Overcoming "Oh, I'll never be THAT good!"

ORIGINAL UGLY DESIGN!

NOT SO UGLY DESIGN (Which took a LOT of trial and error to get to)

I think it's pretty safe to say we've all had a moment in our lives where we've looked at something and said "wow...I'll never be THAT good". I thought this at practically every moment I saw an awesome graphic and it sucked.

That extremely ugly design up top was one of my first ever design work ideas, yep, it was THAT bad. I have no idea how I even thought that may work but lucky for me, I quickly decided that "shit, this is damn ugly". That's always the first step;

Teaching yourself what works and what doesn't, this doesn't just apply to design but all mediums. Look at other peoples work and learn, have an opinion on their work too. I mean surely there are gonna be designs that you don't like, so why not improve on them? think of ways to improve and give back. This to me is called 'Moving forward'.


I'd also say, teach yourself. There really aren't any shortcuts... if you wanna be good, do the time and push yourself.

Pushing yourself is key, I often find with myself that stick to a comfort zone that will get me a decent result but nothing AMAZING. I make it my goal to have people say "woah" when they see my work, most times I fail at achieving this but it's what pushes me to learn that bit further.

Practice! Practice! Practice! I cannot stress this enough. Too many times I've heard people say they wanna do this and do that and how they'll never get to a certain level, well obviously you're not gonna get there if you sit on your arse playing Destiny all day.

Don't get let down when your work doesn't look like the work of Spielberg. Honestly, the amount of times I've completely dropped a project because it doesn't look good is uncountable. Even to this day I try to avoid doing it and still end up with the same habit. This often happens when I try push myself and fail. What I fail to realise in that state of stupidity is that I haven't failed, I've just found a way not to get to my goal. So you pick yourself up and try again, start again completely if that helps.

This is a strange one but I'd say take some time off when you can, gather some inspiration... this is what is gonna separate you from other designers, the more you can create using your imagination and inspiration the more unique you become. Seriously the amount of times I've come up with stuff that no one else has done while i've taken time off is crazy. The more you see, the more you can put into your imagination for later. THERE IS AN IDEA IN EVERYTHING YOU SEE.

Even still, I don't see myself as a great motion designer but I feel like I'm learning and am indeed improving. Don't be too hard on yourself either, I mean no one can run before they can walk except maybe Bruce Lee but y'know what I mean. It sounds corny as hell but you seriously can achieve greatness just by putting in the work and effort.

Alright guys,
Stay Inspired, Stay Caffeinated.
Adeel

Keeping Motivated and Finishing Things

I've always struggled with motivation and in all honesty I hardly ever finish anything I start. So many times I've written something or started an animation project that just will never see the light of day after about a days work. Why I'm like this, I honestly have no idea. A lot of the time I have this amazing image in my head and when I try to recreate that, it just doesn't work out the way I wanted and I just stop half way.

So! I am attempting to commit myself to two thing from now on. One of which is this blog, I don't imagine a lot of people read this but to be honest it's more for me than anyone else. Days like today where I'm not feeling to great it's nice to just write and hey if I help someone by doing so, super.

My other commitment is something I call the '30 Days of Motion Design' and it's quite literally what it says on the tin. I've decided that I will be making an animation at least everyday until I have 30 really really nice bits of motion graphics work. I am so committed to this because I honestly think it's about time I found a job and made a move with my career. I didn't get the Cartoon Network job and that's okay, I learnt a lot from it. They were even nice enough to give me a few pointers for next time, claiming my work was more geared to VFX and film rather than motion graphics. Which makes sense! I mean I come from a VFX background and the interview was so unexpected. I honestly don't think I was ready for it but I needed it. So yes, I am now trying to make a giant pile of work for my next Motion Graphics reel.

I think it's actually going pretty well, I'm on day 10 now and I don't feel like I've learnt much in terms of technical stuff but on a more creative
basis. Something I've always struggled with was the actual design of a graphic, I mean my technical knowledge is pretty good and sometimes I get lucky with the design work. When I decided todo the 30 days, I knew I had to step away from constantly learning technical aspects but instead, using the technical to make something effective for design. So it's definitely time to teach myself the design part of it all. 

My tip to you guys is to stop settling. It's one of the hardest things for me... the will to move forward and not stay in one place. It's definitely not easy but I personally feel like we should always look to move forward and not stop or settle, even after you've reached your goal... move forward.

"poor man thinks for the weekend rich man thinks for the years ahead" and that's not even talking about money, because money has never bugged me... like my favourite poet Taylor Mali says

"If you have this (head), you follow this (heart) and if someone tries to judge you based on this (money) you give them this (the finger)." - Taylor Mali (What Teachers Make)

Straight up. When I quote "rich man" no I don't mean money, I mean the one that has truly lived life to their complete fullest, one that never stopped experiencing. The way I see it is; in order to create success from nothing you must be willing to move forward and work when everyone else wouldn't. 


"I'm on a blood buzz, yes I am, I'm on a blood...buzz" - The National


Stay Caffeinated Guys,
Adeel.

What Motivates Me.

For as long as I can remember computers have facinated me, somehow I always knew I'd do something in one field of computers or another. A more techy job essentially. I was set on this goal from the moment I installed a video game on my Windows 95 desktop PC. 800x 600 the good ol' days. 

It wasn't till my teenage years where I really discovered the realm of art and film. I grew up watching these fictional realities and I guess it just stuck with me as a way to tell stories. So teenage Adeel becomes pretty in touch with his feelings and goes through a pretty rough time at school. He begins to use his knowledge of computers to just express himself through any medium he could. I dunno there was always something about making stuff that took me away a little and I guess I just stuck with film and man when I was 15 I made loads! I have this one video on YouTube that has over 100,000 views?!? What?! That's crazy! I guess back then everything I made was solely for my own satisfaction. Not to please anyone or anything. Just simple ways to express myself or even escape a little. 

"I can't tell you the secret to success cos' I don't know it. But I became successful when I stopped making for other people and made for myself" Ed Sheeran

So like all things, I aged and I'm almost 22 now. I stuck with film as an expressive art form for when I'm really feeling something. Otherwise I'm planning on going into advertising. One day I'll be a creative director and make a bunch of cool stuff with a massive team. 

So what motivates me? 

Well the simple answer is my future. I wanna live in a pretty nice house with an amazing family and hey if I can get there with doing what I love, I think I've had a pretty successful life. It's also that fact that motivates me, I just love making stuff. I often find that I can't sleep if I feel like I've just wasted a whole day not making anything. It sounds silly and pretty cliche but I wanna leave a mark for after I die. I wanna make beautiful films and beautiful pieces that maybe one day will help a younger Adeel pretty lost in school. What motivates me is wanting to one day teach and pass on what I know... Teach people to make beautiful things and no not esthetically beautiful pieces but pieces with meaning and heart. Otherwise you just have a pretty picture with no personality. Thats what motivates me, living happy, and one day leaving a mark for people to carry with them hopefully.

"A poor man plans for the weekend. A rich man plans for four years ahead."

No I don't wanna be a millionaire, I wanna be rich in knowledge and creativity. I want to be known for what I do and use that to help the people that really need it. 

Stay Caffeinated Guys,

Adeel