Rick Morris

For this week’s blog, I watched the artist profile of Rick Morris on Lynda.com. Rick Morris is a successful motion graphics designer and offered insight into his process and inspiration. Although the video was full of valuable information, I was particularly interested in a few concepts. Initially, he discussed his career path and developing his reel. This is something I’ve wanted to do, and hearing him emphasize its importance, even if it isn’t complete.  He thinks it is important to have somewhere you can direct people to show off your projects. When developing a reel or portfolio, he would rather see a couple excellent projects instead of a large portfolio of mediocrity. Hopefully, future employers will agree with quality over quantity. Even though he had a background in illustration and print, he found motion graphics to be a natural career progression. In fact, he talks about how print illustrators were alluding to motion through various effects, so the transition was relatively smooth.

The next idea that I found particularly important was his emphasis on process. When he begins a project, he rarely jumps into illustrator/photoshop unless the project requires perfectly formed shapes. He always begins his projects with sketches, both related and unrelated to his actual project. He thinks the ability to draw can help remove obstacles that may arise from incomplete images or objects (note to self: learn to draw).  Drawing or not, he emphasizes the importance of thorough process and inspiration.  Lastly, he talks about the importance of unexpected endings.  Not showing your cards too early helps to captivate your audience.  On a side note, it was nice to see what after effects is capable of in a professional environment.