My Experience as a Motion Designer...

Funniest feedback I've recieved; Back when I was working in Soho (I'm now Sydney based) I had a group of clients standing behind me in the studio. I hit preview and ran through the animation on screen, I let it run a couple of times and then stopped it and turned to see what they thought. Then, after a pause, one of them says "I like the bit in the middle, but I don't like all these grey boxes you have put around it". Their fellow clients nodded in agreement. "What grey boxes?" I said, then they pointed around the screen - "These grey boxes.". They were refering to After Effects's interface ;) Not really a lot you can say to that.

Someone once said to me if you're too busy as a freelancer then you probably arn't charging enough! I think it is very true. Great video Ben.

On a flat rate project, I worked an extra day to incorporate feedback that severely clashed with the music. The client said 'It's much better now, but when are you gonna send me a version with audio?' It turns out they had their speakers off and subsequently agreed the first version was better after hearing it with audio.

Footnotes: - These are based on my experiences, your results may vary - For extra clarification: The best place to find you day rates to is to ask experienced freelancers in you local area - ozanimate.com/ has an amazing survey about rates/salaries in Aus, but there website was down when I made this. Hopefully it's back up soon. ozanimate.com/3d/2017-industry-survey-results/ - It's possible to figure out the sequences these were filmed in by tracking the volume of tea in my mug. But it's not recommended.

My worst client experience was working on a Walmart ad with an motion graphic company. The director shut me down during a zoom meeting with the agency when I tried to ask questions about what they wanted for the animation. Also wasn't sure if it was sexist or ageist, but I definitely felt a tone difference when he talked to me verse my male colleagues.

Worst client experience for me: a fairly big name, well know record label. They came to me asking for my specific style on a project, and even pulled examples from my portfolio, asking me to re-create an approach I had done in the past. So color me surprised when, after receiving the first round of exports, they told me the videos were "not at all what they expected" and "way off the mark." I ended up doing back-and-forth revisions with them for nearly a month, until the project barely looked like what they had initially asked for. On top of that, they were 3 months late on paying me, only doing so after I threatened to take them to small claims court. Yikes! On top of all that -- they still occasionally come back to me for work, which I have yet to take them up on 😉

Ben I'm a motion designer from IRAN and I just wanted to thank you for all your efforts and passionate comments. Been following you for years, not just as a tutor, but a Mentor as well. Thanks mate and best wishes. <3 <3

Thanks Ben for being such an exemplary voice in the industry. You really strike the perfect balance of being a stone-cold professional while maintaining that sense of humor and joy we all got into the creative field for in the first place! Keep it up!

Great video Ben!! Thanks for taking the time to answer everyone’s questions, this is super helpful! What an awesome community 🤩💥

I once had a client literally call me and my team stupid because we couldn't read their minds. They wanted something "new" with this specific request, but they hated every proposal, after countless, nonstop rounds of changes over two weeks, they video came out exactly as it started.

While working full-time, I had a client who was just not satisfied with how their animation was coming together. (It was basically a glorified PowerPoint, and they had supplied all the layouts) They could just not articulate their feedback very well. I think I'm pretty good at clarifying feedback through questions but it just wasn't getting anywhere with this one client. Eventually our company allowed the client to sit over my shoulder while I animated. I left that company soon after 😃

Thanks Ben for this insightful video! I've just started working full-time as a graphic/motion design recently and it's really great to hear these experiences!

“Have you seen ads? The things that move in ads … I do that” is verbatim what I tell people 😂

Thanks for your encouragement Ben! You are a legend.

Ben I have been follwing your journey since 2020 and I always get so excited when you post something, but at the same time, when you don't post something, it makes me happy too because it makes me think you are busy working on client projects or maybe something personal, and to me thats the reailty of the freelance life. Contsantly battling between all the things you have to get done and prioritizing. I started my freelance journey as an animator and motion designer when the pandemic hit and am just now starting to scale my business and get the word out and you have REALLY been a huge inspiration and point of guidance for me personally. I think imposter syndrome is something that we will always have to deal with and mentally push away. I really appreciate your candor and willingness to share your sucess and your struggles. You are not just an amazing animator and content creator, you are also a motivator and inspiration to a large community of others as well, and we are all in this together. Wishing you continued sucess always. Adam.

ben thank you for everything, your the reason I got in motion graphic 4 years ago ... keep up the good work and know that you really inspire a lot of people

Loved this video. Been subbed since the early early days and just bought your course. Looking forward to digging in! Thanks for all you do!

thank you for your honest answers, very helpful!!!

Thank you Ben! I love whenever I see a new video from you (I also love the Kimchi features!)

Thanks a lot, Ben. Really great to hear all of that. Keep up the sterling work.