Computer Animation Arts

Created Academy are back with their series of 'Lates'... talks and workshops that get you up close and personal with industry! On the 13th June, they are hosting a workshop with MAINFRAME.  Get exclusive insights into the day to day world of working at a major studio, get your work reviewed by industry professionals and leave with a secret or two in your pocket. What you'll get...  Project X: From Brief To Delivery We’ll kick off with a talk by the pros at Mainframe. They’ll take you through how they brought to life one of their latest motion design projects, running through the whole process from the client brief to the finished article. There will then be a Q&A session where you can questions about the project. Portfolio Hustle And it gets better. You’ll then be paired up with motion design professionals who’ll give feedback on your work and advice on how to improve your portfolio. This event is FREE so as you can imagine, plac...

Today I bring you advice from a second Funko Product Designer, Sophie Brown. Sophie shares her thoughts on developing a broad skillset, and the importance of networking. Check out Sophie's clear and well-presented portfolio at the end :)  My role at Funko is Product Development Assistant  My Education I studied Product Design at university, I'd always loved product design since school, so it was a pretty easy decision for me once it came to deciding what to do after I'd finished my A-Levels!  The course itself was quite different to what I expected it to be but turned out to be for the best. It was quite an engineering focused version of product design which I think may have benefited me when looking for jobs as it broadened my skill-set in a larger range of areas. For example, along with units based on design briefs, following through to prototyping & testing, we also had units based on materials and manufacturing processes where I lear...

As you consider your future careers, it is important to remember that many of the skills that you have learned on CAA are transferable, and you may find yourself walking a different path at some point in the future... Here Dipesh Patel, Graphic and Product Designer at Funko, talks about his journey from university to where he is now. My Education I studied Graphic Design at university so it was quite a broad course, and one of the important things I learnt was to not just rely on the skills you learn at university but go that extra mile. There were so many designers on my course who would have all been graduating at the same time and applying for jobs at the same time so I had to think of a way to differentiate myself from the other students. I taught myself video editing and animation and this has helped a lot applying for jobs. Employers tend to not only look for someone that is skilled in one area but someone that is flexible, for example one day in my current j...

Calling all 3rd years!  'It’s Nice That' is excited to launch the tenth edition of The Graduates, its annual showcase of brilliant students graduating from a bachelors/undergraduate or equivalent degree in 2018. Deadline for entries is 25th June. Winning graduates will receive... • an interview on It’s Nice That about your work • a prime slot on the homepage on our dedicated one-day Graduates takeover  • a chance to seek helpful advice and guidance from the It’s Nice That team and become part of our network  Full details can be found  HERE

Recently I have been using LinkedIn to try and reach out to recruiters from different animation studios for some advice about applying for jobs and what their specific studio looks for in applicants and their portfolios. I didn't get many responses, but an individual from recruiting at Sony Pictures Animation replied to me and sent me a link to a YouTube video covering a few tips in regards to Visual Development portfolios. I hope that some others may find this useful as well!

As a recent alumni of the CAA course, I would like to share my thoughts upon the importance of social media and making yourself visible and present on-line as soon as possible. It took me awhile to realise how important on-line presence was. If you don't get your work on display you are going to find it difficult to build a fan (and a client) base in the future. It might be overwhelming in the beginning and it might feel like an unnecessary thing that is very time-consuming, but in my opinion, the century we live in requires artists to be visible on-line. Below, I would like to share a list of websites that could prove useful. I am going to skip websites like Twitter , Blogger , Instagram or Facebook , because I believe these are fairly obvious. LinkedIN + used by industry professionals, studios, employees + on-line CV + allows to post and look for job offers + free registry It's an on-line equivalent of a CV. I only just recently discovered how useful and ...

Tom Beg's cg adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray garnered much praise and attention when it was exhibited at New Designers 2011 . Visitors found its striking visuals and bold embrace of theatricality refreshing, prompting Selina Meaning at Arts Thread to observe: "Tom’s creation from start to finish is a work of art, retaining the watercolour quality from his initial drawings." 'ARTS THREAD bridges the gap between education and the creative industry. For the first time ever, design students, graduates, universities, schools and the creative industry can network worldwide.' Check it out here .