Today I'm speaking with Maria Cruz, an artist, animator & motion designer.Maria’s worked with big companies like Google, Netflix, Apple, Sony… as well as top studios like Hornet, Odd Fellows, Buck, and now Hook.We spoke about many things:Early creativity and childhood ways of seeingArt direction, connection, inspiration, curiosity, and breaking out of the moldThe art and role of a motion designer to read, subvert, and invent between the framesHer style, references, music & motion, her early work in Cavalry, experiments, tools, flow, and much more.Maria is just deeply creative. And I love having conversations like this one — where you really get a sense of where that creativity comes from, and how they think about it.As always if you want to support the show, share it with a friend or leave a rating wherever you're listening.Summary & Chapters (AI Generated)In this conversation, Maria Cruz shares her journey as a motion designer, reflecting on her childhood imagination and creativity, the challenges of balancing artistic expression with commercial demands, and the importance of experimentation in her work. She discusses her artistic evolution, the role of collaboration in creative projects, and how she finds inspiration in everyday life. Maria emphasizes the significance of embracing happy accidents and procedural creativity, highlighting her experiences with tools like Cavalry to enhance her artistic process. In this conversation, Maria Cruz shares her insights on motion design, focusing on her experiences with Cavalry, the evolution of design tools, and the importance of curiosity in creativity. She discusses the shift towards Figma in UI design, the role of AI as a creative collaborator, and the interplay between music and animation. Maria emphasizes the significance of seizing opportunities in her creative journey and reflects on her experiences working in different studio environments.Chapters00:00 The Journey of Creativity04:46 Childhood Imagination and Early Inspirations10:49 The Intersection of Language and Art16:42 Navigating the World of Animation22:38 Client Collaboration and Creative Freedom28:42 Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life36:37 The Influence of David Bowie on Artistic Expression42:26 Navigating the Transition from Style Frames to Motion43:34 The Subjectivity of Animation and Personal Style45:39 Finding Inspiration and Overcoming Creative Blocks47:12 The Role of References in Shaping Style49:56 The Evolution of Personal Style in Motion Design53:09 Distillation: Reducing Complexity in Design54:52 Embracing Happy Accidents in Creative Processes58:13 The Importance of Curiosity in Learning New Tools01:01:50 Exploring Cavalry: A New Approach to Motion Design01:05:48 The Shift from Obligation to Curiosity in Creativity01:09:22 The Future of Motion Design and Tool Evolution01:17:03 The Balance of Plugins and Native Tools in Motion Design01:18:06 Essential Tools for Motion Design01:20:49 The Shift to Figma in UI Design01:24:10 Exploring Rive and JSON in Animation01:27:07 The Future of Motion Design and Interactivity01:30:27 AI as a Creative Collaborator01:33:54 The Dynamics of Working in Different Studio Sizes01:37:59 Dream Projects and Creative Aspirations01:40:20 The Interplay of Music and Motion Design01:49:09 Navigating Opportunities in a Creative Career01:54:46 New Chapter

Find out more about Adam‘s work at https://battleaxe.co/

Today, I’m speaking with Arie Stavchansky, CEO and Founder of Dataclay. Dataclay is a company that develops software for motion designers and video professionals focused on data-driven video. Although this concept has existed for a while, it's not that widely known, but understanding data driven video and it’s interaction with AI is going to become more and more important over the next few years. The discussion covered various topics, including the importance of data-driven video, the resilience of After Effects, AI-generated content, media credibility, Slack bots and the future of Dataclay’s platform.

Today I'm speaking with Matt Perry, creator of some of the most used web motion libraries in the world. His work has transformed how developers bring interactivity and smooth animations to the web. For the last 6 years he’s been at Framer, building Framer Motion — and he’s just taken that independent as a new project — Motion. I've been wanting to have this conversation for a long time, and now that Matt’s launch we could finally make it happen. If you’ve listened before, you know my passions are software, design and motion. And if there was ever a guest that encapsulated all three of these — it’s Matt.

Hayley Akins, founder of Motion Hatch, is a seasoned expert in helping motion designers elevate their businesses. She discusses the evolving landscape of marketing for creatives and effective online engagement strategies. Hayley emphasizes the importance of authenticity and alignment in social media interactions while balancing creativity with professional visibility. Listeners gain insights into navigating challenges in sharing content, the significance of specialization in motion design, and exciting future plans for fostering community support among creatives.

Imsety Taylor is a creator, motion designer, and founder of Set Angle — a web and motion agency. He’s worked with brands like Ford and Keller Williams and collaborated with studios like Ravie. I identify a lot with Imsety — although I'm probably not as talented. He’s got a deep love of being creative in four mediums that we share: animation, technology, design, and sound. We talked about his skill set and running a multidisciplinary agency, the journey from creative child to professional adult, real-time and technical live installation projects, how he runs his team, inner game, and much more. As always, if you appreciate this episode and want to support the show, I'd love you to leave a rating or review on Spotify or iTunes.

Today I’m speaking with Ian Waters - CTO of Cavalry. This is a really fascinating and quite technical conversation about designing motion tools. Cavalry is a relatively young Motion Design tool with a really talented team. And to be building a new motion design tool at this time is really interesting… Motion design is still young and it’s a paradigm that’s intimately woven with the abilities of the software you use. You could argue that AE has been around since before motion was a thing — and that piece of software has evolved and evolved since. But what if you could you start again? What if you could look at how motion is being done today, and re-engineer all of that from the ground up. Well.. that is what we talk about. I found this conversation fascinating — I learned a ton about conceptual design, the technology that powers motion tools. I hope you enjoy!

Today I’m speaking with Oscar Brooks, co-founder and CEO of V88. V88 is one of the leading Glide agencies. They've built hundreds of applications and scaled incredibly quickly in the last year, mostly due to their talent and personality, but also because it’s just a really interesting time at Glide right now. So I wanted to get Oscar on to help explain this story. We talked about: - The non-traditional way V88 hires and a new breed of ‘developer’ we’re seeing at Glide. - What it’s been like scaling a team. - The way larger companies seek out and think about using no-code, or whatever you want to call it. - Recent and exciting upcoming changes with Glide and software development. - Enjoyment, working with colleagues, trust, mindset, how they collaborate, and much more. As always, please reach out to let me know what you thought of the episode and if you would like to see someone on in the future in the world of Software, Design, & Motion.

Today on the podcast, I’m speaking with Wes Cockx (@wes_cream), creative director and 3D designer. Wes is one of my favorite 3D artists and has worked for Microsoft, Deepmind, Apple, Meta, Google, Github and more. We spoke about his early experiences in 3D, rendering, his creative process, experiments, working with different clients and much much more. Please reach out if you have comments, guest-suggestions, or feedback. And as always, thanks for listening.

Today on the podcast, I’m speaking with Isaac Gili (@isaacgili), CEO and co-founder of Shuffll — an AI Studio for Video Creators. We talked a lot about Shuffll, the tech behind it and the future vision for making video marketing & production more accessible and scaleable. Please reach out if you have comments, guest-suggestions, or feedback. @jackmsvaughan. As always, thanks for listening.