Motion Hatch: Helping Motion Designers Do Better Business - 045: Why you don’t need a formal education to be a successful motion designer w/ EJ Hassenfratz

045: Why you don’t need a formal education to be a successful motion designer w/ EJ Hassenfratz

07/16/19 • 65 min

Motion Hatch: Helping Motion Designers Do Better Business

We were all likely told at some point in our lives that we need a formal education to succeed professionally. But much has changed. Nowadays, there are many highly successful motion designers never went to animation school.

Today I’m joined by EJ Hassenfratz, also known as Eyedesyn. EJ is well known for his 3D tutorials, something he started doing to get over his fear of public speaking. He’s been in motion design for over a decade. Even without formal training, EJ has become a fully self-taught expert in this field, teaching others, speaking at conferences, and making some really fun animations.

In this episode, EJ and I talk about how people like you and me can find the majority of their work, the real value of education, and the limits of watching tutorials. EJ explains how to use your experience and promote your skills to find work even when you don’t have an educational background in your field. To that end, we discuss the skills that you need to hone to become a successful freelancer.

In this episode

The value and limitations of having an education and how to promote yourself without one
The best skills you can have for becoming a successful freelancer
Finding work through word-of-mouth and email inquiries and how social media plays a role in this
How to properly use Instagram Stories to interact with your followers and other motion animators
Finding inspiration and appreciation from exploring topics not directly related to motion design
What you need to know to negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness
Why watching tutorials doesn’t mean that you’re becoming a better artist

Quotes

“It’s such a rewarding feeling having someone discover something because of one of my videos, or feeling inspired enough to even get into 3D. That really is huge and way better than getting an email with a bunch of client revisions.” [4:43] “You can be amazingly talented, but if you don’t have the confidence to charge what you’re worth and even recognize your own worth, then it doesn’t matter... it doesn’t matter what school you went to.” [9:29] “If you have a client who’s trying to lowball you, put in that little extra effort to educate them on why your rate is what it is and why the value is there.” [41:21] “I think it’s okay to realize that you’ve been doing things the wrong way for most of your career.” [58:12]

Previous Episode

044: Change your mindset and build an intentional career w/ Sander Van Dijk

Many motion designers have personal projects that we would love to have the time to work on. But with the need to earn an income through paid work it can feel near impossible to find the time to work on them. However, as my guest is about to tell you, passion projects and paid client work have the amazing ability to support each other, providing you with the time and resources to work on both.

Sander Van Dijk is an incredible motion designer who teaches Advanced Motion Methods through School of Motion as well as his own freelance course. Sander’s philosophy is centered around creating work that has true meaning for him while helping other motion animators do the same through his projects, tools, and community events.

Today, Sander and I dive into how to what it takes to make it as a freelancer in our field. We explore the importance of being part of and contributing to a community of people doing the same work as you. We also discuss mindset and what it means to have our work be a force for good in the world as well as the importance of taking time for ourselves and our own personal projects.

In this episode

Finding inspiration from your passions and the world around you
The importance of community for adding value to each other’s work and lives
When to offer products and services for free and when to charge for them
How diversifying your revenue streams will give you more time and resources to devote to your passion projects
Recognizing your own values and interests when it comes to choosing direct to client work
The undeniable importance of taking time for yourself
The power of your personal projects to connect you with clients

Quotes

“It’s very beneficial and helpful to have some kind of other interest that gives you inspiration on how to approach specific things in your own work.” [3:39]

“I’m driven by creating value for the community but I also know the value of my work and I’m not afraid to charge for it. As a result, I get more revenue so I can actually make more time available for the community.” [17:25]

“You can just see what you can do with the skills you have and your problem solving mentality as an artist -- what story you can help tell.” [24:52]

“There’s a lot of different opportunities that can work for our motion design world, especially now that it’s so much more integrated into any type of business.” [47:05]

Next Episode

046: How to get unstuck when you’re feeling overwhelmed w/ Jess and Christopher

Have you ever felt stuck in your motion design career? Maybe you’re feeling like you need to do everything all the time but aren’t sure what is actually helping you move forward in your business or career. If you feel like your to-do list is getting longer all the time and don’t know what to do and you're feeling overwhelmed, this is the episode that you need to listen to.

Today I’m talking to Jess Peterson and Christopher Bernal about what to do when you’re feeling stuck and overwhelmed. Jess and Christopher are mentors in our Mograph Mastermind Program . Jess runs Mighty Oak Studios specializing in handmade animation and design. Christopher is a Bay Area motion designer with ten years of experience working with internal production companies, agencies, and studios.

In this episode, we’re talking about conquering your feelings of being overwhelmed by work and moving on to the next stages of your career. Jess and Christopher share some of their tried and true tactics for when they feel inundated with work. As my guests explain, a lot of this can be accomplished by prioritizing and categorizing your tasks.

We also talk about delegating roles to other people, the proper mindset for not letting the amount of work you have to get out of hand, and knowing when it’s okay to say no to a job. We discuss the benefits of being part of a community like a mastermind and how that support is one of the most valuable things a freelancer or small business owner can have.

In this episode

Actionable advice for dealing with having just too much work to do
Why taking the time to reflect on your business and work is an important part of moving forward with it
Knowing when it’s time to delegate various tasks of your business
The mindset needed to help maintain a healthy and sustainable work-life balance
The power and payoffs of being part of a community

Quotes

“When I start to do these things, are they interconnected? Are they going to help set off a chain of things that can show me a path going forward? Every once in awhile, there will be lots of interesting things coming up on my radar, but it’s not really an opportunity if it’s just a distraction.” [8:19]

“If you can take the other parts of your work that are on your plate an invest in someone who is also naturally good at that to help you, you find that the work goes so much quicker and that it is more cost-efficient, it’s more successful, it allows you to be a better creative or small business owner.” [14:48]

“I just have to normalize that not everything that pops up is an opportunity. Just because it’s all happening at once doesn’t mean that it’s going away.” [20:54]

“If you don’t know when you’re going to get close to done, then you feel like it’s never going to end. And that’s most often when we burn out. If you can give yourself opportunities, if you can plan projects out, it kind of gives you those markers to know it’s not forever -- there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” [24:24]

“Who you know in an authentic way is incredibly valuable to growing your business. You shouldn’t have to be sending out cold emails.” [32:19]

Links

Mograp h Mastermind Program

Find Jess at Mighty Oak Studios

Follow Jess on Instagram | Facebook | Vimeo | YouTube

Find Christopher at Designer of Motion

Episode 16 with Jess Peterson

Find the full show notes here

Keep up with everything Motion Hatch

Follow Motion Hatch on Twitter | Instagram

If you haven't already, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It really helps!