your motion graphics career and to join our community of amazing, talented designers, head over to motionhatch.com. | |||
| 18 Dec 2018 | 029: How to use LinkedIn to get direct clients w/ Mair Perkins | 00:42:23 | |
One of my favorite parts of being a motion designer is that it is possible to work from almost anywhere. However, finding clients when you’re not attached to a studio or location is a challenge. Don’t despair! There are strategies to use to allow you to get clients directly and make it all possible. Mair Perkins is an independent creative freelance business owner. As a motion designer that works remotely and direct to client, she knows a thing or two about staying gainfully employed while bucking the trend of being tied down to a studio. Most of Mair’s work is direct to clients. In today’s conversation, she shares how she finds these clients, or rather how she ensures that they find her. She really enjoys not working at a studio and talks about what it’s like to have the freedom to work from home. We also discuss how a properly run social media presence, particularly on Linkedin can be a huge resource for helping the right clients find you directly. There are tons of little and big things you can do to make this work for you. I’m so happy that Mair came on to share them with us all! Have you landed clients through Linkedin or other social media? Leave a comment! In this episode:
Quotes: “I find if I post stuff, like a finished video or an animation I made recently for an organization, then I’m more likely to get an inquiry from someone who works in a similar organization.” [22:25] “I try to take as much responsibility for the project [as possible]. A lot of the people that hire me are often employees in a marketing department, so they already have tons of things to do. They don’t want to be micromanaging something else.” [34:02] “Try to empathize or think like the clients you’d like to work with. Try to imagine why they might need an animation, what kind of search terms they’d use when looking online for one and what sort of worries they’d have and how you could alleviate those worries.” [41:16] Links: Follow Mair on Linkedin | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube
Episode 21: How to Shape the Life You Want Through Your Freelance Business
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 28 Jul 2022 | 101: How to niche down as a motion designer w/ Giuseppe Forestieri | 00:35:18 | |
Should you niche down as a designer? We’ve all heard this advice! So, does niching down help you to win more clients or empower you to be seen as an expert? In this podcast, Hayley speaks with one of our Accelerator students, Giuseppe about how he niched down his animation studio Motion Aptitude to work on projects he loves. About Giuseppe Forestieri Giuseppe Forestieri is the Animation Director of his own studio, Motion Aptitude and has a background in visual communication, specialising in animation and Illustration. Motion Aptitude is the fusion of two of Giuseppe’s biggest passions in life: creativity, and the great outdoors. In this episode, he explains how he found his niche and hopes he can inspire other designers to pursue the work they love. | |||
| 09 May 2024 | Balancing parenthood and productivity as a motion designer | 00:30:40 | |
Mothers of Mograph are trying to combat feeling alone as moms in the creative industry. Parenthood is often considered a taboo topic in the creative industry, something Jennie Davis and Kaci Smith are on a mission to change with Mothers of Mograph. Jennie and Kaci discuss:
Follow Mothers of Mograph: Website | Instagram Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 12 Mar 2019 | 035: How to Network and Make Industry Friends w/ Marsha Shandur | 00:47:23 | |
Do you hate networking? Maybe you imagine that it's just sucking up and brown-nosing. Maybe you’re just feeling shy. These are common concerns, but they shouldn’t stop you. Today’s guest will tell how to set these worries aside and start making important connections that will help your business grow! This week, I speak with Marsha Shandur, a Networking Mentor and Storytelling Coach. In short, she helps people tell personal stories so that they can use them to help promote their business. Marsha also helps people overcome the barriers that they perceive are stopping them from properly networking and making connections. In this episode Marsha and I talk all about the power of networking. Marsha shares some great tips as well as her own personal experience on how to get over fears and jitters surrounding building professional relationships. We also discuss how to make connections with big shots without letting our own fears get in the way. We continue the conversation with a chat about Marsha’s approach to storytelling and how we can use that in our businesses as motion designers. Marsha breaks down the way we want to tell these stories and the types of stories to tell to get the attention that you want. How has networking helped your business grow? What worries did you have to overcome to make those connections? Tell me about it in the comments! In this episode:
Quotes: “I don’t like to call it networking. I like calling it making industry friends.” [2:44]“You think that these people who you think are big heroes get a giant mailbox full of fanmail everyday and they just don’t because people are lazy and also because we don’t tend to thank people in our culture.” [20:32] “I really believe that all anybody wants in life is, one, to feel truly seen and heard and understood and feel like they belong; and two, to feel like they’ve been of service, to feel like they left the world better off than they found it.” [21:58] “Having emotion does so many amazing things in your stories. I feel like the biggest mistake people make is that they leave out emotion.” [42:29] Links: Follow Marsha on Facebook | YouTube | Linkedin | Twitter | Instagram Check out Marsha’s secret special page of resources just for Motion Hatch listeners! Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 30 Jul 2019 | 046: How to get unstuck when you’re feeling overwhelmed w/ Jess and Christopher | 00:42:47 | |
Have you ever felt stuck in your motion design career? Maybe you’re feeling like you need to do everything all the time but aren’t sure what is actually helping you move forward in your business or career. If you feel like your to-do list is getting longer all the time and don’t know what to do and you're feeling overwhelmed, this is the episode that you need to listen to. Today I’m talking to Jess Peterson and Christopher Bernal about what to do when you’re feeling stuck and overwhelmed. Jess and Christopher are mentors in our Mograph Mastermind Program. Jess runs Mighty Oak Studios specializing in handmade animation and design. Christopher is a Bay Area motion designer with ten years of experience working with internal production companies, agencies, and studios. In this episode, we’re talking about conquering your feelings of being overwhelmed by work and moving on to the next stages of your career. Jess and Christopher share some of their tried and true tactics for when they feel inundated with work. As my guests explain, a lot of this can be accomplished by prioritizing and categorizing your tasks. We also talk about delegating roles to other people, the proper mindset for not letting the amount of work you have to get out of hand, and knowing when it’s okay to say no to a job. We discuss the benefits of being part of a community like a mastermind and how that support is one of the most valuable things a freelancer or small business owner can have. In this episode
Quotes “When I start to do these things, are they interconnected? Are they going to help set off a chain of things that can show me a path going forward? Every once in awhile, there will be lots of interesting things coming up on my radar, but it’s not really an opportunity if it’s just a distraction.” [8:19] “If you can take the other parts of your work that are on your plate an invest in someone who is also naturally good at that to help you, you find that the work goes so much quicker and that it is more cost-efficient, it’s more successful, it allows you to be a better creative or small business owner.” [14:48] “I just have to normalize that not everything that pops up is an opportunity. Just because it’s all happening at once doesn’t mean that it’s going away.” [20:54] “If you don’t know when you’re going to get close to done, then you feel like it’s never going to end. And that’s most often when we burn out. If you can give yourself opportunities, if you can plan projects out, it kind of gives you those markers to know it’s not forever -- there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” [24:24] “Who you know in an authentic way is incredibly valuable to growing your business. You shouldn’t have to be sending out cold emails.” [32:19] Links Find Jess at Mighty Oak Studios Follow Jess on Instagram | Facebook | Vimeo | YouTube Find Christopher at Designer of Motion
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 06 Nov 2017 | 001: Weathering The Ups & Downs of Life as a Freelancer w/ Lilian Darmono | 00:30:42 | |
As freelancers, we have to live with the fact that work often comes in waves. We might be really busy for stretches of the year, and then face a lean month or two. Learning to predict and work through these cycles is a big factor in creating a successful freelance career. Lilian Darmono is an Art Director who’s made a career spanning both the freelance and corporate worlds. In this, the first of a 2-part series, we dive deep into Art Direction, Graphic Design, and Animation. Lilian studied graphic design at University in Singapore, worked as a graphic designer in Australia before finding her niche as the world of art direction. We speak in depth about the path she took to become an art director, the importance of passion projects, the benefits of being a specialist vs a generalist. Plus, we get into the pro’s and con’s of climbing the corporate ladder and what it means to be an art director vs a creative director. How do you handle your downtime between projects or when slow season hits? Are you a “Jack (or Jill) of all trades or do you choose to specialize? Leave a comment below!
In this episode:
Links: Follow Lilian on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Vimeo | Behance | |||
| 25 Mar 2024 | Season Two Trailer | 00:03:01 | |
We're back with a brand new season of the Motion Hatch Podcast featuring some incredible guests! Motion Hatch helps motion designers to start and scale their businesses.We dive deep into the challenges freelancers and studio owners come up against and have conversations with a wide range of business and marketing experts through the lens of motion design, as well as designers, animators, and artists who are just a few steps ahead of you. | |||
| 19 Feb 2018 | 012: How To Make The Leap From Full Time To Freelance w/ Mitch Myers | 00:44:55 | |
Many of us struggle to make the transition and shift from agency or studio work to independent freelancer. In today’s conversation, we go in-depth on that first year of freelancing and all the mindset shifts that it requires. Mitch Myers is a freelance motion designer who specializes in 3D. He talks to us about his transition from agency designer to freelancer, including the fears he had when making the decision to switch, how he researched and decided his pricing, and the mindset changes he had to make going from employee to entrepreneur. Mitch offers insight into how he’s navigated the first year of freelancing, and how he plans to move forward with years two and three. We also discuss how he found his first clients starting out, as well as the details of a major project he was offered his first month freelancing. He also offers advice to designers considering making the leap into freelancing. Are you thinking about taking the leap? Have you already done it? Let us know how Mitch’s interview resonated with you in the comments below!
In this episode:
Related links: Connect with Mitch on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Support Motion Hatch On Patreon! Find the full show notes at https://motionhatch.com/12 | |||
| 04 Dec 2018 | 028: How to make sure you're on the right track in your career w/ Joe Donaldson | 00:53:47 | |
Do you ever find yourself so busy with work for clients that you never create or do something just for your own enjoyment or personal fulfillment? It’s a tricky balance to have a career that pays the bills but that still leaves you time and energy to do what fulfills you as a person and a creator. Joe Donaldson knows this struggle as well as anyone. In addition to being the founder of Holdframe, editor of Motionographer, and an instructor at the Ringling College of Art and Design, he’s a father of two and avid runner. Joe’s ten years working in motion design have taught him countless lessons on finding that right balance between work and healthy living that so many of us struggle with. In today’s interview, we discuss building a healthy work-life balance that starts with your education. From there it’s all about navigating the outside pressures and demands that take up our time and energy. Through his own successes and setbacks, Joe has learned a lot about this and shares his wisdom in this episode. What has been your biggest struggle with maintaining a healthy work-life balance? Share it with us in the comments! In this episode:
Quotes:
“I think there is a pressure that is imposed on us from the industry at large to keep going and stay in fifth gear and that becomes difficult.” [4:09] “It’s always about that balance. You don’t want to be too artsy without marketable skills and you don’t want to be too industry and have everything just look like an advertisement or a logo. It’s about finding that balance.” [13:29] “You have to look at is the effort as working in the direction that you want to go, or is it working in the direction that inversely favors somebody else over yourself.” [43:24] “I have a constant dialogue of assessing why am I doing this and is it right for me. As long as you have that dialogue with yourself there might be times when you’re working too much, but if it’s for the right reason or it’s a stepping-stone to a goal you have, then, by all means, keep doing it.” [46:36]
Links The Freelance Contract Bundle Is LIVE! Get all the info on it here! Ringling College of Art and Design The Collective Podcast, Danny Yount
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 23 Jan 2018 | 010: How You Think Of Your Freelance Business Matters w/ Chris Do | 01:11:32 | |
One of the things so many of us creatives struggle with is how to charge what we’re worth. Many of us are in the habit of thinking of ourselves as freelancers, but Chris Do joins us today to talk us through how to change our mindset to think of ourselves as independent business owners instead, and why we should be viewing our careers through that lens. Find the full show notes at https://motionhatch.com/10 Keep up with everything Motion Hatch at https://motionhatch.com | |||
| 07 Jul 2020 | 070: Why You Can’t Find Consistent Clients | 00:12:30 | |
Freelance life can go from feast to famine in an instant. As a Motion Designer, it can be easy to get discouraged when your business is down. Plus, even when you have a project, there’s no guarantee that you’ll have work waiting when it’s done. That’s why I love consistent clients. In this solo episode, I want to talk to you about what it takes to land clients that keep coming back to you. To be successful in Motion Design you should regularly be engaging in client outreach. It may not be your favorite part of the job, but it’s critical to your long-term success and sanity. Maker Time vs Manager Time In the episode, I talk about two distinct ways to structure your work time, “maker” time and “manager” time.
| |||
| 08 Oct 2019 | 051: The power of in person motion design meetups and events w/ Allison Butler | 00:41:58 | |
Allison Butler has always had a passion for motion design. Mostly self-taught, she has been creating professional digital content for five years as well as running a monthly meetup of Connecticut based animators, motion designers, and related creatives. Allison tells her story of how she started her own freelance business as an alternative to full-time but temporary work. While it provides a large amount of freedom, it also requires courage and determination and many hard lessons. Allison shares what she learned by becoming a freelance motion designer. While it wasn’t always the case, Allison is a master of networking. We chat about the power of networking and how Allison created a local motion design meetup which helps her and others immensely with their freelance careers. In this episode
Quotes “Freelancing is never easy to jump into when you’ve only known full-time work.” [8:43] “I needed networking practice. It’s something people don’t tell you - that you need to practice networking and just talking to people and being human.” [17:47] “Everyone has these online platforms to talk to and chat with people and they’re absolutely wonderful. But people still want that in-person connection. They want to know people in their area. They just want to know who’s around.” [23:52] “If you can find one or two people in your area who are pumped to have a meetup, that’s all you need.” [32:48] Sponsors Milanote Milanote is a tool for organising your motion graphics projects - everything from the creative brief, mood boards, storyboards - all your pre-production material in one place. Watch Evan's series on pre-production where he uses Milanote and shows you how to organised your motion design projects to get better results. Check out Milanote and sign up for free milanote.com/motionhatch Links Follow Allison on Twitter | Instagram | Linkedin Can we add the Mograph Mastermind logo like on this page? https://motionhatch.com/046-masterminding-with-jess-peterson Find out about the upcoming Motion Hatch mastermind Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 14 Nov 2017 | 004: Why Collaboration Is The Best Investment You Can Make w/ Andrew Embury | 00:32:32 | |
Any freelancer knows that the freelance life is filled with sacrifice, struggle, and risk, especially when we’re first trying to get established. Andrew Embury is no stranger to these challenges, and joins us on the podcast to give us some insight into his personal struggles and the tools that helped establish him as one of the best-known motion designers around. Andrew is a self-taught director, producer, and editor of motion design who could easily boast about his Emmy nomination if he wanted to. But he isn’t into self-promotion so you won’t hear about it from him. He does, however, give us some great advice on the importance of collaboration and community and how those two things have helped him move his career forward. We also talk about how time management and setting clear expectations and boundaries with clients can transform your freelance life from hectic and stressed to calm and super productive. If you want to break free from your struggles and get clients based on the quality of your work, then this podcast is a must listen.
