Motion Graphics Designer’s Important Skills for Success

Motion graphics has turned out to be an indispensable part of the digital world. From television commercials to stupefying game graphics, online videos to complicated CGI in Hollywood films, the increasing popularity of motion graphics is noticed everywhere. It is the advancement of computer technology and the reduced cost of developing such graphics that act as contributory factors of their high popularity. Owing to the rising popularity of motion graphics in Singapore, many students in this country are choosing motion graphic designing as a career option. Now, the question is: what skills you should develop to succeed as a motion graphics designer?
 

 

 Graphic Design Skills:

The job of a motion graphic designer is to bring graphic characters to life using animation. In this instance, the professional can use his knowledge and skill of animation to make the graphic images created by a graphic designer move. However, it would be an added advantage for the motion graphic designer if he himself develops graphic design skills.

 

 A Good Understanding of Fundamentals in Animation:

As a motion graphic designer, you need to have an in-depth understanding of  animation to make the two-dimensional elements move with ease. If you do not have the required knowledge and skill, the animated characters would fail to appeal the audience. You should understand as to where to exaggerate and where you shouldn’t. A stunning design may fall flat if it is not animated proficiently.

 

 3D Design Skills:

3D elements have successfully made their place into motion designing. You will often trace it in commercial advertisements and in 3D logos. Thus, to keep abreast with the new trends, you need to develop 3D design skills.

 Knowledge of Typography and Color Theory:

Apart from being used extensively in motion design, typography oft serves as the driving force behind the moving graphics. Looking from this perspective, you should acquire knowledge of typography and know about what it consists of, what compliments a design and what appeals the audience.

 

Again, as a motion graphic designer, you should have a clear understanding of how to utilize colors in the motion graphics. You should know about what color conveys what mood and expression aptly. To cite an example, if you are trying to develop motion graphics on spring, you should make most use of green, red and yellow colors. Here, the use of white, gray and blue would be wrong as they are used to portray winter.

 

Apart from developing the aforementioned skills, you need to acquire technical skills. Now, the motion graphics are developed using computer systems, and computer knowledge and technical mastery will be able to help you use the new and upcoming systems and excel in the industry. When it comes to motion graphics in Singapore, the institutions offering training to the future professionals focuses on enhancing the technical skills of their students.

Successful Graphic Designer Essential Skills

Do you share a passion for visual arts and are planning to come up with your dream career in graphic designing world? Well, first and foremost you need to hold a diploma in graphic design from Singapore. Most jobs in the graphic design world need a creative mind. Additionally, you should also have a unique approach to solve the problem. However, if you wish to be an outstanding graphic designer, then you should not only be good at designing and visualizing information, but then, you should also possess good interpersonal and communication and technical skills. Some of the essential skills that will help you to become a successful graphic designer are as follows:

Introduce Visual Solutions for Communication Issues

As a graphic designer, you should be well aware of your users’ needs and wants. This is the first step that will help you come up with the best visual solutions and communicate the perfect ideas and concepts. Believe it or not, but then, understanding your users is a good way so as to come up with a perfect design.

 

Collaborate Proposals to Interact with Customers

If you are professional designer then you should empathize with your clients or employees and identify their role within each business role. You can propose various solutions to one problem so as to let your customers select the most suitable approach and take the design work in the right direction.

 

Collect Details and Materials for Meeting Brief’s Guidelines

Each time a graphic designer gets a brief, a research procedure is initiated. Hence, if you wish to begin your career in the graphic design industry, then make sure to invest a great deal of time in research. You should be well aware of facts like which resource is being used in which situation. This approach will help you come up with the right piece of information and material. At the end of the day, your design will depend on what your findings are.

Have an Eye for Right images, Text, Color, Fonts

In order to make your design work stand out from the crowd, you should use the right design elements. Different colors and font shapes broadcast diverse feelings so you will have to take an expert eye to understand the unique design elements inside out to make the best decisions and that too on a quick note to match your client expectations.

 

Pay Attention to Final Review

When the design process is about to end, often people forget to review it prior to its submission. But then, as a good designer you should always review the final product before delivering it. All the more better if you ask for feedback from different people.

 

Finally, designers should be strict with their deadline and should make sure that the quality of their work isn’t compromised at any cost. While a diploma in graphic design from Singapore is an added advantage, a quality work will help you earn accolades. To get more work, you need to aim at delivering quality work.

Motion Graphic Terminology For Students and Professionals

Jargon exists because it makes it easier for people in a particular business to communicate effectively and efficiently. All businesses have their own lingo that helps them work and understand each other. The graphics business isn’t very different at all and your college of motion graphic in Singapore will teach you that.

 

Some of the basic terminology you should know as a graphic designer are:

- Anti-Alias: In order to reduce or prevent rendering of artifacts through the use of color information, which will stimulate a higher screen resolution. This method is called Anti-Alias.

- Alpha Channel/ Matte: Alpha is the fourth channel in 32-bit graphic systems. It comes after RGB and is reserved for transparency information.

- Animatic: To get an idea of the timing of a sequence, a rough animation is used by animators, like a storyboard.

- Codec: It is a video data encoding system for storage, transmission or encryption. It may be lossless or lossy.

- Cel: It is short for celluloid, a transparent plastic sheet used to create hand drawn animations.

- Color Depth: This describes the number of bits used in describing the color properties of one single pixel.

