He’s our super organised, detail orientated motion designer that always has a smile on his face. Even when he’s not working he’s experimenting and learning. Meet our design ninja, Em…
What did you do before joining Alive?
I was a 2D Animator at a small animation studio, doing similar work to what I do now at Alive, and also doing little bits of freelance graphic and motion design. Unfortunately, despite an initial boom of work due to Covid, this suddenly died down towards the end of last year and I was made redundant.
For the past couple of years I’ve worked in motion/animation roles, but before that I was a Production Assistant at a 3D animation studio. I really enjoyed it due to my organised nature and eye for detail, and I learnt so much about working with creatives and clients – but after a while I really wanted to get back to my roots and get my hands dirty.
When did you first decide you wanted to be a Motion Designer? 
I first really discovered my passion for motion while at university. I studied Graphic Design, but the course was very broad so we worked on all kinds of projects. At the end of my first year, I was set a project to create a small animation in a team. We made a stop motion piece using an egg with a face drawn on it as the main character (it looked better than it sounds, I promise!). I absolutely loved it. *watch it below*
From then on I started to experiment with hand drawn animation, then computer animation using After Effects. I fell in love with the idea of telling stories and communicating through motion.
By the time I graduated I was sure that motion was for me. Unfortunately, graduating at the start of covid meant there weren’t many jobs around – that’s why I turned my hand to production for a while.
What do you most enjoy about your job?
So many things! The two biggest things are probably the variety and the technical elements of it.
I love the fact that one day I can work on a really comical character animation piece and the next be editing video footage and creating lower thirds (that’s designer speak for when text appears over video to introduce someone). As someone who can get bored doing the same thing over and over, the variety keeps me interested and passionate about what I do. I also really love the fact that I’m always learning. There’s so many different ways of doing things and so many techniques to try in motion design, so there’s always something new to learn with every new project. I really enjoy experimenting with different effects, plugins and expressions to push the quality of my work and improve my knowledge.
Working at Alive, I also really love the fact that my work makes a difference. Whether it’s reassuring kids about a procedure they need to have or recruiting social workers, knowing that I can make positive change doing the thing I’m most passionate about makes me feel really proud. 
Where are we most likely to find you outside of work?
I’m a very simple guy, so you’ll find me either cuddling my dog, playing video games, or animating (I love my job so much I do it for fun sometimes!).
My fiancée and I adopted a dog last year – he’s a 4 year old cockerpoo named Cooper, and I love him to bits. He was a failed foster as we just couldn’t let him go to anyone else, so I spend a lot of time playing fetch or walking him.
Finally, something we’d never guess about you? 
For a pretty quiet person, I’ve actually really gotten into public speaking and often volunteer my time to help the next generation of creatives at my old university, NTU. Over the past year or two I’ve given talks about how to get into the creative industry and my journey into motion design specifically, and I’ve mentored a few current students and recent graduates. It’s really nice to give back and help people who are in the same position I was in 3 or 4 years ago.
Watch Em’s yolk joke video