In this episode:
Related Links: Follow Andrew on Instagram | Twitter | Dribbble | Vimeo Email Andrew at Aembury@gmail.com | |||
| 06 Oct 2020 | 073 : How to Leverage Personal Projects to Improve Your Motion Design Career w/ Qais Sarhan | 00:34:24 | |
Do you ever feel that you have too much client work to focus on personal projects? It can be tough making the time for something that doesn’t bring you any direct income. However, these personal projects are an important part of your craft. They’ll help you sharpen your skills while imparting a sense of satisfaction that other work doesn’t. About Qais Sarhan Qais Sarhan is a 2D motion designer based in Reading. He creates simple, succinct animations in order to promote and explain complex marketing messages. When not creating for studios and agencies, Qais creates silly gifs about cats and food. The Rewards and Challenges of Remote Work As someone who works on all aspects of a project, Qais is able to work remotely. In this capacity, he seldom needs to come in-house and has the freedom to live outside of the major hubs. Even though you might not be physically in the room with clients, Qais urges you to stay in frequent communication. Regular emails, calls, and messages will put them at ease and let them know that their project is in good hands. Leveling Up with Personal Projects When not working for clients, Qais is constantly refining his own skills. Personal projects are a great avenue for this. By investing in yourself, not only will your craft improve, but you will also gain a sense of satisfaction that only comes creating for your own development. It will also help you avoid being too harsh on yourself so you can focus on the joy in what you do. Links & Resources Follow Qais on Linkedin | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Vimeo | Behance | Dribble Additional Resources Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative | |||
| 25 Apr 2024 | Negotiation Expert’s Secrets to Dealing with Tough Clients w/ Kwame Christian | 00:45:46 | |
Kwame Christian is an expert in negotiation. He is the Founder and CEO of the American Negotiation Institute, host of the world's most popular negotiation podcast and author of two best-selling books. He is also a contributor at Forbes, and his TEDx Talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was one of the most popular TED Talks in 2017. In this episode, you'll learn:
Links: American Negotiation Institute | Negotiate Anything Podcast Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 05 Nov 2019 | 053: How to become a motion graphic designer in 11 Weeks w/ Chris Field | 00:53:38 | |
Most of us weren’t always freelance motion graphic designers. For those of us that once worked for another company, the change wasn’t straight-forward. Finding new work and having the right support may not have been easy to come by. Today, I’m chatting with someone who recently made this transition to becoming a motion graphic designer what he’s learned in the process. Chris Field is a freelance motion designer who recently made the transition from full-time corporate work. With a strong background in design strategy, Chris is finding success in motion design and learning some valuable lessons along the way. Chris shares his transition from working as a design strategist into the world of freelance motion design. He’s always had a passion for human-centred design which first led him into a career in industrial design. As such, Chris keeps a keen eye out for the elements of design that truly help the people he’s aiming to serve. His transition into animation took place once Chris realized its ability to tell the story that his clients wanted to envision. He talks about the steps he took to move into life as a freelancer and how he’s found support along the way. In this episode
“I was super hyper focussed on getting a job within the creative world because I had done so many horrible odd-jobs before and it was time to treat myself to the career that I really wanted.” [2:04] You’re not going in with a solution. If you have a solution going into a design research project, that’s like throwing a dart at the wall and then drawing a target around it afterwards. If you have a design and solution in mind, you’re probably doing it wrong.” [7:23] “I’m genuinely interested in the work that they do. If they’re genuinely interested in the work that I do, they’re probably going to reciprocate that.” [30:02] “Who is watching this and how are they watching it is the basis for the human-centred design spin on motion graphics.” [39:41] “The emotional charge behind it all is deeply rooted in real people. If you don’t have that, you’re rolling the dice as to whether you’re going to have a compelling story.” [45:43] Links Follow Chris on Instagram
Episode 49 with Kyle T. Webster Episode 44 with Sander Van Dijk The Mograph Mastermind Program | |||
| 20 Mar 2018 | 014: What You Need To Know About Intellectual Property & Contracts As A Motion Designer w/ Silvia Baumgart | 00:48:38 | |
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general guidance only and discusses the legal position in the UK at the time of publication unless stated otherwise. You must take legal advice and not rely on the information provided in this podcast before taking action. We do not update our podcasts and therefore, past podcasts may not reflect the current legal position. Are you a whiz at all things legal when it comes to your businesses? Are you a maverick when it comes to intellectual property and copyrights? Most of us as animators, illustrators and creatives aren’t, and that’s why we brought on our guest today, who breaks down the sometimes (ok, always) overwhelming world of law into small, easy to understand definitions and steps, specifically as they apply to the world of animation and illustration. Silvia Baumgart is a trainee solicitor with James Ware Stephenson, and has a background as an art historian, general manager for the Association of Illustrators (and is now a board member), and was the manager of the Own-It programme at the University of Arts in London. Needless to say, she knows the ins and outs of property law plus understands the minds and businesses of creatives. We dove right into the definitions of intellectual property, patents, copyrights, design rights, and trademarks, what to make sure you have in your contracts to best suit your wants and needs, and broke down the details on the sometimes vague area of accepting contracts versus counter offers and what actually sticks at the end of the day according to UK law. Silvia also spoke on the three different types of licenses that exist that dictates who can use the work you created and in what form which was very insightful and an absolute must listen for anyone in the creative fields.
In this episode:
Links:
| |||
| 17 Aug 2021 | 094: How to get signed by a motion graphic design agent w/ Drew Melton | 00:39:40 | |
For some people, the idea of working with an agent who helps you to find work seems like a dream come true. But how do you even go about getting signed by a motion graphic design agent? Join Hayley and Drew Melton, Founder of artist representation agency Closer and Closer as he shares his tips on how to find the perfect agent and foster an amazing partnership with them. About Drew Melton Drew Melton started out his career as a graphic designer. He dropped out of college and started freelancing full-time. He started a blog called The Phraseology Project. People could submit their work and he used this to practice his typography and grow his following at the same time. He started Closer and Closer out of an attempt to get out there and meet people - he felt like he lived in a beautiful, extroverted city but he spent all his time indoors in front of a computer screen. He decided to leverage his natural people skills and his experience to bring people together to accomplish more than they could on their own. | |||
| 18 Sep 2018 | 022: Art school vs online courses: The pros & cons w/ Dorca Musseb & Ryan Summers | 01:06:44 | |
So you want to be a motion designer. To go to art school or not? There is a healthy debate over whether or not a formal education is worth your time and money. Especially now with the proliferation of online courses, many aspiring designers are wondering if art school is still worthwhile, and today we’re diving into the topic with Dorca Musseb and Ryan Summers. Dorca and Ryan have been in the field for many years and offer a wealth of experience and advice on the topic of arts education, and we get deep into the pros and cons of different arts educations. Dorca is a designer and animator based in New York and Ryan is a creative director at Digital Kitchen. In this episode, we discuss the importance of going to art school to learn design principles and make important connections, but also the limits and the false expectations that these schools leave their graduates with. We go on to discuss how the proliferation of online classes has changed the game, but also its limitations. If you’re thinking about going to art school or taking a course, this episode is a must listen! Did you go to art school or decide against it? Was that the right decision for you? Let us know in the comments on the episode page! In this episode
Quotes “The thing that I see the biggest dearth of is schools not teaching people how to be a working professional artist. They’re not teaching people how to become a freelancer. I think it goes even a step beyond that, just how to work well with others. These are the soft skills that I don’t see a lot of people coming out with.” [12:46] “I’m excited about where the online classes are going because now people are starting to realize that this is something that they can actually do and more voices are coming in and more voices are being heard.” [34:54] “If you don’t have people in a creative industry I don’t think any amount of education, any amount of software knowledge, any amount of raw talent will really get you through your career and get you where you want to go.” [46:45] Related Links Follow Dorca on Instagram
Follow Ryan on Twitter
“Don’t become another unhireable designer” article School of Motion Design Bootcamp
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 04 Sep 2018 | 021: How to shape the life you want through your freelance business w/ Tom Davis | 00:42:02 | |
As a freelancer, it can be tricky finding the right balance between pleasing your clients and building the work-life balance that is best for you. Tom Davis joins us today to discuss how he has built a business that is fulfilling on both a personal and professional level. Tom is a freelance motion designer and creator of Loop, an online store full of his own creative resources for other motion designers and an outlet for his passion projects. He’s recently transitioned into working remotely and we talk about that transition, its challenges and advantages. We also talk about how you can build your business to be truly satisfying on a personal level. Tom offers insights into how to keep your clients happy while staying true to your values and lifestyle. Do you work remotely? If so, how do you manage your clients’ concerns? Let me know in the comments on the episode page! In this episode
Quotes “I think ultimately, being freelance when a business takes you on, they are making an investment in you, so if you are donating a percentage [to charity], that is saying this is who I am, and if that adds a plus point on my side, then power to it. Ultimately, as long as we do that good work, that’s the best thing possible.” [13:51] “It’s definitely tricky [to work remotely] if you haven't worked with an agency before because they’ll usually want you onsite. But as soon as they trust you and know how you work then they are more receptive to remote work.” [28:35] “You’ve got to try to build the work life that is the best possible one for you. We spend a lot of our time working, so why not try to make that really good.” [39:14] Related Links Follow Tom on Instagram | Twitter
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 13 Aug 2019 | 047: Why pre production is important to us and our clients w/ Evan Abrams | 01:14:45 | |
Often times, we overlook the value of the pre-production process, when it’s actually an incredibly important part of what we do. In many ways, a little extra work up front, will save a lot of extra time on the back end. To help us all understand this better, I’ve brought in someone who truly knows the importance of this concept. Evan Abrams is a fantastic motion designer who runs his own YouTube channel where he teaches motion design. With over ten years of experience, Evan has fine-tuned how he creates his projects from beginning to end. Not one to keep his skills to himself, Evan uses his YouTube channel to share his expertise with other motion designers. His recent videos about the pre-production process have me thinking that we too often ignore this essential part of creating animations. So today we’re talking about how you can streamline your pre-production process for better efficiency and more clients. Evan also talks about why it’s crucial to position yourself as an expert in what you do and to share that expertise with as many people as you can. To that end, Evan shares his advice about whether or not you should start your own YouTube channel. Evan gives some great tips on using your expertise to get new clients by using your knowledge to get you in front of new audiences. Much of this involves being active in the right communities and offering each other support. Evan and I also dive deep into how important pre-production is to creating a great final project. By focusing on the process before the creation begins, we can better anticipate potential problems and streamline collaboration, not to mention reduce stress. It allows us to be able to do and consider more in the end by being more intentional from the start. In that way we should enjoy the process even more than the finished product. In this episode
Quotes “If you’re going to create something, you can’t please everybody all the time. That’s probably the biggest hurdle to get over.” [6:25] “I think we’re entering an age where secret knowledge is not valuable, but shared knowledge is. If you hoard all this behind the scenes stuff to yourself, that’s great, now nobody gets to know about your process. Your process is as valuable as the product you’re putting out. It’s often more valuable if you want people to work with you. They’ll need to see how you work.” [11:35] “Pre-production, in my mind, is the only way to achieve great production. It’s the party that happens before the party. You can’t get somewhere if you don’t know where you’re going.” [22:49] “It’s vital to remember, everybody is a person. No one is a robot. Behave less like a robot.” [46:38] “Great work doesn’t come fully formed into the universe. We all want to produce great work and it doesn’t just pop out of people’s heads. It doesn’t just show up. Most great work comes from collaboration, working the problem, the process. There is a system and systems are not to be feared.” [57:12] Links Follow Evan on YouTube | Twitter Check out Evan’s pre-production series Motion Hatch Episode 19 with Caitlin Cadieux | |||
| 16 Feb 2021 | 082: How to find direction and focus as a motion designer w/ Ross Plaskow | 00:48:40 | |
As a motion designer, it’s likely you have a lot of different skills. But knowing which projects to invest your time and energy in can be overwhelming. This week’s guest has a successful YouTube channel and Patreon account. But he wants to spend more of his time creating games as that’s what he really enjoys. Join Hayley as she helps Ross Plaskow to find his direction and focus as a designer. About Ross Plaskow Ross started out his motion design career by doing an animation degree at the University of Portsmouth before getting a job working for an agency - the first one he ever contacted! He worked there for a number of years before leaving that job to go freelance full-time. How to land that first job once you go freelance In typical freelance fashion, the road to freelancing success wasn’t straight-forward for Ross. It took him 6 months to get his first freelance gig. Ross attributes this to not tailoring his approach when it came to approaching clients - his portfolio was very diverse and he feels he should have been more selective in the examples of work he sent over to potential clients. It took him 6 months to really perfect his showreel and once he did, he found that getting work became a lot easier. Therefore you shouldn’t be afraid to niche down, even at the beginning of your career. How to diversify your revenue streams as a motion designer Ross started his YouTube channel in 2016 making cartoons and tutorials. Things started out positively but he hit a wall with creating content when he got too busy with his freelancing. He almost gave up entirely, but then he hit a quiet spot in his freelance career and made the decision to create very niche tutorials and put them on the paid content subscription site, Patreon. He now has over 200 paid members on the platform and his YouTube boasts an impressive 105k subscribers. Ross says that the reason his YouTube videos have done so well is because of good SEO - using common sense and researching what kinds of video titles are already out there and filling that void. His first tutorial video now has over 2 million views! How to balance freelancing full-time with other ventures These are impressive achievements. However, Ross voiced to Hayley that despite his successes with YouTube and Patreon, he finds it difficult juggling his freelance career with these other ventures and knowing where to invest his time and energy. Even though he has built up an impressive number of subscribers, Ross finds himself falling out of love with YouTube and wanting to pursue his real passion of making games instead. Picking between what you CAN do and what you ENJOY doing As a freelancer, it’s likely that you can do a lot of different things. But the way to achieve better job satisfaction is to spend more time doing the things you enjoy doing, rather than the things you can do just to get paid. Even though Ross spends the majority of his time animating characters for other people in his work, he feels that his true passion lies in making games, however, he is doubtful that he could make a living doing what he loves. Hayley explained that once you take control of these limiting self-beliefs, you’ll see that there are unlimited opportunities to make money as a motion designer or animator. Ross and Hayley discuss the different ways in which you could carry on working whilst still working towards your dream of doing what you love full-time. How to find direction and focus Hayley recommends picking a focused goal for each and every year - such as Ross’s current goal of saving up to buy a house. That helps you to prioritise and focus your mind. She also gives her advice on what she would do if she was Ross to combine her dream of making games whilst taking advantage of the large YouTube audience he already has. She says you shouldn’t under-estimate the power of sharing the journey and behind the scenes with your audience. It’s an effective way to not only add value to your audience but also spark their interest in the project you’re trying to launch. Sharing your goals with your audience will also help to keep you accountable and creating a proper plan will help you to keep on track. If creating a plan for the year feels too intimidating, break down your goals into Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. Are you brimming with ideas but you struggle to know which ones to invest your time in? Do you believe you can make a living doing what you genuinely love to do? If not, why not? Leave a comment on the episode page and let us know! Links & resources Explore Ross Plaiskow’s work on his website, YouTube channel, Twitter and Instagram. Complete the Perfect Day Exercise and SMART Goals. Learn more about Client Quest. Learn more about using accountability to achieve your goals through a Mastermind group. Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production by the team at BE MORE Media | |||
| 20 Jun 2024 | Studio owner's advice on getting hired and starting an animation studio w/ Flow Creative | 00:28:48 | |
Flow Creative is an award-winning animation and branding studio based in Manchester, UK. In this episode, you'll learn:
Follow Flow Creative: Website | Instagram Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 30 Mar 2021 | 085: How to start a side-hustle as a motion designer w/ Mary Hawkins | 00:52:29 | |
