Harry Marks – Creative Inspirations

I watched the video on Harry Marks and his innovative motion graphics work.

One of the ideas that Marks pushes throughout the whole video is collaboration. He constantly discusses working with other artists and other designers and other people in the motion graphics industry. It is important to hear about collaboration because I am one of those people who could easily box myself up in front of a computer and just work on stuff for hours without getting outsider perspectives. I really liked hearing about how collaboration is necessary because it only makes work better. Being a big fan of TED it is neat to hear about how it all started with simple collaboration between people exchanging different ideas.

I think one of my favorite aspects about the video was the interview with Lynda (also, there is actually someone named Lynda!?). He mentioned the fact that broadcast graphics nowadays are way too fast and make it difficult to read and really take in. Lynda chimes in and says that it is “information overload.” However, I think you can apply the idea of fast paced, info overload to more than just motion graphics. Television shows, movies, books, Internet experiences all have become so much more complex. I’m not sure if it is because people can process information so much quicker now or we just get bored too easily, but regardless, all different types of media are making this change.

During his interview with Lynda he reiterated a point he had made earlier in the video by saying that because of the access to the technology, people tend to feel that they can just go use the tools without really learning the rules of motion graphics. This is advice I know I definitely need to keep in mind. Since I have the Adobe creative suites and creative cloud technology, I want to just go and learn, but it is definitely important to know the background and design principles before just jumping in head first.

In regards to the video, I wish it had been a little bit more captivating to watch. I found myself constantly reading the transcript of what Marks was saying rather than watching the video.