PSST! Things First.
Bran Dougherty-Johnson from Grow Design Work and PSST! Pass It On writes on his blog about creating an organization based on two previous manifestos here and here. If you wish to comment/discuss, you should do so on his blog.
It’s a good read and it’s getting some response, maybe it will get some steam. I’ve included my comments on his blog here.
I’d love to see more individuals and studios take the time to make their own self-initiated projects. Not to change the world necessarily, but just to realize their own vision. To do work free of the constraints of logos, brand guidelines and any marketing strategies. I’d like to see what happens when each of us reaches for our own goals: political, artistic, experimental, or humorous.
Some studios already do this, taking on work that allows from more creativity/originality, sometimes this work is in the form of psas, non-profit or simply something that they are more in line with politically.
As far as taking the time to make their own self-initiated projects, I think most serious working artists in design/motion graphics work more than a normal 8-10 hour day sometimes more than 5 days a week. Trying to commit a significant amount of time outside of their work and personal life is tough.
Many studios are very small and cannot afford to subsidize the time of their staff artists for their own personal work or research/develop in-house studio projects. Bigger studios and even companies in other industries (google 20% policy) do encourage self-initiated/self-managed projects in the interest of the company.
I seriously doubt any of us lay awake at night thinking of ways to market the next consumer electronics device or show on a cable network. Yet that’s most of what we see when it comes to Motion Graphics work. That’s what gets promoted and that is what is deemed successful. And that’s the endless loop we’re now caught in.
I agree, but I think the reason why you see so much mograph work for devices or shows is because, well, it’s promotion, it’s paid advertising. It’s all around you, even on the web with sites like motionographer, studio daily, youtube, we as a motion graphics community actual promote the promotions. Sometimes it’s because we worked on it and want to show our latest work, sometimes it’s because we’ve been feed the info from a PR firm and in turn, post it as content.
I would guess personal/art projects probably take longer to produce and have less of a PR machine so you see less of them in ratio to commercial work.
How many student reels have you seen that just imitate successful commercials from the last few years? How many director’s reels are filled with spec work for real products? How many concepts have you seen recycled over and over again by different studios for different products? We’re in an overloaded world of ads, viral content, short films and user-generated contests that, for me at least, are all starting to blend together. Too much sameness.
Hopping on the bandwagon is a symptom of not taking risks. This doesn’t just apply to our industry. Agencies have a hard time persuading clients to take risks with their brand, so you get watered down boards or something you’ve seen before. You can estimate success with previous scenarios. There is no data with an untested formula. We’re all at the grade school dance standing against the wall waiting for the first person to walk in the middle of the floor and start dancing.
I don’t blame student reels imitating product commercials. For the most part, they’re learning to execute under a schedule and I cut them some slack for the cliche ideas. However, I do love it when someone does something original even if technically, it’s not so great. You’re more likely to teach a creative person to be a better technician but you can’t always teach a technician to be more creative.
I could say the same for spec pieces by fledgling directors. It’s a tool to prove you can execute. I sometimes think “Doing” is more important than originality in our industry (film/tv) to the people who do the hiring.
So with that in mind, I am asking for like-minded individuals to help establish an organization that will promote these ideals. The Motion Graphics Designers’ Organization, perhaps? An AIGA that’s dedicated solely to time-based media. A BDA that actually exists for the artists. An organization that seeks out, discovers and encourages the non-commercial and non-corporate work that needs more attention and engagement from the rest of the community.
This is a great idea and certainly this could exist in New York. I would also expand this and just say artists need to persuade their studios to participate in more non-commercial projects, if for nothing else, to show they’ve got ideas outside of the work they normally do for pay. There already is a community of like-minded artists that all work with the usual suspects of studios here, it just needs a little organization and direction.
Creativity wants to be free, it wants to be first and in the purest sense, is not motivated by money. If it can’t be produced by commercial means then an organization like you propose would help see it reach the kind of exposure and discussion we all hope it would receive.