Nowadays it’s common for people to have more than one job or income stream. Having a side-hustle allows you to have more freedom and control in your career as it’s not your only source of income - but how do you go about choosing one? And how do you get started? Today’s guest has a popular Etsy store selling stationery as well as a successful career in motion design. In fact, having a side-hustle allows her to be pickier over the kinds of clients she works with. Find out how you too can start your own side-hustle to complement your motion design career. About Mary Hawkins Mary Hawkins is a freelance motion designer, animator and art director. She joined our Mograph Mastermind last year to help her to get clarity on the kinds of clients she wanted to work with and because she was suffering from a massive case of burnout. As a result, she has gone from being an in-house freelancer to an independent freelancer and she now gets to work with clients such as charities as well as broadcast designer clients. How to start a side-hustle as a motion designer Mary has built up an extremely successful Etsy shop selling voting-themed stationery - she’s made 12,000 sales in the past 4 years. She credits her success to having such a niche store. Mary makes products for volunteers to write postcards to voters. Writing postcards to voters was a new idea back in 2017 that has become increasingly popular, which is how Mary Likes Postcards was born. She paid $300 to get lots of printing done back in 2017 and has been running the business ever since. She’s never had to take out a business loan, or invest more money into it and even during a bad year like 2020, it still manages to pay for her family’s health insurance. How to choose a side-hustle if you don't know where to begin Although Mary was happy in her career, the really interesting jobs would often get sent to a big agency in NYC rather than be kept in-house. As a result, she wasn’t spending much of her time at work actually designing, but she’d always find herself doodling designs at her desk. Therefore it came as no surprise to Mary that her side-hustle incorporated something that was a pain-point in her career. However she’s a designer, not an artist, and she knew she needed to create something with direction that people wanted. When she designs for her store, she is always thinking “who’s going to like/buy this?” “What is the emotional response going to be?” As a motion designer, you have a very specific set of skills so when choosing a side-hustle you should stick to things that you’ll enjoy doing and one that makes use of your skillset. Some of the best ways to make money through a side-hustle as a motion designer would be teaching based content - 1:1 coaching for other designers or teaching YouTube tutorials. You could also make money digitally, such as creating and selling an online course or make and sell templates, printables or fonts. You could also create a print on demand business, where you print designs on tote bags, cards, pins or other physical products but you only create the product once the order comes in. The key benefit of this is that you don’t want to have an inventory of stock. However, Mary’s business requires an inventory of stock, which of course takes up space and costs money to buy upfront but she says allows her business to be more profitable. The difference between a hobby and a side-hustle Mary sees her side-hustle as a micro-business. A side-hustle is not something that you do full-time, or for anyone but yourself. It’s also a business that doesn’t require your attention on a full-time basis. There’s also a difference between a side-hustle and a hobby. For example, if you are a designer who is making a short film, you’re an artist rather than someone with a side-hustle - as your primary goal is not to make money. Having a side-hustle will make you a better motion designer Mary says that having a side-hustle has allowed her to be a better organiser, a better planner, and a better marketer Each of these skills, in turn, has allowed her to be a much better motion designer. The pitfalls of having a side-hustle One of the key downsides of having a side-hustle is the pressure it puts on you when it comes to time-keeping and organisation. Having a side-hustle, even a small one, will undoubtedly take up a lot of your time. When you’re a “yes person” like Mary, who loves to say yes to many projects at once, you can find yourself stressed and overwhelmed with a never-ending to-do list. There are also copyright issues when it comes to designing and selling work online. Running two different kinds of businesses also means that tax and accounting can become more complicated. Should you sell products on Etsy, Amazon or Faire? Amazon requires sellers to jump through a lot more hoops than other platforms. They also take a large chunk out of your earnings, however, everyone is on Amazon as it’s such a well-used company. Etsy is a smaller marketplace but people seem to respond to the handmade element of businesses better due to the nature of the product. Faire is a similar platform to Etsy but for wholesale buyers. It might be better for you to have your own website rather than sell with a platform - it depends on the product you are selling. There are all sorts of marketplaces out there, you just have to search for them. But ultimately, your side-hustle has to be something you’ll genuinely enjoy doing and something that people want and will pay for. | |||
| 09 Jun 2020 | 068: How to charge for motion design with Kyle Hamrick and Hayley Akins | 00:42:35 | |
Coming up with a budget for clients and knowing what to charge for your motion design work is a common point of confusion. To shed some light on this, I’ve brought on a special co-host to answer some tough questions on charging for your projects and building industry relationships. Kyle Hamrick is a motion designer and educator based in Kansas City. He hosts a weekly live show on YouTube with Evan Abrams, Motion Design Hotline. As a freelancer, Kyle creates everything from animated explainer videos to live event visuals; from IMAX documentaries to full graphics packages for professional sports franchises. How to charge for motion designToday, we get into how to determine what you charge prospective clients and how to understand their wants and needs. There’s no single answer here. Rather, there are many factors that all need to be considered. Determine how long a motion design project will takeA particular challenge of freelancers is time management. Kyle and I recommend tracking your time. This will help you determine your actual productivity. It will also increase your efficiency and help you determine what your time is actually worth. Recognize the value you provide as a motion designerMost of all, it comes down to recognizing the value you provide. What you do helps others save time and make money. Understanding this leads to a mindset in which you can be of real service for your clients while earning the right compensation for what you do. In this episode
“If you want to be making $300,000 a year, then figure out what you need to be charging to do that. If you want to make $20,000 a year and spend most of your time surfing in Asia, figure out what you need to do that. That’s the thing about freelancing. You get to decide what these things mean for you.” [8:07] “You’re going to make mistakes and that’s okay. You’re going to underbid a project and regret it and be mad at yourself.” [11:08] “Don’t forget to advocate for yourself. Just because someone works at an agency does not necessarily mean they know what they’re doing. And just because someone works at a cool production company, they very well might know what they’re doing, but they’re too busy to pay attention to your project.” [25:23] “If you say yes to that crumby project today and then a really good project falls into your lap tomorrow, which one are you going to have to do? The one you already agreed to, right?” [36:47]
Links Follow Kyle on Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram
Join the Client Quest Waitlist Thanks for Listening!To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 26 May 2020 | 067: Make money with animated gifs w/ Annie Wong AKA Headexplodie | 00:44:08 | |
Commercial work pays the bills. But as motion designers and creatives we have tons of our own ideas. Today’s guest has a huge portfolio of her own personal work and animated gifs. Not only is this a creative outlet for her, but it has also led to many great paying jobs. Annie Wong, aka Headexplodie, is the creator of some really awesome work. She creates short-form videos, GIFs, stop motion, and other fun content for the digital world. Her creations have landed her work with some pretty big brands, such as Vans, Facebook, and the Washington Post. She even has over 2 billion views on Giphy. She tells us how making animated gifs has lead her to lots of opportunities and funny stories but has also helped her to get client work. Make Money with Animated GifsAnnie has mastered the process of letting her creations become her resume. With a platform like Giphy, Annie makes sure that she includes her contact information so potential clients can find her. By creating short little projects that are easy to share, you’re putting your talent further out in the world. For Annie, this is a fun and easy way to advertise her craft. Self Care as a Freelance Motion Designer is Important Creating the space you need for yourself and your personal work is a real challenge for freelancers. Annie knows the importance of setting this time aside for self-care. This isn’t always easy. Obviously, the more you work, the more you earn. But if you don’t take the time, you will pass up the opportunity to do what is actually truly important for yourself. In the end, self-care will allow you to create better work and serve yourself and your clients in a more present way. In this episode
“If it’s an art form that you enjoy doing, just creating short loopable animations, it’s just a really convenient and easy way for people to find your work.” [3:31] “It’s kind of a weird paradox to create something that is personal but shareable. I tend to lean towards emotions or experiences that I think just kind of relate to being human.” [8:42] “I can’t necessarily satisfy my personal creativity through client work. A lot of times, they will blend because clients will come to me wanting my style.” [15:17] “When you’re hustling for work, it’s easy to forget what value you bring to the world. People need artists. People need your fun and colorful and weird ideas.” [36:35] Links Follow Annie on Instagram | Linkedin | Vimeo | Twitter The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer Related Episodes How to turn your Motion Design skills into smart income with YouTube with Premiere Gal How to use social media to get more clients with Golden Wolf How to use YouTube to grow your motion design business with Ben Marriott Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 02 Oct 2018 | 023: How to find & grow community as a freelancer w/ Jorge Canedo AKA Jr.canest | 00:44:29 | |
As freelancers, we often miss out on the team building and community that people in companies and studios have. There’s so much we can learn from each other, but miss out on because we are off on our own. I know this is something I’ve experienced. Today, we’re diving into the topic of how to build those connections and how it will support you in your work. Jorge Canedo AKA Jr.canest is a freelance animator and creative director in Vancouver, Canada. Also the Founder of Wine After Coffee and Blend Festival, which I’m sure you have heard of! Before setting out on his own, Jorge worked for some big studios like Giant Ant and Buck. He has a lot of insight to share on making the transition from working for a company to doing it in your own and building his own studio. He also shares with us how and why he started Blend and Wine After Coffee. In this episode, we discuss how to work well with other people, a skill that is often overlooked in this industry. Jorge reminds us of why teamwork is an indispensable skill to practice, even if you spend most of your time working on your own. How do you build your professional relationships as a freelancer? Leave a comment on the episode page and let us know!
In this episode
Quotes “It helps you grow immensely. When you’re freelancing, a lot of the times you’re on your own. I’ve found that the best way to grow is by having someone next to you, even if just to quickly glance at what you’re doing.” [8:44] “Communication is so big because you can be an incredible animator and have all the ideas in your head and be able to do it all, but that only goes so far if you can’t communicate that properly.” [13:52] “We need to be mindful that there’s a certain amount of good pressure to do good work and there’s a fine line between that and focussing more on work than on life.” [35:38] Links Keep up to date with the upcoming Freelance Contract Bundle Follow Jorge on Twitter | Vimeo
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 03 Dec 2019 | E55: 7 reasons not to freelance w/ Michael Jones | 00:49:31 | |
Any freelancer knows that there’s instability in their work. Finding clients, managing your time, keeping your finances in order are all big tasks. And with the looming threat of recession, things might seem really scary. But it’s not all doom and gloom. My guest on this episode has taken a close look at all these issues and has some great insight to share. Michael Jones runs MoGraph Mentor, a worldwide program that helps people get their motion design careers up and running. He recently wrote a couple of articles about the future of motion animation - one about what might happen in our industry during a recession and another giving you 7 Reasons not to Freelance. Today we talk about some of the pitfalls of being a freelancer and why you might even consider another career path. Michael shares what he has uncovered while studying the effects of recessions on advertising and the gig economy. We also discuss our thoughts concerning earning more through content marketing, content creation, and some practical passive income ideas. In this episode
Quotes “For those of us who make our living creating digital content, we might actually be in an okay position even in a really bad recession.” [4:36] “The talent is the asset. Wherever the talent goes, that’s what the companies want.” [9:07] “There’s an obvious pull towards freelance for so many people because so much time at a studio or agency is wasted time.” [32:17] “Just do what’s right for you and try to optimize for your health and wellbeing. Don’t think about the fame and the glory.” [45:19] Links Follow Michael Jones on Twitter Recessions, The Gig Economy & Motion Designers
Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 19 Oct 2021 | 98: How Giant Ant became a leading motion design studio w/ Jay Grandin | 00:48:01 | |
Ever wondered how motion design studios become known worldwide for their work? In today’s episode Jay Grandin explains how he built Giant Ant from the ground up and why he feels the studio has been so successful. About Jay Grandin Jay is Co-Founder of Giant Ant, an animation studio in Vancouver. As Creative Director, Jay oversees nearly every project in the studio—leading the concept development and script writing processes, as well as being actively involved in design and animation. In 2006, after unexpectedly creating a series of viral videos with his wife Leah, the married couple found themselves quitting their full-time jobs and working on a freelance basis for MySpace. Slowly Jay and Leah’s videos evolved from low budget live-action content to videos starring other people. Over time, the pair found themselves hiring team members and expanding into animation too. Eventually (after the arrival of twins!) Jay and Leah split the business into two: one for live-action and the other is the Giant Ant we know and love today. Jay’s story shows how even the top motion design studios have humble beginnings. | |||
| 10 Sep 2019 | 049: How to boost your motion design career with side projects w/ Kyle T. Webster | 00:46:02 | |
As creatives, there are countless ways we can earn an income doing what we love. By keeping an open mind as well as open eyes, you may be able to spot opportunities that lie outside the traditional paths. Today’s guest has done just that. Kyle shows us how to boost your motion design career with side projects. Kyle T. Webster started his own business as an illustrator in 2006 after years of doing it purely as a side gig. As an illustrator, he found that he has a special knack for building tools, particularly Photoshop brushes, to help other artists with their work. This caught the attention of Adobe and now he works full-time for them. Kyle talks about many aspects of his career including how he stumbled upon making Photoshop brushes and how this was a total gamechanger for him. We discuss why personal projects and your day job doesn't have to be the same thing as well as the role of taking calculated risks. Kyle shares his opinions about the power of social media to connect you with audiences by showing the behind the scenes aspects of your creative process.
In this episode
“When you’re presented with a problem and very little time to solve it, sometimes you come up with good solutions simply because there’s no other option.” [4:24] “Nobody knows artists better than we do, especially the ones who are doing work that’s similar to our own. If we come up with a more efficient way of doing something, then we should sell that. If we come up with an idea, we should sell it.” [8:11] “I think it’s important to talk to other creatives about what’s possible with money and budget and what you charge for your work. I think illustrators need to be more vocal about these things because it’s an easier way to not get ripped off to say what a fair fee for this work is.” [17:21] “Things you do on the side, even if they have a short lifespan, will eventually lead to other things if you choose to promote them that way.” [27:43] “We’re human beings, we’re animals. There’s something about being in the presence of other humans that brings out the best in us. I think it also suppresses the worst in us.” [43:14]
Sponsors MilanoteMilanote is a tool for organising your motion graphics projects – everything from the creative brief, mood boards, storyboards – all your pre-production material in one place. Watch Evan's series on pre-production where he uses Milanote and shows you how to organised your motion design projects to get better results. Check out Milanote and sign up for free milanote.com/motionhatch Links Follow Kyle on Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Thanks for listening To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will.
| |||
| 06 Mar 2018 | 013: How To Think About Sound Design & Music As An Animator w/ Wesley Slover | 00:54:30 | |
As designers, a lot of us love to think that we are in complete control over the outcome and success of our projects. But how many times have you been blown away after the sound designer worked their magic on it? As I share in the episode, I experience this on pretty much every project I work on. Today we’re diving into the audio side of the animation world with one of the most popular sound designers in the animation world, Wesley Slover. Wesley Slover is the founder and owner of Sono Sanctus where the tagline reads “Don’t let audio be an afterthought,” which is exactly where a lot of big projects go wrong. He shares with us how to plan and budget for sound design and music, as well as diving into getting started as a freelancer and growing a team. He spoke to us about how having a team with all different strengths can lead to not only bigger projects but projects with way more diversity and excitement, how your multiple skill bases will help your project costs and time management. Wes also gave us some insights into using social media to grow your network and ultimately your clientele, and how simply making friends and learning from others will help you grow your community and lead to collaborations and projects you’ll love. How do you budget for and plan around sound design in your projects? Leave us a comment below and let us know!
In this episode:
Links: Follow Sono Sanctus on Vimeo | Twitter | Tumblr
Support Motion Hatch On Patreon! Find the full show notes at https://motionhatch.com/13 | |||
| 23 Oct 2018 | 025: How to get hired by companies like Facebook as a motion designer w/ Sabrina Curry | 00:31:13 | |
Sharing your work and asking for feedback is nerve-wracking. It’s a vulnerable place to put yourself, but as today’s guest emphasizes, it may be the most important way to furthering your career and growing your craft. If you want your career to take off, you have to take chances. Today, Sabrina Curry tells us how she did it! Sabrina is a motion designer at Facebook and former animator at College Humor. Her road to landing a coveted position at this giant company is truly fascinating and illuminating and full of actionable tips. We talk about exactly how Sabrina became a motion designer at Facebook, and how she’s still not sure exactly how they heard about her to begin with. Sabrina has a feeling it happened because she was willing to put her creations out in the world and listen openly to the feedback she received. Sabrina and I go on to discuss what it’s like working at a huge company and how they foster a supportive work-culture so that everyone feels comfortable sharing their creative ideas. There’s so much valuable advice in this interview. I’m so glad that Sabrina could come on and share it with us all! Have you learned any important lessons by sharing your work with others? Tell us about it in the comments on the episode page!
In this episode:
Quotes: “Sharing your work is the best thing you can do, whether it’s good or bad. Sharing my work over the years has been the reason I’ve been able to get anywhere. You can’t get opportunities if you're hiding from them.” [12:25] “What is good and what isn’t can be completely different to someone viewing your work. So I think it’s best to get comfortable with sharing your worst sometimes. You might be surprised with how it resonates with some people.” [14:28] “Understanding that you’re always going to be in this constant cycle of learning and growth helps you get more comfortable with knowing that you’re not an imposter. You’re just in one of those fields where you’re always going to be a student, and that’s okay.” [26:47]
Links The Freelance Contract Bundle Is LIVE! Get all the info on it here!
Follow Sabrina on Instagram Watch Sabrina in a College Humor sketch!
