How to be an Art Director for Motion Design

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.

Nidia Dias is a 3D art director for motion design who has been working in various studios around the world as a freelancer. Over the past few years, she has worked with brands ranging from Adidas and Bacardi to MTV and Microsoft. Nidia’s work is focused mainly on styleframes and look development for motion, but she also produces illustrations for print. With a background in graphic design, combined with motion expertise she creates visually compelling images that tell a story and reflects the overall look and feel of it.

Today's episode is all about art direction and what it takes to get hired as an art director for motion design. Nidia tells the story of how her career developed from designer to director and how that has opened countless doors for her. She shares some great advice for managing good team cohesion and communicating effectively with clients. This includes tips for working with team members in ways that allow them to be creative while also staying focused on a common goal.

Nidia tells us her advice for getting in touch with studios you want to work with and why you shouldn’t be afraid of sending them emails. She also shares what it’s like to work remotely with studios and a team of designers. Nidia includes what she looks for when searching for designers to join her team and how your personal projects are some of your most valuable assets.

Are you an art director or aspiring to be one? What are some challenges and successes you’ve faced in this? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

In this episode

• Getting the attention of studios you’d really like to work with
• Tips for maintaining good communication with clients and the design team
• How to maneuver your career in the right direction to get work as a director
• What you should include in emails you send to studios you want to work with
• How the changing professional landscape is making it easier for art directors to work remotely in spite of its challenges
• Leveraging the good work that you do to find more jobs in the future
• The power of personal projects to boost your career

Quotes 

“I always felt that I needed to understand each part to actually be a good art director, not just the styleframes. I try really hard to understand each part of what the team does.” [5:58]

“As an art director, you have to step back and think that it’s for the greater good. You shouldn’t be too focussed on your own style or what you want to do but let everyone on the team join in and bring their flair into the project.” [12:03]

“If you’re working on something good, you’re going to get more work coming back from it.” [27:49]

“I feel that people should learn what they really think they’re going to like and start finding what they like rather than just going by trends.” [46:36]

Sponsors

Milanote

Milanote is a tool for organizing 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 organized your motion design projects to get better results. Check out Milanote and sign up for free milanote.com/motionhatch

Links

Find Nidia Dias online

Follow Nidia on Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin | Behance

Nidia’s Society6 Store

FutureDeluxe

ManvsMachine

Territory Studio

School of Motion

MoGraph Mentor

Milanote

Episode 47 with Evan Abrams

Printful for Drop Shipping

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