Tue, 29/10/2024 - 11:00
Can you describe your new business?
I am a 2D animator, specialising in hand drawn character animation and motion graphics. My personal practice largely concerns topics such as local history, heritage and community. My work partner Isobel Dullage and I are in the process of forming our own animation business alongside our personal work. With this business we aim to maximise our collaborative potential and further develop our projects and interests that we formed during our time at university. Our interests lie in producing educational content and community linked projects such as working with local museums and heritage sites. Their aim is to increase community engagement with museums, heritage sites, and artefacts by making them more accessible to people of various ages and backgrounds. Using animation, they aim to engage visitors' imaginations, offer them a fresh perspective and help them understand more of the significance of what they see.
What is your experience so far and the story behind why you started your business. Is there anything that inspired you?
Isobel and I met at The University of Derby, both studying on the BA (hons) Animation course. We soon found that we have similar interests, get on well and both share a passion for animation. Through our time at university, we grew to be closer friends and found that we are interested in working together. From this we have decided it is a great option for us to form our business partnership and continue our journey into a career as animators. Today, we are thrilled to be awarded the Banks Mill student residency and are eager to use this as the perfect opportunity to hit the ground running straight after finishing our university studies and now kickstart a fruitful career as animators.
Are there any services that you have used for your business so far, either through the University or otherwise?
As we go through all the technicalities of forming our business partnership, we intend to take full advantage of all the business support programmes and workshops that the university has to offer. In the past we have both completed relevant university modules such as ‘portfolio and promotion’ and ‘professional practice’ that have taught us valuable information in terms of self- promotion and business mentality. We have also had the opportunity in the past to promote our work through networking exercises and exhibitions such as the 2024 university degree show.
What University of Derby networks did you find useful during your studies and post-graduation, if any?
During our time at university, Izzy and I attended a Friday morning art club that was open to any members of the university. In this, we were able to interact with individuals on other courses that we might have not otherwise ever met and network with different artists/ practitioners. This was useful as it allowed us to see different ways of working to take inspiration from and allowed us to widen our social sphere and networking opportunities.
How will being based at Banks Mill help your business?
Being based at Banks Mill is an amazing opportunity for us as it allows us to take the next step post-graduation, and really hit the ground running with our animation careers post-university. Through Banks Mill we have access to a space we can use to dedicate ourselves to working in a professional way on our animation projects and we have a way to maximise our collaborative potential.
What other work experience, support or training have you gained that’s relevant to what you’re doing now?
During my time at University Izzy and I took part in an “80 on campus” internship scheme in which we were tasked with curating and editing animated explainer videos pertaining to coming to terms with living with haemodialysis. This was a great opportunity for us because it gave us a taste for what it will be like working together on projects and dealing with clients.
Outside of the realms of Animation I have also been working as a part-time social care worker helping to support adults with sever learning disabilities for over three years. While this may seem very different from my animation practice, there is a plethora of transferrable skills I have gained from this experience, including, social/communication skills, team working skills, time management skills, a professional attitude, self-motivation and discipline.
What are you working on in the studio now?
As we have just moved into our studio, Izzy and I’s immediate goal is to organise all the admin side of establishing and running our shared business partnership. However, alongside this we are currently working on our own joint project/animated pilot surrounding characters and stories we started developing during our time at university. In my own personal work, I am currently working on widening my network with collaborators such as Derby Museum and Derwent Valley Mills and working on building up my portfolio of history/heritage-based projects/artworks.
Tell us a bit about your work/techniques/how long a piece takes to complete etc
Generally, our work is manifested in a 2D animated digital mp4 format, this is primarily done on our computers using specialist equipment/software such as graphic drawing tablets and programmes such as photoshop, aftereffects and blender. Alongside all our moving image outputs we are also able to produce a great deal of still image pieces of artwork/illustration related to whatever project we are working on; this could be anything from posters, sketches, storyboards, concept art, style sheets etc. With our finished mp4 video animation we also aim to showcase a lot of this behind the scenes work as well. The scale of the project including complexity and running time directly relates to how long they generally take to complete, however work is generally turned out fast to meet project deadlines.
What are your plans for your business for the next 12 months?
In the next 12 months Izzy and I intend to have established a fully operational and functioning animation business, working with clients and their projects alongside working on our own passion projects. We aim to have a plethora of material for our portfolios demonstrating various skills and ways of working. We are ambitious in that we want to network with lots of different people and institutions in the local area and we would like to start making a name for ourselves as a business that can provide quality animated outputs. We are also greatly interested in promoting our work and our process by engaging with exhibition and self-promotional opportunities such as open exhibition, promotional publications and social media. We are also eager to take part in opportunities such as artist fairs or artist alley events to sell and promote our work. Izzy and I are incredibly keen and eager to make the most out our time at Banks Mill and use it as the perfect opportunity to establish our animation business effectively. We are also excited to be working in your space as means to be exposed to other types of practitioners/ creative people. To us we are excited to socialise with other creative people, make new friends, network and take inspiration from others.