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 17 Nov 2020 | 076: How to use Behance to get more clients w/ Felipe Vargas | 00:29:15 | |
Clients can come from many different places. In this line of work, we motion designers can take advantage of numerous resources for this. Today’s guest explains how he does it using Behance and how you can too. About Felipe Vargas Felipe Vargas is a freelance illustrator and motion designer from Chile. His specializations include designing, directing, and animating a wide range of motion projects. He also enjoys editorial illustration work. He finds many of his opportunities from his Behance page. This has led to opportunities to work with many great brands, such as Adobe, Yahoo!, The World Bank, The WHO, Facebook, Citi, JP Morgan, and many others. Breaking New Ground in Chile Felipe entered the world of motion design when it was relatively unheard of in his country. He credits his early success to a combination of having a top-notch portfolio reel, his tenacity, and luck. Today, motion design is growing in popularity in Chile. By being there from the start, Felipe finds himself well-positioned to take advantage of this new trend. Using Behance to Find Work with Many Different Clients Felipe credits a lot of his success as a freelancer to Behance. This platform creates opportunities to network that few other platforms provide. Since many clients are just as interested in your process as they are with your final product, Felipe finds that Behance is a great tool for showing how he creates his work. He credits consistency and attention to detail when using it to create a successful portfolio. Although Felipe creates a lot of work for advertisers, he also sees the value of working for a variety of client types. If you can be the first motion designer that someone works with, you can guide them through the possibilities of your creations. This gives you more freedom and opens up possibilities that may not exist elsewhere. Links & Resources Download the free portfolio checklist! Find Felipe Vargas on Behance | Vimeo | Instagram Additional Resources Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative | |||
| 29 Jan 2019 | 032: Making Money in Mograph Part 2 w/ Zack Lovatt - Technical Director | 00:39:58 | |
For part two of our new mini-series, Making Money in MoGraph, I’m talking with someone who does something that not to many of us in this industry do - 2d technical directing. It’s just one of the many different and less than conventional ways that people who work in motion design can make a living. Zack Lovatt is a technical director with a truly diversified income stream. He writes and sells scripts in After Effects as well as working directly with studios to help streamline their process and improve their efficiency. Having started out as an artist before transitioning into his current role, Zack knows quite a few ins and outs of this industry. In this interview, Zack and I talk about what it’s like being a 2d technical director in motion design and how he diversifies his income through various types of work. We also discuss our predictions for the future of writing scripts for after effects. Furthermore, Zack is really upfront about his profits and losses which he shares publicly on his website and we dive into that too. In this episode:
Quotes: “It’s the idea that anything that you don’t want to spend an hour doing manual finicky work, you can probably write a script to do that. I see a lot of value there and that is something I see growing; just everyday accessibility to these more technical approaches.” [10:13] “Having multiple sources of income is very important. I think passive income, or as passive as you can get, is also very important, especially in the freelance gig economy where you might not have work for three months. So even a trickle coming in on the side is more than nothing. The issue there is telling people to start writing scripts or learning plug-ins with the assumption that you’re going to retire is unrealistic.” [21:59] “A lot of people are like, ‘choose your rate and stick to it.’ But, in practicality, I never found that to be true. It's choosing your rate, stick to it unless you can’t, in which case be flexible because having some work is nicer than no work.” [31:25] Links: Aenhancers After Effects Forum Episode 31: Adam Plouff - Battleaxe - Making Money in Mograph Part 1 Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 22 Oct 2019 | 052: 3 tips to help you achieve your motion design career goals w/ Hayley Akins | 00:21:38 | |
As we approach the end of the year, I want to talk to you a bit about goals. Maybe you feel like you haven’t achieved all you wanted to or don’t exactly know what your next steps are. You’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed and exhausted. I certainly have these feelings, but I’ve found some things that help. In this solo episode, I share some of my tips for you when it comes to setting goals for the end of this year or going into the next. I'll tell you about some of the strategies that I’ve found helpful for setting attainable and meaningful goals and how I put them into action. A key part of this is keeping your business goals in alignment with your personal goals. To help with this, I explain an exercise that I highly recommend that we all try to envision our perfect day. By starting with an idea of what you’d like your life to look like in three years and working backward, you can start to get an idea of what you need to do in the short, medium, and long term to reach it. I also discuss the importance of accountability and focus for attaining your goals. In this Episode
“You shouldn’t wait until January to make New Year's resolutions that you’re just going to give up by February. We need to do really start thinking about this stuff now and put in a plan.” [2:23] “You need to turn your to-do list into priorities based on what will move your career and your business forward.” [7:22] “I think we should think about our lives and what we want our lives to look like to help build your business around that.” [11:39] “We can all feel like we aren’t getting anything done, but we never actually give ourselves permission to organize our lives and we say yes to everything that pops into our inbox. You can plan your year actually. You have permission to do that.” [12:49] Links | |||
| 01 May 2018 | 017: What Is GDPR And Why Do You Need To Know About It? w/ Silvia Baumgart | 00:48:37 | |
Because so many of us work online and across borders, sometimes laws in one country might affect you whether or not you live there. A lot of people who do business or promotion internationally are panicking about the new GDPR law that’s coming into effect in the UK & EU at the end of May and how best to make sure their businesses comply. Today Silvia Baumgart returns to walk us through how this new law might affect your freelance business regardless of where you live. Silvia is a lawyer practicing at James Ware Stephenson, a boutique firm specializing in the creative and entertainment sectors. She has been General Manager of The Association of Illustrators, and has led initiatives, workshops, and created resources on intellectual property for The University of the Arts London, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and the Academy of the European Patent Office. Today she guides us through the new General Data Protection Regulation Act, how to assess its impact on your business, and how to make sure we are compliant with it and the already existing Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). She talks to us about email lists, opt-in forms, and privacy policies and how best to protect our businesses. Are you confused about the GDPR? Do you worry that it will disrupt your marketing or are you confident in your current system? Let us know in the comments on the episode page!
In this episode:
Quotes: “Either they have subscribed to your newsletter and therefore given you explicit consent, or they might have used your services… and then you have some sort of implied consent.” 12:46 “[Asking people to re-opt in to your mailing list] is not necessary, especially when you’re dealing with clients who are companies” 25:30 “You can only do things to the best of your ability.” 44:17
Links: Information Commissioner’s Office The Association Of Illustrators
| |||
| 21 Nov 2017 | 005: How To Balance Personal With Paid Work To Be The Best Designer Possible w/ Irene Feleo | 00:41:58 | |
When we first get started in the world of motion graphics, we often have dreams of working on endlessly fulfilling creative projects, always working in our preferred style. Needless to say, it doesn’t take most of us long to realize that this isn’t the way the industry works. This, however, is all the more reason to continue refining and experimenting with our own style, to keep inspired, and eventually attract new clients. Irene Feleo is originally from Australia, but now lives in New York, and has a history of balancing freelance and full-time work along with her own personal projects. We speak about how having a full-time gig not only helps you pay your bills but also helps you gain skills that you need to succeed, but how at one point, her job lead her to what she calls her quarter-life crisis. Irene shares the importance of having a community and how participating actively within the community can help you gain insight, make friends, and get referrals. She also speaks about the need to create on your own terms and how those passion projects can ultimately lead you to some amazing clients. Plus, we explore the use of social media to put your work out into the world so that branding agencies can fall in love with your esthetic and pursue you. How do you balance personal projects and paid work? Have you ever had a personal project lead to a paid gig? Leave a comment below!
In This Episode:
Related Links: | |||
| 03 Mar 2020 | 061: How to get into the tech industry as a motion designer w/ Sharon Harris | 00:29:52 | |
Tech companies are creating more and more opportunities for motion designers to work in UX design. Instead of the traditional studio work, this means working with one company on a specific product. But what does it mean to do this work and how is it different from other types of motion design? Sharon Harris is a senior motion designer at Google. As part of the Google design team, Sharon works with the editorial design platform, conducts interviews and podcasts, and arranges the annual design conference, SPAN. Today, Sharon and I speak about how to get into UX motion design and what it’s like working in the tech industry as a motion designer. As tech industries are utilizing motion design as part of the branding, the opportunities for motion designers are growing. As a result, it has become possible to work entirely within the tech industry creating UX/UI products. Sharon has found that working in tech is incredibly exciting. She is able to come up with many of the ideas for products and be more involved throughout the whole creative process. If this is something that you’d like to be a part of, Sharon provides some actionable tips on how to get involved. In this episode
Quotes “Everything is interconnected. We don’t just think about what a button looks like, but how it moves, what is the spatial and hierarchical relationship, how it transforms. It’s about understanding the logic behind why we make those decisions.” [8:46] “There’s just so many things you can do. It’s a very exciting field. There’s never a dull moment” [11:14] “Stories move people. That’s what I see motion growing into more within tech.” [23:13] “It’s work that is touching millions of people. You don’t focus on something that is seen for a few seconds and then disappears in a month or two. This is stuff that is implemented and people use it every day.” [31:47] Links Follow Sharon Harris on Dribbble | Instagram Episode 57: VR in Motion Design Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. Accessibility - Material Design | |||
| 02 Nov 2021 | 99: How to create motion design side projects that complement your day job w/ Charli Marie | 00:33:56 | |
Looking to pursue motion design side projects but unsure how to find balance with your day job? In today’s episode Charli Marie explains how side projects can help motion designers to improve their craft and process. About Charli Marie Charli Marie is a Youtuber, podcast host and Creative Director at email marketing company ConvertKit. Throughout her working career, Charli has always pursued some side projects outside of her 9-5 role. Currently she creates weekly content on her YouTube channel and podcast, Design Life, sharing insights into life as a professional designer alongside tutorials and advice on design tools and concepts. | |||
| 26 Feb 2019 | 034: Making Money in Mograph Part 4 w/ Matthew Encina | 00:46:46 | |
For part four of the mini-series, Making Money in Mograph, we’re going to talk about how you can earn an income in a few non-conventional ways as a motion designer, using content creation. As a content creator, you can put your skills to use to attract clients and even earn passive income. Matthew Encina is the chief content officer at The Futur and creative director for Blind. He started off his creative career fifteen years ago as a print designer before transitioning into motion design. Since then he’s been heading up some amazing projects helping clients with their branding strategy through motion design and creating courses and content to help other people in the industry grow their profession. In this interview, we discuss how we as motion designers can make content for our businesses and how that can help us stand out as an expert in this industry. Maybe it will even help you generate passive income one day. The key is identifying what makes you unique and relevant to a specific audience, then sharing what you can do in a way that appeals to them. We also talk about building an audience through Instagram and how you can get started right away with Instagram Stories. Furthermore, we chat a bit about how and why to offer a presale and the importance of having a diversified income. In this episode:
Quotes: “The reason why I feel that content is important is to establish yourself as an expert in the industry.” [7:05] “So I don’t think that you should try to filter out ahead of time who the audience is and what exactly they want. What I would do is just focus on yourself - what makes you unique? What are things that you spent time and money to learn? Look at those things. Can you teach that to somebody else? Part of that teaching process is where you master your craft.” [13:26] “It’s really important to embrace who you are, not trying to become vanilla and trying to find something new to say, because everything has already been said. Just share it the way that you want to say it or that you see it because your POV is the thing that’s really important.” [19:52] “There’s so many cool people out there. I think if people were just more vulnerable and open about who they are, they might develop a stronger connection to the community around them and the people who resonate with them.” [25:58] “I think it’s very important to diversify where you might be getting income from. So some of it could be passive; some of it could be opportunity based; some of it could be consulting.” [34:50] Links: Follow Matthew on Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube Follow The Futur on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter The Win Without Pitching Manifesto by Blair Enns DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson Episode 31: Adam Plouff – Battleaxe – Making Money in Mograph Part 1 Episode 32: Zack Lovatt - Technical Director - Making Money in Mograph Part 2
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 06 Jul 2021 | 091: How to grow a motion design studio and become known for your signature style w/ Cabeza Patata | 00:48:56 | |
Katie Menzies and Abel Reverter started their motion design studio Cabeza Patata in 2018. Their signature style and playful character designs have won them work with brands like Google, Spotify and The New York Times in just three years. Recently, they’ve been working with more and more fashion brands too. But how did they go about setting up their studio and being hired for their signature style? Find out in our latest episode. About Cabeza Patata Katie and Abel were both freelance motion designers and they’re also a couple. Their individual styles of work are very different so they didn’t at first think of joining forces. They worked together on creative projects in their spare time and things grew organically from there. Before long, they started to think of themselves as a studio and the name, Cabeza Patata came along, as did their website. Abel says that working freelance allowed them both to differentiate between the kinds of work they would do for clients on a freelance basis, compared to the kind of work they wanted to create as a studio. | |||
| 05 Jan 2021 | 079: How To Use Branding To Get Your Ideal Clients w/ Hollie Arnett | 00:29:30 | |
How you brand yourself may be one of the most important parts of being a profitable motion designer. There are so many ways to go about it though. Do you brand yourself as a studio? Should you show more of your personality on social media? What about a logo? How do you stand out from the crowd? Today’s guest is going to help us answer all these questions. About Hollie Arnett Hollie Arnett is a branding coach and strategist. She specializes in helping creatives brand their passion so that they can build a business that allows them to do the thing that they love. The Central Elements of Any Good Brand Hollie boils effective branding down to three main elements. The first is clarity. Both you and your audience need to be clear on what you do and who you target. Next is creativity. You need something to help you stand out as you convey your messaging. Lastly, you need consistency. Being consistent with your messaging will help people remember and recognize you. The Best Branding is Simple Branding Creating a logo for yourself may seem intuitive for a motion designer. However, it’s not always a simple task. Hollie suggests considering whether or not you even need a logo. If it’s holding you back, skip it altogether. Or, just use your name in a font you like. Ultimately, your brand is much more than a logo. To effectively build a recognizable personal brand, Hollie recommends keeping it simple and recognizable. Just a few core colours and fonts along with some patterns and photos should help get your core message and identity across. Keeping this consistent across all the channels you use will keep you recognizable and memorable. How can you use branding to convey your identity as a creative? Leave a comment on the episode page! What do you struggle with the most when identifying your brand? Leave a comment on the episode page! Links and resources Follow Hollie on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold Learn Brand Strategy with Melinda Livsey Creative Strategy and the Business of Design by Douglas Davis Related episodes Episode 10: How You Think Of Your Freelance Business Matters with Chris Do Additional resources Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative
| |||
| 03 Feb 2020 | 059: How to use YouTube to grow your motion design business w/ Ben Marriott | 00:48:00 | |
Creating tutorials is a great way to get your name out there and promote your work. Social media channels like YouTube are wonderful platforms for making this happen, but figuring out where to start can be a challenge. Today’s guest started his tutorial channel just under a year ago and he’s already amassed an incredible following. Ben Marriott is a freelance motion designer and YouTuber from Australia. Specializing in 2D design, Ben illustrates and animates short humorous videos and gifs to create tiny stories. He recently started his own YouTube channel where he posts tutorials and behind-the-scenes videos to share his how he does his work. Today, Ben and I chat about how you can use YouTube as a teaching platform to help grow your motion design business. If this is something you’d be interested in doing too, Ben explains why it’s easier to break into than many think. As Ben says, your unique voice and perspective can benefit others, even the topic has already been covered. We also discuss how to manage your use of social media in a stress-free way. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when promoting yourself online. To help you avoid this, Ben explains how you can use Instagram and other platforms successfully without posting every day.