- Clipping Plane: It is the limit at which rendering and visibility stops in 2D and 3D.

- Depth of Field: This is a good shorthand cinematic effect. It refers to the range of distance from the camera allowing the image to remain in clear focus.

- Dynamics: The modeling of physics and physical interactions like collisions in as a system inside an animated scene.

- Exposure: This refers to the number of cels on which the drawing appears, in the scene.

- Exposure Sheet/ Dope Sheet: It is the tabulated breakdown of camera moves, frames, objects and their actions, scene by scene.

- Fall-Off: This is the phenomenon where the strength of light diminishes as it more further away from the source.

- Interpolation: It means filling in unknown data between two values that are known.

- Null: This refers to an invisible object that doesn’t appear in the final render. However, it does have inherent properties and can be used like the other layers in a workflow. (Null refers in VFX and Programming as empty)

- Onion Skinning: is an animation technique where transparent layers representing subsequent animation frames are put together.

- 2K/ 4K: It is related to a digital frame’s horizontal pixel count. 2K – standard for motion pictures and 4K – the future.

By learning the basic terminology you will ensure you know what you should to. This in turn will allow you to develop your skills as a motion graphics expert and create amazing designs without any hindrances.

Finding a Killer Job you Love in the Field of Graphic Arts

It is not uncommon for students to land their first job right out of a graphic design degree in Singapore through a lucky break only to realize a few months or years later that you are ready to move on. Chances are that the second time around, you may not get that lucky and may have to work harder to find yourself a job that you love and enjoy. 

Now that you have some experience up your sleeve alongside a reputed graphic design degree from Singapore you must know how to leverage this to your benefit and land a killer job. Here are some approaches that you need to consider to find professional success.

·         Highlighting your Accomplishments over your Capabilities

While knowing how to use Photoshop or Illustrator is a skill set, using your experience with these programs to land an expensive contract is what is considered to be an accomplishment. Highlighting everything that you have achieved is a great way to set yourself apart from the myriad of other designers who come with similar training and technological know-how. Especially in an era when these skills are a given in the field of graphic arts and design.

·         Elaborate on your Role and not your Title

While you may have held a rather ordinary title in your previous job, you can creatively categorize yourself by highlighting specific skills. While doing so, make it a point to be truthful about your capabilities. For instance, you may be considered to be a Multimedia Graphic Designer in your previous job, but if your core focus was on UX designing, highlighting this can help you set yourself apart for software companies that are looking for more niche experience.

·         Create More than One Resume

Instead of writing a new resume for every job opening that comes your way, consider creating up to 5 different drafts that highlight different sides of your current job profile and experience. Just as mentioned above, you could use one resume to highlight your experience in software and another to focus on your experience as a designer. While the jobs that you are talking about can be the same, but the descriptions can focus on varied experiences and projects that are relevance to the company you are applying to.

·         Stick to the Basics

Many graphic designers make the mistake of going all out in trying to create a visually appealing resume that they believe will further highlight their aesthetic sense. However, what works the best is to stick to your basics. Especially if you are applying for corporate jobs you want to pass on a resume that is clean and yet not dull.

Finally, make it a point to work on an online portfolio right from the start. Your website or portfolio should be able to highlight some of your best work in a way that your skills are well represented. There are a number of online platforms that help you host portfolios at no cost to the designer.

Summary

This article discusses the various things to consider when trying landing a job in graphic arts. 

After Effects Plug-ins that Every Motion Graphics Designer Must Have

Using plug-ins is an excellent way to add extra functionality to your motion graphics project on After Effects. Regardless of whether you are new at the Motion Graphics game in Singapore or you are a seasoned veteran, here is a list of plug-ins you want to make sure you use to take your skills up a notch –

·         Trap code Particular

This particle system plug-ins enables users to create customized particles such as rain, dust, smoke and clouds on After Effects. This particular plug-in is believed to have better functionality than the in-built feature on After Effects since it makes use of extremely realistic physics. This plug-in helps you create particle based lines, patterns and shapes in a 3D space with great ease.

·         Element 3D V.2

This popular plug-in enable user to upload and make use of 3D models on Adobe after Effects. If you aren't familiar with using modeling software such as Cinema 4D or Maya, this tool helps you easily import and edit 3D models in a quick and efficient manner. This tool works extremely fast and its latest version introduces new features such as lighting presets and ambient occlusion to your imported 3D models.

·         Plexus 2

This tool takes layers and helps break them up into objects that are smaller. With the .obj support this tool allows experts in Motion Graphics from Singapore to import models from most other 3D graphic programs and have them broken up in the 3D Space. These objects can act as forms or containers that can be used by Plexus. This tool allows you to create 3D connect dots design and bezier splines where you can adjust the lines in 3D space.

·         Optical Flare

Lens flares are an excellent route through which you can create visual interest in your scene. While there are a variety of lens flare generators to choose from, most designers swear by this one. This plug-in allows you to create custom flares which work on 3D spaces. These flares are designed to look very realistic and make use of a variety of effects that add to the realism. This tool also comes with a preset library.

In addition to this, plug-ins such as Newton 2, a 2D physics engine; Continuum Complete – a plug-in with hundreds of plug-in effects in one and Twitch, a tool that adds glitch effects to your motion design are extremely popular among designers.

Summary: This article discusses some of the most popular plug-ins you must invest in if you plan on working on a motion graphics project on After Effects.