Is it necessary to be tech-savvy to become a motion designer?

Fondly called Harry by his friends, Harjinder Singh has always been fascinated with fine arts, animation, video games, and took lots of interest in sketching as well as painting. Therefore, after completing his schooling, it was clear to Singh that he would build his career in the creative field. That led him to enroll in Apeejay College of Fine Arts (ACFA), Jalandhar, where he pursued Bachelors in Multimedia (BMM).  “Thanks to my elder brother who did the initial research for me. This was back in 2005, when there were only a limited institutions in the country that provided a degree course in multimedia, and Apeejay was one of them,” Singh exclaimed. 

Currently working as a Motion Designer with Simpplr, Singh said, “Studying in a Fine Arts college was an unconventional move in my family’s history, but all of them supported me in this journey.” In 2009 Singh completed his graduation, after which, he along with his two friends, Ankit and Gurpreet, started his career as a faculty of animation and 3D graphics in an academy in Delhi. “Teaching students the same skills that I learnt in college taught me even more about my field,” he mentioned. Soon after, Singh was offered an opportunity to work with an Indian multinational company, NIIT Limited, as a media artist in which he used to create animated content for e-learning courses for multiple global companies. 

He then enrolled for a part-time post-graduation diploma course in Media Management from Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi. “I remember I used to reach my office an hour earlier so that I could complete my work on time and rush for evening college classes. It was a crazy time but it shaped my career a lot,” he stated. One after the other, he bagged opportunities to work with bigger MNCs as a Motion Graphic Designer and that’s how he also learned better communication skills that helped him excel in his career. In this interview, he describes his career journey and shares about some of his interesting projects. Read edited excerpts:

When did you decide to become a motion designer? 

Motion design and animated videos were always a part of my learning. But initially, my major focus was on a different path. I was inclined towards becoming a 3D animation artist. But when I graduated, I couldn’t find a relevant opportunity for myself. I wanted to start my career in Delhi only so I could also be in close proximity with my family. So I started with my first job as a faculty of 3D graphics in Delhi. On a typical working day when my teaching sessions were over, I used to learn how to build websites for an extra income. I also got some real projects to work on for the company in my evenings. It was then when I started developing an interest specifically around motion graphics and 2D animation. When I moved to my next career opportunity, I was a full-time motion designer creating a large number of animations for e-learning courses. I learnt the art of conceptualising and storyboarding, very essential steps in any kind of video production including motion graphics. I was completely amazed to be a part of a creative team of 100+ designers and artists. Plus, my skill in 3D animation also earned me some high visibility projects in my team. All the learning from that experience inspired me to work harder and grow further on this career path.

What was your career path to become a motion designer? How did you work towards it?

I started my professional journey as a faculty of design and 3D and also a freelance website designer. Then I landed in the e-learning industry and worked with companies like NIIT and Accenture as a media designer. After almost 6 years down the line in my career, I made another industry shift and worked as a motion and video designer in the product marketing domain with Oracle. My current role is of a motion design specialist, where I am leading the video content production in an IT software company named Simpplr.

I take every opportunity to learn more and more about motion graphics from people I meet and work with all sorts of resources via training, events, etc. I believe every direction seems difficult at first, but if you go in with a curious mind and start digging for your answers, you will find yourself in a much better position with time. Whenever I can, I create artworks for myself. This helps me practice my key skills as well as explore my own capabilities. Take a look at some of my personal favourite projects from my portfolio. You can find more of my portfolio work on behance.net/myjoyfulcanvas and instagram.com/myjoyfulcanvas.

 Share with us about some of your interesting projects?

1. 3D restaurant for Popeyes: Back in 2013, I worked on a project for Popeyes, an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants. I created a complete realistic 3D restaurant in and out to be used in creating several videos for them. The project was well appreciated by the stakeholders. 

2. Customer success videos for Oracle: Oracle gave me the opportunity to contribute to the video recording of the customer success stories in a company event in Las Vegas and team-up with a professional video production crew. That was a great platform for me as I added a lot of experience to my profile through that single project. After the video recording was over, I worked on the post-production editing of those videos. The videos were published in the customer success stories section on the company website. 

There are many more including the events’ opener videos for my current organisation, Simpplr. I am also designing motion guidelines for my company as we have recently gone through a rebranding. The project is all about defining standards around how one should use our brand elements like product screens, logo animations, video transitions, brand packaging, social media graphics, etc.

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“My design philosophy is to have a rationalised design thinking, and know what I am designing, for whom and why. I prefer to keep my design language neat, slick and simple to tell your stories through any medium (motion or static).” 

-Harjinder Singh, Sr. Specialist – Motion Graphics, SIMPPLR

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Is it important to be tech-savvy to become a motion designer?

I would say no and yes both. No, because the most important thing is the understanding of design principles such as layout, typography, and colour theory. You’ll need to be a creative thinker and know the principles of motion graphics and animation. Additionally, good communication skills are the most practical and important skill we ever use throughout our profession.

And yes, because leveraging the latest technology helps in driving innovation. For instance, in our context, if you are mixing sound effects to add to your animation and you know what kind of headphones you need to use or what latest features you have in your editing software or what kind of system you should have to perform that kind of task, it will make a huge difference in your production process that will also add value to the final output. And technology is something that is evolving every day, so you need not worry too much about the minor specifications.

How did Apeejay College of Fine Arts contribute to your growth?

Apeejay kick started my creative career. The institution not only helped me learn the technical skills required to be a successful professional, but it also helped me understand the basics and become an appreciator of good art. I found some great mentors and friends for life during my graduation in college. I am very happy to share that my time at ACFA was full of amazing experiences, fun and learning. I’ll always cherish my memories from the college campus. I think I can never measure what all I have got from the college because my list is endless. I wish to stay connected with the institution somehow so that I can help new students in whichever way I can.

Tips for budding motion designers

1. Be yourself and define your own style
2. Always be open to observe and learn like a child
3. Be passionate about whatever you wish to do in life

Nothing is permanent in life. So learn from your own and others’ experiences, move on and implement in the next chapters.