In this episode:
Quotes “Anything I do to help myself grow an audience is going to make what I want to do in five years a lot easier.” [4:15] “It will fill up your whole day trying to post work that you’ve done. You’ll have no time to actually make any work.” [11:56] “Obviously the content has to be good, but if there’s no appealing thumbnail or title, no one will click on it.” [26:14] “Don’t think that everything is covered. Your opinion on something and your method of doing it, the way you communicate, might get through to different people.” [28:13]
Links Follow Ben on Instagram | YouTube
Episode 43 with Kelsey Brannan Getting Things Done by David Allen
Podcasting and Youtube Gear Scarlet 2i2 focusrite audio interface Thanks for Listening!To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 19 Jan 2021 | 080: How to Become a Feature Film Animator w/ Nikki Braine | 00:47:53 | |
Finding work with a major studio making feature films can seem daunting. You may wonder if your work is good enough. But what if it’s not your work that ultimately gets you hired but something else entirely? If you’ve ever wondered how animators get to work on huge films, today’s guest is going to tell you how she did it. About Nikki Braine Nikki has been an animator for many years. Her career spans games, VFX, and feature films including ‘Paddington 2’ and 'Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them'. She was recently hired on as the animation supervisor for a new Netflix show. What it Takes to Land Big Jobs Nikki takes us on her journey into VFX and feature film work. She describes the interview process and why you shouldn’t be nervous during them. The truth is, once you’ve landed an interview, you’ve already made it past the majority of the hurdles to get hired. Just be yourself and show them that you’re a nice person to work with. Although she received a formal education as an animator, Nikki doesn’t suggest that for everyone. There are so many great online schools and programs that can teach you what you need to know. Nikki suggests finding a specific aspect of motion design that interests you and exploring the online programs that focus on it. Attitude is Everything Nikki credits her eagerness to take initiative as what landed her in the job as lead animator. Getting this type of work takes problem-solving skills, great communication, and being approachable. Animating is just a small part of the job. It’s being able to effectively lead and inspire a team that makes a great lead animator. What interview tips can you share with us? Leave a comment on the episode page! How do you approach large studios when looking for work? Leave a comment on the episode page! Links and resources Download the Portfolio Checklist Follow Nikki Braine on Linkedin Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative | |||
| 23 Jun 2020 | 069: How to grow your freelance motion design business with Erica Gorochow | 00:48:36 | |
How to build your freelance business to just the right size. As freelancers, most of us would like to see our business grow. While you may work a lot on your own, meaningful and sustainable growth is a group effort. There are also reasons to limit how big you grow your business. Today’s guest successfully grew her practice to just the right size with the help of strategic collaboration and teamwork. Erica Gorochow is a Brooklyn-based director and designer at PepRally. She fluctuates between building teams as a studio, independent directing, and doing her own freelance work. Erica focuses on making high-quality work for brands, networks, agencies, and startups. In addition to client work, she produces projects internally to continue exploring new technologies, techniques, and ideas. Should you have a studio or be a freelance motion designer There’s a lot to consider as you expand your work as a freelancer. Even what to call your practice is something Erica dealt with. She really recommends establishing yourself with studio work before scaling up as a freelancer. That way you’ve already built up a name and reputation for your work. Collaboration with others can add more value to your motion design work Although she does a lot of solo work, Erica loves collaborating with others. Mostly, it’s just more fun to succeed as part of a collaborative effort. Working with others adds more value to the work and fosters personal growth as a creator. In this episode
Quotes “If I’m not going to toot my own horn, how can I expect others to do it for me?” [13:14] “I don’t know that I always have the absolute best idea. I think you’re much more likely to get to the best idea vis-à-vis collaboration.” [15:09] “Growth is whatever you define it to be. It can be personal. It can be scaling. It can be anything in between. Try to be honest with yourself about what kind of growth will lead to happiness knowing you’re allowed to change your answer.” [47:07] Links | |||
| 17 Mar 2020 | 062: The number one thing that changed my motion design career w/ Hayley Akins | 00:12:44 | |
Today I want to talk to you about the number one thing that changed my motion design career. It’s masterminds! In case you don’t know what a mastermind is or you aren’t clear how they work, I’m here to tell you all about it. A mastermind is a peer support group where you can learn and grow together. I tell the story of how mastermind groups led me to where I am today. It really has made all the difference and I owe the existence of this podcast to it. So that you can get the most out of a support group, I share my top seven tips for masterminds. This ranges from having a consistent time for your meetings, using a professional facilitator, being honest and open, and asking specific questions. Masterminds also provide many opportunities for networking. How do you think a mastermind can help move your career forward? Let’s talk in the comments! If you want to join our Mograph Mastermind you can apply here. In this episode
Quotes “If it wasn’t for mastermind groups, I wouldn’t be speaking to you on this podcast.” [1:06] “When you’re building a new business or are in a big transition, having a support network is really vital to your success.” [3:59] “Everybody has imposter syndrome. It’s about being vulnerable in your work and our business and getting feedback from other people and opening up.” [7:17] Links Join the next Mograph mastermind! Episode 51 with Allison Butler Episode 46 with Jess & Christopher Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will.
| |||
| 06 Nov 2017 | 002: What You Need To Be Asking Potential Clients Before Starting Work w/ Lilian Darmono | 00:43:36 | |
It’s no secret that when it comes to careers and business, the pay, opportunities, and accolades are not always distributed equally. It’s often easy to point to the corporate world as the prime example of this, and overlook that these same inequalities are present in the creative fields as well. Lilian Darmono joins us again for part 2 of our discussion, and in this conversation we dive deep into her experiences confronting bias and inequality as both a woman and a minority, and how she’s bringing similar stories to light through her Spectrum series of interviews. She also gives some amazing pieces of advice regarding how to improve your negotiations, what you should be charging as a bare minimum, what are the must ask questions prior to bringing on a client, and why you should always have a contract (even though the thought of sorting one out might scare us). What are your experiences dealing with bias in the motion graphics world? How did you deal with it now? Please leave a comment below! In this episode:
Links: Follow Lilian on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Vimeo | Behance Humorless Mutts Club Facebook Page Jessica Hisch Article “The Dark Art of Pricing” Chris Do Video - How to Price Design Services and Make More Money
| |||
| 23 Apr 2019 | 039: How to get better clients and scale your business w/ Greg Hickman | 00:45:27 | |
Do you find yourself spending too much time on the phone trying to get potential clients instead of doing the work you’re actually passionate about? Have you thought about automating this process but aren’t sure where to start? It’s not as daunting as many might think and my guest on this episode is an expert at getting it done! Greg Hickman runs a company called System.ly, where he helps service-based businesses with marketing funnels, scaling, and qualifying leads. In short, he shows you how to get perfect clients without the need for you to spend your time talking with people who won’t end up using your services anyway. His coaching programs are geared to help service providers scale and grow their business through automation systems and productizing. In this interview we talk about implementing systems to help you save time and get in touch with the right people for your business. There’s a lot of opportunity for automation that all of us can make use of to streamline our marketing and sales process. In the end, automation’s goal is to simplify your business and save you lots of time and energy. Greg shares some of his favorite tips on how to make this happen. We also chat about productizing your services. To do it right takes focusing on just one service so that you can make your systems streamlined and repeatable. This can be a tricky thing to do if you still want to stay true to your creative pursuits, but Greg shares some great ideas on how to pull it off. In this episode:
Quotes: “Ultimately you have to look at what your business model is. As motion designers, or any business, what are you selling and how do you deliver it? Whatever the answer is to those questions, at some point you’re probably doing some sort of marketing that could be streamlined.” [5:59] “How many times do you get on the phone and say the same thing over and over and over again? If that’s the case, make a video; make it a requirement to watch that video before they get on the phone, and that call can now be twenty minutes or whatever. You’ve saved yourself some time.” [23:23] “If you want to build a more scalable business that is leveraged, you need to start to leverage these systems to remove yourself from the delivery.” [28:36] “As service providers we start as technicians and we have a technical business. But that doesn’t mean that you, the owner, need to be the one doing all of the technical work.” [29:48] “I think the biggest challenge for creatives is you’re doing this because you also love the creative element. So custom is important and that’s totally fine. You just have to make the decision of what’s more important.” [40:56]
Links: Find Greg Hickman online at System.ly Join the Scalable Service Provider Facebook group E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber Built to Sell by John Warrillow Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 07 May 2019 | 040: How to use social media to get more clients w/ Golden Wolf | 00:40:28 | |
It’s no secret that having a large social media following can help you share your work with a large audience as well as find more opportunities to work as a freelancer. However, actually gaining and maintaining a following is a tricky pursuit. Fortunately, you’re about to hear two experts who have helped their studio gain tens of thousands of followers share how you can make social media work for you. Tom and Henry Purrington are the twin brothers and studio animation leads at the animation studio Golden Wolf in London. They’re experience as animators and production managers means that they know all the ins and outs of production from managing a social media presence to hiring animators and creating stellar animations. Today, we’re talking all about the benefits of social media can have for your business. Tom and Henry admit that there’s no single formula for success in social media, but they share some of the techniques and tricks that have helped them. The key is creating something that you and your audience both like, so it can be shared and spread as vastly as possible. Henry and Tom go deep into their processes and I know you’ll come away from this interview ready to level up your social media game. In this episode:
Quotes: “Really by focusing your attention on entertaining people and keeping it relevant to our interests, we’ve built our following that way. As a studio, people follow us because they’ll see really silly shorts, they’ll see really fun unique bold animation.” [8:02] “Building up that audience that you can respond to is really important, because they will then all like it, and then their friends will like it, and then their friends will like it.” [13:24] “Everyone’s their own brand. You are your own brand as a freelancer, as a studio. The more small pieces of work and the more content you can get out, the more likely somebody is going to see it who can employ you.” [20:35] “The stuff we put on TV today will be forgotten tomorrow. You’re only as good as your last piece of work.” [22:00] “Don’t be afraid of it. Just get it out there and don’t be afraid of what people are going to say in six months whether it’s rubbish or not. It doesn’t matter, you just keep making stuff.” [30:09] Links: Follow Golden Wolf on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Vimeo | Tumblr Follow Henry on Instagram Follow Tom on Instagram
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 09 Apr 2019 | 037: Making Money in Mograph Part 6 w/ Hannah Jacobs | 00:33:02 | |
This is part six of the mini-series Making Money in Mograph where we talk about some unconventional ways to earn an income in animation. Did you know that as an animator you also have the skills to make money as an illustrator? There are people like my guest today who are using these two sets of skills to showcase their creativity and earn more than they would in just a single field. Hannah Jacobs is an animator and illustrator with a wonderful and unique style all her own. She has an MA in animation from the Royal College of Art and her work has been featured at international film festivals like SXSW and Tribeca. Some of her clients include The New York Times, VICE, and the BBC. We sit down to chat about how to make money as both an illustrator and animator. These two fields complement each other as well as open up different revenue streams for you. By approaching animation with an illustrator’s background, Hannah faces some unique challenges but it pays off by setting her apart from the pack. Hannah also discusses what it’s like being represented by a big production company and its advantages. She shares some great tips on what to do if you’re thinking about finding representation. Hannah talks about all the ways she is branching out to make money from her work, from selling prints to making kids’ books, she is exploring so many ways to earn an income. In this episode:
Quotes: “For me, the first stage of any animation is the design -- it’s the driver for me.“ [4:18] “I know as creatives we often question absolutely everything we do all the time, so I think it’s so nice just to have a producer or another animator or someone to turn to.” [8:13] “I think so many animators now are working in an illustrative way. I feel like you can press pause in a lot of films and take a frame out and be like this would be such a nice print for the wall … I feel like a lot of animators should think about potentially selling prints of frames from their films.” [18:10] “Something that might seem like a bit of a random thing that you find yourself doing can often lead to something else. I love that opportunities sort of spring up in random unexpected places.” [29:26]
Links: Follow Hannah on Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Vimeo The Association of Illustrators
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 01 Dec 2020 | 077: How To Plan Your Best Year Ever | 00:10:43 | |
It’s nice to get paid for your work. But for many of us, that’s not the ultimate reason we’re in this business. We need to find a purpose in what we do and understand how we can positively impact the world with our creations. Working Towards a Bigger Goal Once we are earning enough to cover basic needs, the desire to work towards something bigger takes root. I find that motion designers are generally a group of people who care about what happens in the world. Finding work that aligns with your values is perhaps the best way to make a contribution. But before you can find the clients who will give you this work, it’s important to really identify the values that drive you. Discovering Core Values Identifying your core values means knowing what makes you unique. Take a step back and think about it. What is your unique perspective? How do you look for meaning? What would you do if money weren’t a concern? These are hard questions, but asking them will lead you to finding your true values and purpose. An Exercise to Find Your Vision To identify your vision, go somewhere quiet with a pen and paper. Break your vision into two categories: personal and career. What do you want these to look like in three years? Write it as if you’re living it now. Brainstorming about what you want your life to look like will bring your values to the forefront. The next thing to do is learn how to attract the clients who align with these values. You’ll need to make a plan and implement it. This can be hard to do when you’re already busy, but taking small actions now will inevitably move you closer to achieving your vision. Links and resources Apply to the Mograph Mastermind Ruined by Design by Mike Monteiro Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold Additional resources Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative | |||
| 28 Nov 2017 | 006: How To Build A Motion Design Career That Works For You w/ Joey Korenman of School of Motion | 01:20:37 | |
Are you brand new and figuring out how to start your freelance career? Maybe you’re at the point where you’re trying to decide if you should attempt to scale your business to become a studio as opposed to an individual freelancer? Wherever you’re at, we cover it all with one of the top motion design educators in our industry! Joey Korenman is the founder and head instructor at School of Motion, author of the Freelance Manifesto, husband and father to three cute kids, and all around awesome human-being. After taking his freelance motion career from freelancer to studio he realized that his true passion lay in education, and he shared enough of that knowledge with us today that you’ll leave with your head spinning. We dive into how to set the course for your life and career with an exercise called The Perfect Day and how to adjust and reevaluate your actions based on that ideal day. Joey also shares his take on the best way to make yourself stand out as a freelancer, and why you shouldn’t let the idea of lack of work scare you from freelancing. We also spend some time gushing over one of our favourite business educators and podcasters. Are you currently working a corporate job but considering freelancing? What scares you most about making that leap? Please leave a comment below!
In this episode:
Related Links: School Of Motion School of Motion Podcast Follow School of Motion on social media: Facebook & Twitter The Freelance Manifesto (Book) Joey’s Motionographer article, Too Old For Mograph Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 21 May 2019 | 041: Parenting as a freelancer w/ Doing it for the kids | 01:03:04 | |
Are you worried that being a freelancer and a parent are incompatible? It’s not uncommon for freelancers to have concerns about taking care of their kids among all their freelancing commitments. Since questions about this are so common in the Motion Hatch community, I’ve brought in the experts to answer all your burning questions. With their own podcasts and communities for freelance parents, Steve Folland and Frankie Tortora have a heap of knowledge on this topic. They’ve built successful freelance careers while raising their children and now help others like them navigate the same hurdles that they encounter on a regular basis. Steve and Frankie start off this fascinating conversation by explaining some of the parallels between parenting and freelancing and how one can help prepare you for the responsibilities of the other. They go on to share some great ideas about how you can find enough time and energy to be fully present for both your business and your family, such as bringing in more people to work alongside of you and really understanding the value that you provide for your clients. It can be really tough to navigate these issues that can get in between work and family. After speaking with Frankie and Steve, this doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as before. The recurring theme here is that being self-employed actually means that you can be there more for your kids and since it provides significant benefits that traditional employment doesn’t. Even if you’re not a parent, you’ll still find tons of wisdom and great advice in today’s episode which includes some great productivity hacks that we can all take advantage of.
In this episode:
Quotes: “They just suddenly give you this little human and nobody tells you what to do with it. It’s a bit like freelancing, really. Nobody tells you what to do with that either and you kind of muddle it out by hanging out with other freelancers and you muddle it out by hanging out with other parents.” [4:46] “The only predictable thing about having kids and being self-employed is that life is unpredictable. That is the one thing that you can count on.” [6:41] “I think there is a lot of pressure to try to do all the things, especially when you see people who don’t have kids doing all the things. But I think you just have to keep an eye on how you yourself are coping with that sort of stuff.” [24:11] “Certainly having children doesn’t make you less productive. I think it makes you more time efficient. Then it’s what you choose to do with that time.” [38:46] “Your career might pivot and it might change, but it’s not the end -- it’s the beginning!” [1:00:59] Links: Find Frankie at Doing it for the Kids Follow Frankie on Linkedin | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Find Steve at Being Freelance Follow Steve on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 22 Jun 2021 | 090: Ageing in animation w/ Hannah Lau Walker and Helen Piercy | 00:34:58 | |
We’re all getting older - it’s something we can’t avoid. But what does it mean for your career in animation? In our latest episode, we explore some of the key areas around ageing in animation and how you can feel confident and happy in your career, no matter your age. About Hannah and Helen Hannah Lau Walker is a freelance animator and the organiser of ‘She Drew That’, an organisation that runs workshops for women in the animation industry. Helen Piercy is a lecturer for the animation and visual effects course at Norwich University of the Arts. She’s also the Education Advisor for Animated Women UK, an organisation that supports women working in the creative industries. | |||
| 11 Apr 2024 | How Jessica Hische's network led her to Wes Anderson | 00:44:14 | |
Jessica Hische is a lettering artist, freelancer and author, selling books and craft supplies in two brick and mortar stores in the US. Jessica has built an incredible personal brand by building a following on social media, writing her own children's books and speaking at events such as OFFF and Adobe Max. Her network has helped her to land huge clients, including working on titles for director Wes Anderson. In this episode, you'll learn:
Follow Jessica: Website | Instagram Links: My First Book of Fancy Letters Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 20 Oct 2020 | 074 :How to Start Your Own Motion Design Studio w/ Joel Pilger | 00:43:31 | |
For those of us who start a studio, we think it will lead to a new level of freedom. Before too long, we realize that it’s a business and that creativity is just one part of it. Today’s guest helps creative business owners improve the business side of what they do so that they can focus on the parts that they love. About Joel Pilger Joel Pilger of RevThink is a consultant who helps creative studios become industry leaders. He focuses on helping owners in specific areas – genius, expertise, positioning, marketing, and sales – so their firms can produce their greatest work in the world. Finding your freedom, genius, and niche We all want the freedom to produce great work. Having your own motion design studio often gives you this freedom. But it’s not that simple. Joel explains how you can get the clients you’re after by curating a community, showcasing your expertise, and crafting your unique message. These aren’t simple and easy things. Yet, with the right approach and guidance it is completely achievable. Work is very personal to creatives. Joel urges creatives who are searching for a niche to serve to look within their own genius to find it. Identifying your genius will lead you to your niche. If you can focus on what you love to do, you can serve the best clients for you and find joy and inspiration in your work. Your community is the key to your success In the end, much of a studio’s success is derived from its community. Reaching out within your network is the best place to find the employees you want and the best clients. Joel explains how this community doesn’t happen by accident. It takes regular and intentional curation and engagement. Joel describes how identifying people’s problems and offering yourself as a solution is an effective way to become an integral part of this community. Quotes “The foundation is focusing on your genius. You have to identify your genius and focus on it. That informs your positioning, you build your community, you work with those best clients, and great work shows up.” [10:43] “Yes, I’m a big fan of working and focusing on a niche. However, niching down is a byproduct or a symptom of focusing on your genius.” [11:32] “That’s ultimately the shift that we’re all going through if you’re in this business - from being an order-taker and providing services to becoming an expert and providing value, results, and outcomes.” [34:35] In This Episode
Key Takeaways Creativity is just one ingredient in owning a business. It should be the source of what you do and who you serve, but you’ll need help with the rest of the operation. Reaching out within your community will help you find the right people for your studio. Communities do not happen by accident. You need to curate your community and continually make offers within it. This will provide you with the best resource your studio needs to succeed and grow. Links & Resources Follow Joel on Instagram | Linkedin Additional Resources Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative | |||
| 12 Feb 2019 | 033: Making Money in Mograph Part 3 w/ Jake Bartlett | 00:42:07 | |
For part three of Making Money in Mograph, we’re talking about how you can earn extra money or even replace all your income by sharing what you know with other motion designers as an online instructor. Even if you’ve never taught anyone anything about your work before, today’s guest will tell you how and why you can teach starting right now. Jake Bartlett teaches motion design on Skillshare as well as a couple of School of Motion courses. Although he started out working for a production company, Jake found that he can actually make enough to support himself by creating online courses. Today, these courses make up nearly all of Jake’s income and he continues to make new courses all the time. This episode is all about how you can put your knowledge and skills to work by teaching others just like Jake does. There are a number of different platforms that you can use to host your lessons and we talk about the structures and advantages of several of them. We also go over how to cultivate your teacher persona and create your videos so as to reach your students in an engaging and fun way.
