Motion Hatch: Helping Motion Designers Do Better Business

As freelance motion designers our work can feel very isolating. We’re often working on our own with little if any real human contact. However, it’s crucially important to make actual in-person connections with other people like you.

There’s something that happens when you’re constantly creating. Your skills and technique improve and get fine-tuned. You realize what you truly enjoy doing and the ways in which your work is personally meaningful. Few people understand the payoffs of constant creation better than today’s guest. We dive into how to create the freedom to allow you to work on personal projects. 

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. 

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be an art director for motion design? While it involves a command of many of the skills that you may already have as a designer, there are many other elements to the job that can make it all that more exciting and rewarding. Today’s guest has transitioned from working purely in design to directing some fantastic projects with major brands and studios.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

The possibilities that something like YouTube has for motion designers to help take our careers to the next level are truly amazing. But where do you start? How can you build an audience, find professional opportunities, create great content, and make it all worthwhile? Today’s guest has done all that and is ready to tell you how!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.