As a freelancer [or any design professional] there is always ups and downs with work. For me, the end of June and early July historically have been slower times for me. This year, I was more prepared! In an effort to stay fresh I purchased myself a Skillshare membership and enrolled in far too many classes, but it was so worth it! I started and owned it! I had never touched After Effects in my life, and was pretty sure I was going to look like a fool trying to figure out keyframes, actions, bounce and squash, and any other foreign languages that these instructors were going to use. Much to my surprise, after my first experiment I realized, I was going to OWN THIS motion graphics class!!
That quickly led to me just trying so many things! I literally had to look at my wife and say, “Babe, I’m going to need some grace because this is getting real. My and my computer are going to be spending some quality time together this week.” Much to her chagrin she obliged. A short week after my first time opening up After Effects, and sharing all of my experiments, and trying things, I was approached by Geek Girl & Co. to put together an animated logo bumper for their vlogs (you can see it here.) Not too shabby for having 5 days of After Effects under my belt huh? If you’re a young designer, or even a seasoned professional, I think you should always be learning and trying new things. You may fail – don’t ask me about my short lived front end career – but you may succeed and find a new passion and a new skillset to add to your arsenal to attract new, more exciting, and bigger clients!