In this episode:
Quotes: “Anyone can teach as long as you know something. If you have knowledge to share, you can teach it.” [8:51] “If you have a topic that you want to teach, but you feel like other people have already taught it, that shouldn’t be a hindrance, because if other people have taught something and it’s done well, that means that students are interested in that type of content.” [11:48] “The policy that I have taught by is to just have 100% content. Don’t have any fluff, don’t put anything in there that is boring that people are going to want to skip around or wait hoping the section will start. As long as what you’re putting into the video or tutorial is stuff that is actionable and things that they’re going to be learning from, and it’s engaging, then I don’t think length is an issue.” [14:27] “This is how it works as a teacher - I have to learn how to do what I want to teach and then I can teach it. It doesn’t matter how recently I learned it.” [26:32] Links: Follow Jake on Twitter | Instagram | Dribbble | Tumblr | Vimeo | YouTube Get 2 months premium for free on Skillshare! Episode 31: Adam Plouff – Battleaxe – Making Money in Mograph Part 1 Episode 32: Zack Lovatt - Technical Director - Making Money in Mograph Part 2
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 04 Jun 2019 | 042: How to attract your ideal client with content marketing w/ Andrew & Pete | 00:43:08 | |
As motion designers we create content for our clients. But how can we use the content we create for our own marketing purposes? How can we use it to get clients who don’t even know what motion design is? I’ve brought two guests on today who are going to answer those very questions! Today we have Andrew and Pete on the podcast. They are content marketers who help small businesses grow and find customers through their company Andrew & Pete. These guys are great at explaining the often ignored, but incredibly crucial parts of marketing your skills and your business. Their goal is to help people like you and me succeed without hustling ourselves into the ground. In this interview, we talk about your potential for helping businesses with their content marketing and so much more. We discuss the role that YouTube can play, how you can improve your pricing strategy, and the usefulness of Linkedin. We also talk about discovering the content that you can create that will entertain or help potential customers the most. This episode is packed with great and actionable advice that you can start using today. How have you been marketing your business? Tell me about it in the comments! In this episode:
Quotes: “The beauty of content is that it reduces the need to be a bit more scrappy to get clients -- having to go to networking events and stuff like that. We haven't been to a networking event for years and years because all of our business comes from our content.” [6:11] “You’re in a content pure industry because your customers do not care about how you do what you do. They don’t want to learn how to create motion graphics themselves.... But you need to remember that content marketing needs to make your customers feel happier or smarter.” [8:12] “I would rather you do an awesome emotional actionable entertaining animation once a month than four average ones once a week.” [27:21] “It’s really easy right now to stand out on Linkedin with good video. Not boring video, but good video. Animation, stop-motion graphics, anything like that would go down as such a storm on there if you did it really well.” [31:42] Links: Follow Andrew and Pete on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 06 Nov 2017 | 003: How To Travel The World As A Freelancer w/ Magoz | 00:47:05 | |
Have you ever dreamed of working on the road? Do think it is even possible to work as a motion designer or illustrator digital nomad? Our guest today is the perfect example not only that it’s possible but that it can positively influence your work as well. While originally from Barcelona, Magoz calls himself a nomadic illustrator because he has built his career while traveling pretty much non-stop. He has a very unique style which incorporates his love of minimalism and simplicity, and has made him highly sought after by some big names in the business. We dive into how he maintains his career while on the road, the power of sharing your knowledge within your community, and we even discuss what are the new hot spots for digital nomads. If you want to leave the office life behind and grab a hold on everything the world has to offer, we’ve got you covered. What have been your top concerns about working while traveling? Have you ever attempted this lifestyle, and if so, what were the pros and cons? Leave a comment below!
In this episode:
Links: Find Magoz on his website and blog Follow Magoz on Instagram & Twitter Stay up to date on when his Illustrators Essentials course launches!
| |||
| 01 Jan 2019 | 030: One year of Motion Hatch what we have learned so far | 00:25:59 | |
Happy New Year Hatchlings! It’s a new year and time to reflect on 2018, what’s happened to Motion Hatch and this podcast, and go over my goals for next year. There’s a power to reflecting on the goals the goals we set, and I’m so glad you can be here with me as I do it. I hope this will help you reflect on your 2018 and set your own goals for next year. Today, I’m going over the goals I set for the last year. Some of my goals went better than I could have hoped for, such as doing more speaking engagements. Other goals went in a completely different direction than I thought they would. That’s just fine though because they led to new and wonderful opportunities. I also share my goals for 2019. From getting into mastermind groups to keeping my goals organized in a planner while I continue making this podcast, there is a lot in store for the year. The truth is, I couldn't have done it without you. I am so grateful to all you listeners for helping make this all possible!. So it’s time to nurse your New Year’s hangover and set some goals of your own for 2019! I’d love it if you could share a goal or two of yours in the comments below! Don’t forget to enter to win some sweet giveaways by tagging @motionhatch on Instagram or Twitter and use #newyeargivaway. Tell me an episode you liked, what you learned, and a goal you have for 2019! In this episode:
Quotes: “It was really awesome to look back and think oh, that’s what I was thinking about doing, and then some of it has actually happened. It was super incredible. It just shows you the power of putting stuff out there and thinking about what you want to do in your life and going for it.” [1:35] “If I didn’t have a mastermind I wouldn’t have Motion Hatch. I wouldn’t have my podcast. They just help me so much. It’s a great way to keep accountable and have accountability for your goals.” [14:57] “Finding your purpose means finding the way to use your unique skills or passions to live a fulfilled life.” [20:11]
Links: Episode 20 - 6 Tips to Avoid Burnout and Achieve Your Goals Join the Motion Hatch Community Sweet Ass Journal by Heath Armstrong
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 02 Feb 2021 | 081: Should you start your own motion design studio? w/ Mack Garrison | 00:58:58 | |
Many motion designers dream of starting an animation studio one day - but how do you know if it’s really the right decision for you? Are you willing to give up the creativity of actually doing motion design work to become a strategist, manager and entrepreneur? Our latest guest will help you to decide if aspiring to own a studio is right for you and how to make it a success. About Mack Garrison Mack started Dash Studio in 2015 from a desire to create beautiful, bespoke work for clients and champion the creative talent of motion designers in the process. Before starting Dash he had a diverse and varied career in different specialisms of design, before settling on motion design and in time, co-founding his own studio. Making the move from freelancer to motion design studio owner Mack started freelancing after he graduated as, like many new graduates, he struggled to find a job. This led him to try lots of different design specialisms, eventually niching down into motion design. He then joined a local agency where he worked his way up to become an Art Director but ultimately, he knew he wanted more creative control over his day-to-day and the freedom to be able to create really bespoke, personalised work for his clients. The pivotal moment for Mack was when he and his colleague (and now business partner) Corey were offered a huge, 15 video project. To take on the project they would need to quit their jobs at the agency. Hiring a great team is vital to your success A large factor in the success of Dash Studio are Mack and Corey’s complementary skill sets - where Mack struggles, Corey is able to help and vice versa. Many people believe that you can’t succeed in certain areas if you lack certain skills, but by hiring people in-house or remotely you can build a multi-skilled, talented workforce. Dash now has a team of 8 members of in-house staff and 20-25 contractors working on anything from 8-16 projects at any one given time. The combination of full-time employed staff and freelancers allows Mack to be flexible to the needs of different clients and projects. Everyone has different skills and one of the best things you can do for yourself is to work out what your individual strengths are and your weaknesses - that way you can recruit the skills that you don’t have into your team. You can then collectively use everyone’s talents to make amazing work that is beyond what you’d be able to make on your own. They created a pitch deck, won the work, and planned to start freelancing full-time once they finished. But a bigger conversation arose, they decided to pool their talent, skills and resources and that’s how Dash Studio was born. Understanding what you want your career path to be Mack suggests that if you like the idea of creating something special yourself, growing a business and managing people, then starting a studio could be incredibly rewarding for you. However, if your passion lies in actually doing the motion design work yourself, then becoming a studio owner may not be the most satisfying career path for you because as your studio grows, you’ll find yourself doing the work less and less. It’s important that you don’t try to do it all and that you work out a defined role within your studio. If you want to start a studio with a business partner but you have no idea how to find one, it’s important to look to your community and network to find someone who has a similar mindset, outlook and work ethic as yourself. Do you dream of starting your own studio? Is it something you would tackle alone, or with a partner? Has this podcast made you think differently about your goals? Leave a comment on the episode page and let us know! Links & resources Download the Portfolio Checklist The E-Myth: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it by Michael E. Gerber Rocket Fuel: The one essential combination that will get you more of what you want by Gino Wickman Check out Dash Studio Check out the Dash Bash festival Follow Dash Studio Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Vimeo Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production by the team at BE MORE Media | |||
| 16 Jul 2019 | 045: Why you don’t need a formal education to be a successful motion designer w/ EJ Hassenfratz | 01:05:18 | |
We were all likely told at some point in our lives that we need a formal education to succeed professionally. But much has changed. Nowadays, there are many highly successful motion designers never went to animation school. Today I’m joined by EJ Hassenfratz, also known as Eyedesyn. EJ is well known for his 3D tutorials, something he started doing to get over his fear of public speaking. He’s been in motion design for over a decade. Even without formal training, EJ has become a fully self-taught expert in this field, teaching others, speaking at conferences, and making some really fun animations. In this episode, EJ and I talk about how people like you and me can find the majority of their work, the real value of education, and the limits of watching tutorials. EJ explains how to use your experience and promote your skills to find work even when you don’t have an educational background in your field. To that end, we discuss the skills that you need to hone to become a successful freelancer. In this episode
“It’s such a rewarding feeling having someone discover something because of one of my videos, or feeling inspired enough to even get into 3D. That really is huge and way better than getting an email with a bunch of client revisions.” [4:43] “You can be amazingly talented, but if you don’t have the confidence to charge what you’re worth and even recognize your own worth, then it doesn’t matter… it doesn’t matter what school you went to.” [9:29] “If you have a client who’s trying to lowball you, put in that little extra effort to educate them on why your rate is what it is and why the value is there.” [41:21] “I think it’s okay to realize that you’ve been doing things the wrong way for most of your career.” [58:12] Related linksFollow EJ on YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Vimeo | Behance | Dribbble Motion Hatch Episode 42 with Andrew and Pete The Freelance Manifesto by Joey Korenman Hidden Brain - Close Enough: The Lure of Living Through Others Get the Freelance Contract Bundle here!
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 21 Jan 2020 | 058: How to build a sustainable career in Motion Design w/ Brian Gossett | 01:00:43 | |
It seems that every year or so something major changes in the world of motion design and freelancing in general. Keeping up with the changes means staying flexible as well as resolute in the way you work and find clients. Today’s guest has not only weathered these changes but continues to thrive. Brian Gossett has been a motion designer and illustrator for fifteen years and works remotely as a freelancer out of Austin, Texas. His many projects have ranged from music videos to animated and live-action commercials, to editorial and advertisement illustrations. Brian has been successfully making motion design pieces and illustrations for many great studios and companies and we chat about what it takes to build a sustainable career in this industry over the long run. Sometimes this involves using the services of an illustration agent and other times relying on your contacts within the industry. As someone who has been working for as long as he has, Brian’s professional and personal priorities have changed over the course of his career. We discuss how shifting what is important to you as your career evolves is an important part of maintaining longevity in this field. Brian also shares what he has done to find clients that are happy to let him make creations that highlight his own unique artistic style. In this episode
“The more markets you’re tapped into, the more work and potential income that will come in.” [8:19] “It’s not just talent. It’s also being ambitious and going out of the way to find the people who are going to champion for you.” [29:28] “If we can come out and share our rates, we are going to lift everyone else up.” [46:38] “Instead of trying to be the new hotness, think of what’s the best approach to this industry where you can build a sustainable career.” [57:19] LinksFollow Brian on Instagram | Twitter
Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 17 Apr 2018 | 016: How Niching Down Can Help You Get More Clients w/ Jess Peterson | 00:56:29 | |
As freelance designers, many of us remain generalists, afraid we’ll lose project opportunities and income if we specialize too much. Unfortunately, that also means we’re competing against the countless other general designers out there, not sure how to set ourselves apart. Jess Peterson has found a different way to do things. Jess is the Founder, CEO and Creative Producer at Mighty Oak, a boutique animation studio specializing in handmade animation. They’ve worked with clients like Netflix, HBO, Nick Jr., Airbnb, NBC, Conde Nast, Giphy, and The New York Times, all with the creative goal to bring the human touch to media. Today we talk about the power of niching yourself down to strengthen your unique selling point, different ways to find clients, including social media like Instagram, and the importance of recognizing your own natural talents. We also discuss the power of collaboration, with partners but also with agencies. Are you a generalist or do you niche down to a speciality? How have you collaborated with peers to focus on your unique strengths? We’d love to hear from you. Let us know in the comments on the episode page!
