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Protips On How To Get Through College As A Motion Designer

Posted October 25th, 2010 / By Justin Younger in Resources, Tips

A lot can be said on the best way to get the most out of college. There is no “one true path” to getting through school, but when you are making such a large investment of time and money, there is a couple of techniques to getting your worth. The one that seemed to resonate with me so well is actually quite simple…

Enjoy What You Do

I cannot stress this enough: please figure out what makes you tick as a designer. You need to enjoy nearly every aspect of your college classes: the good, the bad, and the ugly. You need to be able to see the benefit of the classes you hate, and completely fall into the classes you love. If you don’t feel these things early on in your schooling, I would ask you to reconsider the path you have taken.

Just watch Nick Campbell over at Greyscalegorilla dedicate his time to live broadcasts, tutorials, all while hosting and judging thousands of his “Five Second Projects”. Ask anything on twitter about cinema 4D, after effects, or beer… he loves beer. Read all the amazing articles written by John Kostrzewski here at Fuel Your Motionography and see the time and effort he puts into keeping this site chugging with new content. I bring these people up because they show a true passion in this line of work, and while it may seem like I have skipped off track, you have to realize that these are the people you will be up against for a job in this field. You will work with them, and work for them.

Hopefully, you have already found that this is your passion, and feel that you have invested yourself well enough. The next step is a tough one: you need to be able to be humble, and take criticism from your teachers and peers. Be strong in your opinions, but understand that you are still learning. I still have a problem with this, but there is a lot to be said about swallowing your pride.

Get involved in as many activities that you can, in school, out of school or just for fun. Social network. Sorry to bring in this stupid buzzword, but it has helped me immensely. The old adage goes, “It’s not what you know, it’s who.” In this field its a lot of both, but one with out the other is useless. Doing these things will help you expand yourself as a whole, so much so that sometimes I wonder if this is the only lasting value of college.

Most of all enjoy yourself, the people you will meet and the motion you will make.

Passion aside, next time I will be getting technical on how to build up your portfolio as you go through school. You won’t want to miss that one. Until then let’s see what other things have helped you get through school in the comment section!

Hey guys! I like to play with 3 dimensions of space and 1 dimension of time, but unlike Einstein, I only make motion art. So I spend most of my time expressing myself in some abstract, visual way, and I have really latched onto Motion Graphics. I am a newbie here in the field, but I have a passion for the work. Feel free to if you are also a newbie or someone just looking into this awesome form of art, I always enjoy helping people out.

 

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6 CommentsNo Reactions

  1. Eric
    25 Oct 10 at 10:01 am

    Very good advice.
    As someone who struggled with, and created my own undergrad program (which is now part of the curriculum), I’ll add: just follow your heart, stick with it, and most importantly, the advice from my mentor, Have Fun!!!

    Reply
  2. Atlanta Video Production
    25 Oct 10 at 4:04 pm

    Sound advice. I wish I had heard it before I entered into school as an industrial engineer. Didn’t last long in that major! haha

    Reply
  3. teresa
    26 Oct 10 at 12:18 am

    thanks :)

    Reply
  4. DaniSang
    26 Oct 10 at 2:50 am

    Totally true,

    I have so much bad luck trying to become a motion designer. Schools don’t want me because they say they can’t teach me anything new and companies tell me I don’t have enough experience.

    However I am keeping passionate about the job and keep on learning – and I do all this on my own. I’m growing faster then I ever imagined and it’s only a question of time until I can make a job of it.

    So not only keeps “Enjoy what you do” you on the right path but it also helps you keep on going when you end up in situations that turn against you.

    Reply
    • Eric
      1 Nov 10 at 8:55 am

      Been there! Hang in there and keep at it!
      Eventaully you will have enough experience that you will have clients banging down your door.

      Reply
  5. 2 Sep 11 at 4:21 pm

    Hey could I use some of the content found in this site if I provide a link back to your site?

    Reply

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