In this episode:
Quotes: “There’s plenty of negative stories out there in media, so we try to bring the positive voice and bright colors into every project.” 5:01 “It’s very hard to grow and do all the things at once. You can’t be good at all the things at once and your brain can’t possibly tackle all that information” 20:36 “It’s a real reminder to be good and fair to all your clients, because you never know where people end up.” 25:54 “I’ve always been really creative, and I thought in order to be creative I also had to make all the things. I realized that’s not true. By surrounding myself with talented makers, we were able to make better work in general, but I was also able to be a better creative.” 40:01 “Sometimes we forget because we spend so much time trying to improve things that what we’re not good at. We go “Oh that thing that I do easily is because it’s easy, everyone does it that well.” But that’s not true, it’s because you’re actually good at it.” 45:59
Links: Follow Mighty Oak on Instagram | Giphy | Facebook | Vimeo Mighty Oak’s original projects
| |||
| 14 Apr 2020 | 064: How to price your work as a motion designer w/ Blair Enns | 00:47:01 | |
Most of us got into motion design because we like to create. But to stay in business, we need to know how to sell what we do and how to price your work as a motion designer. Selling can feel like a dirty word, but I’ve brought in a guest who explains how its actually a creative tool for offering great value to your clients. Many people have heard of Blair Enns from his book The Win Without Pitching Manifesto. He runs a sales-training organization for creative professionals. From public and private workshops to remote training, Blair strives to remove the stigma from sales. Selling your services as a motion designer. In this episode, Blair and I sat down to talk a lot about how to price your work as a motion designer. Blair explains why we need to stop shunning the whole notions of sales and start embracing it. This takes a shift in mindset where you recognize what unique skills you have to offer others. Niching down in your motion design business. To help with this, Blair feels that niching down is key. It allows you to narrow down what you have to offer. You’ll be able to help your customers in a way that sets you apart from the competition. However, Blair cautions that this is not the best plan for someone just starting their career. How to price your work as a motion designer using value-based pricing. We discuss the ins and outs of value-based pricing and how that applies to motion design. Blair describes how this will allow you to charge more when working directly with clients. When all is said and done, this is a great way to earn more than charging a project or day rate while still keeping clients happy. Is there something holding you back from charging your clients more? Let’s chat about it in the comments on the episode page! In this episode
Quotes “We all know what it’s like to be on the buying side of a bad selling experience. I think most of us are scarred by that experience.” [3:26] “Do not look at selling as the act of talking people into things. I don’t think it’s your job to convince anybody of anything ever.” [4:44] “The benefit to the client is your incentives are now aligned. You’ve uncovered somebody who is willing to pay you not based on time or the deliverable, but on the outcome. You are effectively business partners.” [22:23] “The biggest mistake of pricing is thinking that there’s one right way to price.” [35:07] Links Follow Blair on Twitter | Instagram | Linkedin The Win Without Pitching Manifesto Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: To help out the show: Podcast music licensed by Big Waves
Some of the links above are affiliate links. Basically, this means that if you decide to make a purchase through one of these links, we will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. You can be sure that we would recommend these products whether or not we made any commission on them. Please don’t spend your money on them if you don’t think that they will truly help you improve your business, although, in our experience, they will. | |||
| 14 Sep 2021 | 096: How to scale your income through productized services w/ Brad Hussey | 00:54:48 | |
Do you ever feel like you’ve hit the ceiling in your motion design freelance business in terms of how much money you can make? Web designer, online educator and digital marketing consultant, Brad Hussey, presents a whole new way of thinking about how motion designers can do business and productize their services. About Brad Hussey Brad Hussey started his career as a freelance web designer and spent time working at an agency, where he worked as a front-end developer collaborating with motion designers and other creatives to develop everything from apps through to mini games. Disenchanted by the fluctuation of freelance income, he decided to explore ways to add another income stream to his web design business. He started to run his own online courses, leveraging his expertise and helping creatives build their own websites, learn to code and design their own websites. Over time he had unlocked a new way of working – productizing – something that Brad has turned into a career both as a web designer and a coach. Now, he has taught more than 600,000 indie designers, developers and professionals how to get better at their craft and make a living doing work they love. | |||
| 15 May 2018 | 018: When is the right time to make a career turn? w/ Michelle Higa Fox | 00:47:13 | |
Over the course of an entire career, spanning different jobs, companies and goals, a lot of people find that their priorities shift, and so do their personal definitions of success. Michelle Higa Fox joins us today to talk about how those concepts have shifted for her throughout her career working as a freelancer, collaborator, agency owner, and now parent. Michelle is the founder and Executive Creative Director for Slanted Studios, which creates mixed-media animation for emerging technology. She was also a co-founder of the animation group Mixtape Club, with whom she co-directed music videos, produced commercials for clients like Google and Showtime, and whom she helped win several awards. Today, we talk about having representation as a director versus going it alone, the balance of doing personal projects while working full time, and what it’s like to collaborate with people over several years. She also goes into her thoughts on being a parent and an entrepreneur or team member, the mindset shift of being a business owner versus being a freelancer, and the shifting idea of success and what it is. How do you define success? Has your idea of success changed over time? Let us know in the comments!
In this episode:
Quotes: “It was more about finally getting the opportunity to make the thing that was in our heads as opposed to just realizing the storyboards we were getting handed at work every day.” 9:28 “Every time you learn a new angle, you draw on all the experiences you had previously.” 23:11 “The way I used to solve problems was always with time... Now that I’m a parent, that’s just not an option.” 33:19
Links: Follow Slanted Studios on Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Vimeo | Behance | Instagram
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 19 Dec 2024 | Is this the best business model for motion designers in 2025? | Q&A | 00:27:57 | |
As we draw 2024 to a close, I thought a Q&A episode would be a nice way to end the year on the podcast. I get questions all the time about specific problems that motion designers face when running their businesses. So, the chances are that you're facing these problems, too. In this episode, I share my thoughts on how you could run a successful subscription-based motion design business, my opinions on charging for your project files and how much time you should actually be spending on outreach. In this episode, I cover: - How to justify long timelines to clients - How to stand out amongst other motion designers - Should you charge for project files? - How to build a profitable subscription-based motion design business - How to find time and motivation for business tasks Links Mentioned: (Any links above marked with a * are affiliate links. Using this link means we get a little kickback, but it doesn't cost you anything.)
| |||
| 28 Mar 2024 | This motion designer made $500,000 in his first year w/ Kevin Rapp | 00:51:04 | |
Kevin Rapp made $500,000 in his first year freelancing after discovering the value of content systems and passing this on to high-profile tech companies. In this episode, you'll learn:
Follow Kevin: Website | LinkedIn Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 15 Jan 2019 | 031: Making Money in Mograph Part 1 w/ Adam Plouff - Battleaxe | 00:52:49 | |
This is part one of a new mini-series we’re doing here at Motion Hatch called Making Money in MoGraph. We’ll be hearing from people who are making money as motion designers in a number of different and less than conventional ways. Today, I sit down to talk with one of the most well known After Effects tool designers in the industry. Adam Plouff has created some of the most amazing After Effects tools, including RubberHose and Overlord. Before becoming an awesome tool creator, Adam worked in TV broadcast. It was there that he serendipitously fell into his current career. Since then he’s become one of the most prolific After Effects tool creators out there. He’s even been working with Google to make some of their tools. Adam and I talk about what it’s like to sell tools in this industry. It’s difficult to make this a fulltime job, but Adam has found ways to make it his. We also discuss how you can find the part of the motion design industry that’s best for you as a freelancer. We end by talking about how to strike a good work-life balance and creating work that still feeds your desire to create without getting bogged down in the business side of things.
In this episode:
Quotes: “There’s a definite downside of the quick sharing that we live in today. You don’t see all of the hard work and the years of practice that go into some stuff, and you don’t see how long it takes a team to come to a really cool solution. You just think everyone should be able to sit down and just generate content.” [8:25] “A lot of the confusion that can come from people who are in and around motion design is that they see just the cool parts of it. They see really pretty videos that go on the internet somewhere and it can be easy to miss the fact that there are so many other things that go into a good piece. Motion design is just a really small part of it.” [10:42] “I think it’s really easy as a freelancer to be reactive to what comes at you and to think that you only have the option to say yes or no to a project. But if you are treating your work like a business then you have a lot of opportunities.” [15:27] “As a commercial artist, developer, designer, whatever you do creatively for money, there are a lot of struggles and there are a lot of really good things in that if you take the time to curate your own life experience and find ways to enjoy what you do.” [38:35]
Links: See what Adam is working on at Battle Axe Follow Adam on Twitter | Instagram | Dribbble | Vimeo | YouTube | Facebook
2018 Tried Really Hard to Destroy Me The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 06 Feb 2018 | 011: How To Transition From Freelancer To Studio Owner w/ TJ Kearney of Oddfellows & Instrument | 00:49:57 | |
We’ve all wanted something more from of our work at one time or another, but how many of us actually take it upon ourselves to create what we’re looking for? TJ Kearney did just that with the help of four friends when they founded Oddfellows and purposely changed their lives and constructed the careers they wanted. TJ Kearney was a founding member of Oddfellows Studio and is now the EP at Instrument. In this episode, he breaks down how the roles you started with will change as you grow your business, and how growth and talent acquisition can be best accomplished using remote workers. You will often need to put aside your fears and preconceived notions to best serve your clients, your employees, and your business as a whole. He also gave some amazing tips on how to properly reach out to studios you want to work with, how to budget a project that gives you the wiggle room you will need to negotiate and make a profit as a studio, and how having a producer partner that you know, trust and have worked with before can make or break a new studio. Do you have the work/life balance you want? If so, what do you do to make sure it stays that way? If not, where do you think you struggle most with it?
In this episode:
Links:
Find the full show notes at https://motionhatch.com/11 Keep up with everything Motion Hatch at https://motionhatch.com | |||
| 02 Mar 2021 | 083: How to find direct clients using LinkedIn w/ Marc Lawrence | 00:50:18 | |
Do you use LinkedIn as a way to get direct clients? If you haven’t previously considered using this awesome platform, then this week’s guest might just persuade you. About Marc Lawrence Marc Lawrence spent 20 years working in the corporate world - starting out as a motion designer and moving upwards to eventually have a leadership position in his company. But ultimately, Marc found himself at a crossroads when he faced redundancy in his job. The commute to work was becoming increasingly difficult and despite loving his job and the company he worked for, he felt that a change was well overdue. How to make the transition between being employed and going freelance Marc decided that he would like to specialise in creating motion graphics specifically for social media. Despite having no experience running a business, no professional network and very few peers in the industry, Marc was determined to make freelancing a success. He started his freelance career by becoming a Motion Hatch Mastermind student. This helped him instrumentally with branding himself, setting up a website and figuring out the practical steps for attracting the kinds of clients he really wanted to be working with - which in his case was working with direct clients. How to utilise Linkedin to get direct clients Marc soon found that LinkedIn was a brilliant platform to form real connections with people. Though Instagram is also a great platform for motion designers, he believes it’s better suited to those seeking work with agencies than work with end clients like himself. He started connecting with established creatives in different fields - motion design, graphic design, copywriting and more - and asking if they would be willing to have a quick, 30-minute Zoom call with him. Much to his surprise and delight, almost everyone he contacted said yes. Marc says that consistently engaging with people on LinkedIn - liking and commenting on their posts and being genuine in your comments - is one of the key ways to ensure success on the platform. He also says that the best piece of advice he was given in regard to how to craft posts on LinkedIn was “write as though you’re talking to someone in a pub.” He says that the minute he took a step away from the dry, corporate posts he’d been writing before and became more personable, people started to respond and engage. How do I make sure my posts perform well on LinkedIn? Marc has experimented with posting at different times but he finds that posting first thing before 9am seems to give his posts more traction. Similarly, many experts recommend trialling posts that are published around lunchtime at 12-2pm and dinner time after 5pm. Ultimately, how well your posts perform depends on your audience and what time they are online. You should spend some time trying different times and seeing which consistently perform well with your audience. Other ways to drive engagement on LinkedIn include asking questions in your posts, posting external links in the comments of your post rather than in the main body of text (LinkedIn doesn’t like links that take people away from their platform), tagging relevant people in your posts, and creating a poll to find out your audience’s thoughts on a topic. How do I make my posts stand out on LinkedIn? As amazing as your animations may be, Marc says that there is a window of opportunity that motion designers are not taking advantage of. One of his most popular services is creating animated written testimonials for clients - something that historically has only really been done in static, image form. This is something that you can easily create from your own testimonials as well. Pick out the best bits of the text, make them kinetic, pick out a nice background and you have a quick, easy way to display the testimonials that are attention-grabbing and unique to you. Case studies are also a valuable form of content. Take your audience down a journey from when the client initially got in touch with you, to the end result animation. If you can include tangible results and data as well as the actual animation, this puts you in an even more favourable position for potential clients. Marc decided to offer one of his first-ever clients a discount on the package in exchange for 12 weeks of analytics data from the Instagram images. With this, he was able to show potential clients that what he produces gets brilliant results. After 12 weeks of posting animated content on Instagram, the client’s revenue increased by 198% and their engagement by 500%. Also don’t forget to put your contact details in your LinkedIn bio and make your headline stand out. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lao Izu As nerve-wracking as it can be starting on a new platform, or one that you have but rarely use, the first thing to do is gather the confidence to post something (our Social Media Guide can help with this!) It can be hard putting yourself out there - but the more you do it, the easier it will become. Marc says that the worst thing that can happen is that people aren’t interested in your post - and to bear this in mind whenever nerves, anxiety or imposter syndrome get the better of you. Do you have a LinkedIn account? Do you remember to post on it regularly? If not, you could be missing out on an awesome platform to grow an audience, engage with people in the industry and attract exciting end clients. Leave a comment on the episode page and let us know! Links & resources Download the free Social Media Guide for Motion Designers. Find out more about our Mograph Mastermind program. Find out more about our Client Quest course. Find Marc on his website and LinkedIn account. Podcast music licensed by Big Waves Podcast production by the team at BE MORE Media | |||
| 29 Nov 2024 | How I'd build a successful motion design business in 2025 | 00:31:42 | |
🌟 Grab my Perfect Your Pricing Toolkit: https://motionhatch.com/pricing Get out your notepad and pen, grab a hot drink and get ready for a jam-packed episode! 📝☕️ This episode is split into two parts. Part 1 is for anyone who is starting completely from scratch and has zero clients right now. Part 2 is for anyone who already has some clients but wants to attract new ideal clients they’d love to work with, while also building a more consistent revenue stream. For Part 2, skip to 07:47 In this episode, I cover: - How to make new connections in the industry - How to stay top-of-mind using a CRM and social media - How to identify your ideal clients - How to discover your niche and unique offering - How to forecast your revenue to find more financial stability Links Mentioned:
| |||
| 31 Oct 2024 | What’s working RIGHT NOW to get freelance clients? | 00:24:38 | |
🌟Download my FREE Social Media Guide and Freelance Funnel Framework worksheet here: motionhatch.com/inmotion This video was filmed LIVE at the Barbican in London for the Playgrounds In Motion event. My lovely friend Ashleigh Robertson, a freelance motion designer, interviewed me about what’s currently working to get clients right now. In this episode, we discussed the motion design industry’s ever-changing landscape and how we can adapt and leverage these changes to stand out to potential clients. - What can new freelancers do right now to get clients? - How can established freelancers and studio owners get clients right now? - How to set up your CRM to get more clients - How the motion design industry has changed - The best way to niche down and stand out to new clients Ashleigh Robertson: Website Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 19 Jun 2018 | 020: 6 tips to avoid burnout and achieve your goals | 00:13:44 | |
I don’t know about you, but it often feels to me like there’s a pressure in our industry to always be doing absolutely everything at once. Client work, personal projects, posting daily to Instagram, reaching out to potential clients, updating websites, and oh, don’t forget about family, friends and actually living your life! With all there is to do to move our careers forward, it’s easy to burn out and end up moving backward, so this episode I want to share 6 tips to avoid burnout and achieve your goals. In this solo episode, I’m going to dive into some techniques and strategies I use to help me move my business and career forward, that you can apply to your own career. I share some of my favourite tools, both online and physical, how to use your environment to de-stress and focus on long-term goals, plus one of the most useful time management strategies I’ve ever come across. I’d love to hear which of these strategies you’re already using, what jumped out at you, or any other tips you have for avoiding burnout and moving forward in your career! Leave me a comment on the episode page!
In this episode:
Quotes: “Take a week off and sit down and focus on your goals, where you’re going with your career and in your business, and think about what you want to focus on next. I think it’s really important to focus on the bigger picture and try to figure out what we want to do with our lives.” (2:50) “Have a space that you associate in your mind with relaxing, so you don’t have tv there, maybe it’s just a certain chair in the corner of the room and you have some nice plants there.” (5:32) “What’s the one thing you can do today in your career so that everything else will become easier or unnecessary. It kind of works like a domino effect, so what’s going to create that effect where if you knock down that first domino, it’s going to make all those other dominos go down easier?” (6:32)? “People with written goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than people without written goals, and if you tell a friend that goes up to 78%” (8:09)
Links: Keep up to date with the upcoming Freelance Contract Bundle
Episode 18 w/ Michelle Higa Fox The Sweet Ass Journal To Develop Your Happiness Muscle in 100 days
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 09 Jan 2018 | 009: What You Need To Know About Accounting As A Freelancer w/ Emily Coltman of FreeAgent | 00:33:57 | |
What's the one thing that many of us artists and creatives dread more than all else every year? That’s right, it’s tax time! As creatives we would rather put all our energy towards our work instead of stressing out about our accounting (or lack thereof). Luckily for us, today’s guest cuts right through the jargon and gives us some accounting tips in plain English.* *That’s kind of an awesome (if unintentional) pun, as this week we’re focussing on the accounting specifics for UK based freelancers. If you’re from the US or anywhere else, most of the general practices cross over, and we’re going to be having a US accountant of the show coming up soon! Emily Coltman works with online accounting company, FreeAgent and she generously takes us through a variety of topics including what the differences are between a sole trader and a limited company in the UK, what receipts you need to keep and how to best do that, and the ins and outs of V.A.T. It is a jammed pack episode so make sure you have some paper and a pen ready because the information will be coming at you fast. She also gave a ton of tips and tricks for the freelancers who are just starting out and have no clue as to how to set up their business for legal and tax purposes, plus gave us some great guides and tools to use to make this time of year a little bit less scary. Do you use an accountant for your business or do you do it all yourself? Have you ever tried an online accounting company? What did you find to be the pros and cons? Leave us a comment below! In this episode
Check out the full show notes here Keep up with everything Motion Hatch and join the community here! | |||
| 09 Oct 2018 | 024: A legal crash course for motion designers w/ Jamie Lieberman | 00:32:20 | |
Let’s face it, we’re motion designers, not legal experts. But in this business, there are myriad legal concerns from understanding contracts to protecting intellectual property. This all may seem scary, but as my guest will tell you, they are nothing to be afraid of. Jamie Lieberman is a founder and partner in the US-based law firm Hashtag-Legal. She specializes in working with creatives, content providers, and service professionals, many of whom work online. Jamie is an expert in copyright and trademark law and helps make sure her clients are informed and protected in these important areas. As motion designers, there is a ton to consider when it comes to protecting intellectual property. We discuss how a lawyer can be essential in making sure everything is in order in regards to protecting your work. It’s important that we have good contracts that are very specific when it comes to who owns what is being created. Jamie speaks to the importance of creating a business, such as an LLC, to protect yourself as a professional and its importance for anyone in the creative fields. How comfortable are you that your work and business is protected legally? Let me know if the comments on the episode page!
In this episode
Quotes “If you’re generating income it’s important to form a business in order to protect your personal assets.” [9:45] “Your lawyer should be a partner in your business, and that I cannot stress enough. So if you approach a lawyer and they feel scary to you, walk away, look for somebody new.” [18:28] “Saying no to deals is not bad. It has to be the right deal. You can’t just take deals just because you’re getting deals, because you’ll end up resenting that client and it won’t make sense for you.” [29:09]
Links The Freelance Contract Bundle Is LIVE! Get all the info on it here! Motion Hatch Interview with Silvia Baumgart Part 1 and Part 2
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 23 May 2024 | Unreal Engine, Fortnite and Netflix: My Journey to Indie Film Director w/ HaZimation | 00:40:15 | |
HaZ Dulull, founder of HaZimation, is a multi award-winning Film and Games Director, developing & producing feature films, tv and video games using Unreal Engine. In this episode, HaZ shares his journey from in-house VFX artist to indie film director. We also discuss how to access funding for original content/IP, how to win pitches, and how to start your own studio. In this episode, you'll learn:
Free resources to grow your career: | |||
| 27 Apr 2021 | 086: How to start a niche motion design studio w/ Roxy Vélez | 00:53:08 | |
As a freelance motion designer, sometimes you find yourself taking on work that you’re not particularly passionate about just to pay the bills. But what if there was a way that you could exclusively work with brands who align with your personal values AND make a good living in doing so? Today’s podcast guest will show you how she created a successful niche studio that supports veganism and plant-based living. About Roxy Vélez Roxy Vélez grew up in Ecuador but moved to the US to study a master's degree after she finished her studies in graphic design. After she finished she moved to New York to become a freelance designer. She then moved across the world to Berlin and gradually made the transition from freelance motion designer to becoming a studio owner in 2018. Learn how she did it in this fascinating episode. Links Apply for a place on the Mograph Mastermind. Find out more about Vexquisit Studio Follow them on Vimeo, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Find out more about Vegcraver. | |||
| 22 Sep 2020 | 072: The Future of the Motion Design Industry w/ Ryan Summers | 00:44:02 | |
There’s certainly a lot of unknowns in the world these days. This is true for the motion design industry as much as anything else. Long-term survival is likely going to involve both adaptability and keeping focused on your priorities. About Ryan Summers As 2D creative director at School of Motion, Ryan is busy making courses to help other motion designers move forward in their career. This allows him to keep a close eye on trends in the motion design world and get ready for what the future brings to this industry. The New Landscape of Motion Design The world is changing fast. While many of these changes bring new challenges, they also involve new opportunities for motion designers. Ryan shares his observations and predictions for what this means for us. For one thing, remote work is more accepted and widespread than ever. It also presents more opportunities for individuals and small studios which can operate without the massive overhead required by the big studios.
Specialization as a Key Elements of Success In the crowded field of motion design, it’s crucial to set yourself apart. With all the generalists put there, Ryan sees the importance of specializing in something that shares your unique voice. It may weed out some potential clients, but it will make sure that you work with the right ones in the end.
“There’s great opportunity when the world changes as fast and as all-encompassing as it has.” [5:14] “That’s the part of every artist’s challenge and every studio’s challenge; You have to redefine yourself while the world changes around or you’ll get lost.” [7:43] “You have different processes on the creative side based on your needs at the moment. Why shouldn’t you have the same thing business-wise?” [28:49]
The business and creative world is quickly changing. Being adaptable and agile in order to avoid pitfalls and take advantage of new opportunities is a must. This means being creative about how you operate your business. Even though how you run your business may need to change, maintaining your creative passions as priorities will give you the drive to keep going. Just as you cultivate your artistic skills, you need to tend to your own wellbeing. Your work can be a great way to feed your own creative self. However, getting caught up in just the money-making aspect is not sustainable in the long run.
The Motion Designer Client Challenge
Follow Ryan on Twitter
Episode 22: Art School vs Online Courses: The Pros & Cons Episode 64: How to price your work as a motion designer
Podcast production & marketing support by the team at Counterweight Creative Podcast music licensed by Big Waves | |||
| 13 Mar 2024 | BIG NEWS! The podcast is back! | 00:01:06 | |
The Motion Hatch Podcast is BACK! We're thrilled to announce that Season Two of the podcast will return on the 28th March! We have some incredible guests lined up for you too, we can't wait to share it with you! | |||
| 03 Apr 2018 | 015: How To Protect Your Work As A Motion Designer w/ Silvia Baumgart | 00:25:07 | |
Have you ever felt freaked out and overwhelmed at the idea of creating a contract? If you already have standard terms and conditions, do you feel confident in them, or could they be tighter? Are you even aware of all the legal ramifications that can come from your creative works if not protected properly? Silvia Baumgart breaks down all of these issues and more in this second part of our series on copyright and contracts. Silvia Baumgart, a trainee solicitor with an extensive background in protecting creatives and their work, joins us again to explain how to make the legal sign of freelancing work for us and not against us. We talk about resources for finding legal templates, when you should seek professional advice and assistance, and what are moral rights and why you need them in your contracts. We dive into tips on how to handle when a client asks you to create something similar to another artist’s work, and the legal issues that could arise from doing so without proper steps being taken prior, and the legal rules of using others music or work within your showreels and how to prevent thorny legal issues when doing so. We also go through the biggest takeaways from both episodes so that you can walk away with a better understanding of how to protect yourself and your work. Do you use a template created by someone else for your contracts? Does it cover everything? Leave a comment on the episode page!
In this episode:
Links:
UK Copyrights Office - Intellectual Property Information
| |||
| 16 Apr 2019 | 038: Getting started as a freelance motion designer w/ Donna McAvoy | 00:30:43 | |
As freelancers we often feel like we’re all on our own, that we have to come up with everything ourselves. But there are communities of us, both online and offline, that we can lean on and use to learn from each other. Whether you’re just starting out or have been running your own freelance business for years, the power of community and networking can be a major benefit. Few know this better than today’s guest. Donna McAvoy is an amazing freelance animator and a member of our recent Mograph Mastermind Program. She studied computer arts at Abertay University and worked on mobile games before moving into animation for television. Now she’s freelancing as a 2D animator based in Glasgow where she creates some truly awesome work. In this bonus episode, Donna shares the story of her journey into freelance motion design. She has found a way to make a career in her home in Scotland where it may not seem like there are as many opportunities as elsewhere. Donna talks about the realities of looking for and finding jobs as a freelance animator and how she makes it work. Donna credits much of her success to proper networking. It’s helped her discover how others in her situation are making a living and has connected her to some of her best jobs. By connecting with other freelancers, Donna has been able to learn valuable tips from others like her, including that she could significantly raise the rates she was charging her clients.
In this episode:
Quotes: “Networking is just the biggest thing to be doing. And it’s also good to just get out from your desk. I guess a lot of people are working from home and you get a bit crazy there.” [10:43] “Although what you can charge varies from media to media, I think if you’re working remotely, it shouldn’t have such a big impact where you are based.” [12:23] “The networking part is probably most important I feel. Basically just getting your work out as soon as you can because maybe if you do feel like it’s not good enough, it’s good to get someone to give you perspective and feedback on what you could be doing to make it better.” [24:35]
Links: Follow Donna on Instagram | Twitter | Vimeo | Linkedin Sign up for the Mograph Mastermind
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!
| |||
| 25 May 2021 | 088: How to use Clubhouse effectively as a motion designer | 00:19:27 | |
Everybody’s talking about Clubhouse! This audio-only platform is taking our industry by storm. But what exactly is Clubhouse? Is it worth joining? Can you get more clients through the app if you’re a motion designer? Join Hayley as she answers all of these questions and more. So what exactly is Clubhouse? Clubhouse is an audio-only platform where you can attend “rooms” which is essentially an event to hear someone speak. Within the event, you are given the opportunity (if you want it) to take the floor and speak. One of the key benefits of Clubhouse for motion designers is that it gives you an opportunity to join discussions with industry experts and learn from and connect with them.
| |||
| 16 Mar 2021 | 084: What does IR35 mean for UK motion design freelancers? w/ Andy Chamberlain | 00:41:32 | |
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general guidance only and discusses the legal position in the UK at the time of publication unless stated otherwise. You must take legal advice and not rely on the information provided in this podcast before taking action. We do not update our podcasts and therefore, past podcasts may not reflect the current legal position. There are 5 million self-employed people in the UK and if you’re listening to this episode, it’s likely you’re one of them. If you’re a freelance motion designer you’ve probably heard about the IR35 tax law - but what does it mean for you and the way you do business? In today’s episode, you’re going to find out. About Andy Chamberlain Andy Chamberlain is the Director of Policy for The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). IPSE is the only non-profit organisation in the UK providing support to independent professionals and self-employed people in the UK. What is IR35 and does it affect me as a freelance motion designer in the UK? IR35 is a term used to describe two sets of tax laws that stop what is known as “disguised employment”. This is when an individual acts like an employee and is treated like an employee but they disguise that employment by portraying themself as a limited company rather than an individual. By doing this, both the individual and the employer who is hiring them essentially pay less tax - however, it’s illegal and a form of tax evasion. IR35 will only affect you if you’re an individual operating as a limited company. If you are a sole trader, it does not apply. So what is changing with IR35? As it stands, the government is changing the way that IR35 works in the private sector - moving the responsibility from the individual receiving the payment to the end client. The issue with this is that now many individuals are having to pay tax like an employee even though the company they work for gives them no employee benefits. As an employee, when you get paid, the amount you receive has already had the tax and national insurance deductions taken out of it. Under new IR35 rules, the same will now happen for self-employed people. This is making companies less likely to hire self-employed people because they don’t want to spend time putting them on their “books” and making tax deductions if they won’t be with the company for very long. Therefore they are now advising self-employed people to work under an umbrella company that will make those tax deductions for them instead. This is because if they pay someone through their payroll, they have to make employers national insurance contributions which is an additional 13.8%. Umbrella companies also don’t want to have to pay the 13.8% so they say to the individual “we need you to reduce your day rate so that we can afford to pay your employers national insurance contributions.” So who benefits from this new system? The only person who is really benefiting from this new system is neither self-employed people nor the end client - it’s the government. Rather than waiting a year for a self-employed person to submit their tax return, they are now able to gather a lot more tax from self-employed people more quickly. End clients are now worried - because if they say that IR35 doesn’t apply to a contractor they are working with and carry on paying them their gross pay as before, HMRC can approach them at a later date and they will be held liable. Because IR35 is so complicated, many end clients are choosing to put all self-employed workers under the IR35 rules rather than risk being penalised later on down the line. Does IR35 apply if I am a sole trader? IR35 only applies if you are a self-employed person working as a limited company and not if you’re a sole trader. Historically end clients have preferred to work with people who operate under a limited company because it mitigates their risk. For example, there are some laws that apply whereby if a sole trader didn’t pay the correct tax, the person who paid them could be liable. If you currently have a limited company and are concerned over the implications of IR35 on you and your freelance business, you could consider dissolving your limited company and become a sole trader, provided your clients were still happy to work with and pay you on that basis. There are benefits and drawbacks to being a sole trader or a limited company. Ultimately, only you can decide what is best for you. Am I inside or outside IR35? Andy explains that for employment to exist, you need to have each of the following:
If you can prove that any one of these three elements does not exist in the end client relationship, then IR35 does not apply to you. What should I do as a freelance motion designer to prepare for this? Andy advises freelance motion designers to consider what factors distinguish them from paid employed inside the companies that they are currently working with. If you are unsure whether IR35 applies to you or not, you can use the Check Employment Status for Tax tool (CEST) on the Government website, print out the results and show them to your client. Small company exemption rules The rules we have covered so far in regard to IR35 tax rules only apply to end-clients who are medium or large in size. Small companies don’t have to make these considerations under the small company exemption rules. A small company has to meet two of the following three criteria:
Protecting yourself with a Statement of Work Contract A statement of work is a type of contract that sets out the set deliverables and milestones required for you as the contractor to carry out the work. Payment is then on delivery of those milestones. If you have a contract like that then it makes it very hard for anyone to claim IR35 applies to that written contract, so long as the work carried out matches what was in the contract. A Statement of Work Contract could be a great way to carry on working as you have been with no IR35 implications. If you’re unsure about your existing contracts, consider paying to get them independently reviewed. Andy finishes off the episode by answering some frequently asked questions that have been submitted by Motion Hatchlings, so make sure you listen to the end to see if you... | |||
| 06 Nov 2018 | 026: How to create habits that will help your career | 00:21:11 | |
Constructing good habits and sticking with them can be hard. With all the different parts of being a motion designer, let alone just being a functioning human, there’s so much to do all the time. Having good and productive habits is the key, and that’s what I want to talk with you about today. This solo episode is inspired by a book I just read called Atomic Habits by James Clear. Essentially, it speaks to how making tiny changes in our lives can lead to amazing results. James writes about four ways to build a good habit and I’m going to discuss those with you on this episode. I’ve started to implement these habit building strategies into my life and I’m already seeing incredible results! How do you build and maintain good habits? Let me know in the comment on the episode page!
In this episode:
Quotes: “Habits appear to make no difference in the first days, weeks, or months. It takes a little time but then breakthroughs happen.” [5:03] “If you’re surrounding yourself with people who are doing similar things then you’re more likely to do it.” [13:33] “You can have a week or a day off whenever you’re doing your habit. But as soon as you start missing it over and over again, you’re just going to lose momentum.” [22:24]
Links The Freelance Contract Bundle Is LIVE! Get all the info on it here! Episode 20: 6 Tips to Avoid Burnout and Achieve Your Goals
Keep up with everything Motion Hatch Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps! | |||
| 16 Nov 2021 | 100: Lessons learnt from making 100 podcast episodes w/ Hayley Akins | 00:25:45 | |
When Motion Hatch first started it was a side hustle, now it's a company! Have you considered starting your own motion design project to help you grow your career? Our founder Hayley Akins explains how and why she started this motion design podcast and what she’s learnt along the way. About Hayley Akins Hayley started Motion Hatch with the aim of helping freelance motion designers with the business side of motion design – but she wasn’t sure how to achieve this. At the time, Hayley felt she had three choices for a motion design project: a podcast, blog or YouTube channel (she now has all three!). Initially Hayley didn’t feel confident filming videos and writing wasn’t her passion, so she decided to focus on creating her own motion design podcast. | |||