A day in the life of…Emma – Motion Designer at Torpedo.

Video and animation have always been a brilliant way of catching attention and creating a memorable message. Producing these on a daily basis takes a certain amount of artistic flair – something the motion designers at Torpedo have in abundance. Find out where Emma gets her inspiration from and how she got to where she is today….

What’s your role at Torpedo, and how long have you been here?

I’m a motion designer and I’ve been at Torpedo for just over a year now – I originally joined the company as a junior motion designer.

What exactly does your role entail? Can you run us through what you might get up today, for example?

Today I’m working on a tutorial animation for a client. On other days I might be working on landing page animations or banners. I often do fun stuff like infographics and sometimes get involved with creating social media posts for Torpedo – earlier in the year I got to make a lovely motion graphic to celebrate Creativity Month, which was really fun.

What tools/resources/people do you depend on to get your job done?

I depend on the Client Services a lot to give me a good brief so that I know exactly what I need to do. I use After Effects primarily to animate my work, but for some jobs I use Premiere Pro and Photoshop or Illustrator when I need to create my own assets for a job. I probably depend on my colleagues in Motion a lot for advice too.

What do you love most about your job at Torpedo? What’s the highlight of your day?

I love the fact that I get to work on a variety of different jobs and every day I’m working on something different, which is really great. It’s so nice to have that diversity in my job. I enjoy the mix of live action, illustrating different styles and different jobs with a range of clients.

And what do you find most challenging?

Whenever I’m given something that I haven’t done before. I definitely like learning new things. I got to work on a campaign doing social animations from scratch for the first time recently, and that was something I’d never done before, so it was exciting to do something like that. That’s one of the things I really like about working at Torpedo – I get those opportunities to really learn and grow.

Is there a particular piece of work/project that you’re really proud of?

I was really pleased with the Creativity Month Instagram post that I worked on earlier this year (above) – I created that from scratch in Illustrator, and I learned a lot making that. I’d never done something like that before and it was really enjoyable.

When I first joined Torpedo I was also involved in creating some social ads and was able to really get stuck in and design that whole part of the campaign. It was an exciting challenge and it came out really well, which gave me confidence.

What did you see yourself doing when you were a kid?

I probably wanted to be a dragon or crocodile when I was a kid!

I always loved art and drawing and I definitely wanted to do something creative. I never knew that animation was a possibility growing up – I never even realised that was a potential career path.

If you weren’t a motion designer , what do you think you’d be?

I think maybe I’d have ended up working with animals. I’m keen on dogs so maybe I’d work in a rescue centre.

What made you choose this career path? How did you get to where you are today?

Luckily, my Mum suggested an art foundation course – something I didn’t know about! It was amazing because I got to explore all these different art disciplines and it gave me the chance to try out animation. I just thought “wow, this is fantastic, I really enjoy this” and from then I didn’t look back, it was so good. I’d done a little bit of animation in a club at school, but until then I didn’t know that it could be an actual career and more than a bit of fun.

When your OOO is on, what are you likely to be doing?

I love walking, so I’d probably be out exploring the local environment and the hills, ideally with a dog. I like walking along the Thames so that’s something I do almost every day.

This year I’m going on an activity holiday with my family in Dorset. We’re planning lots of walks and we’re going to rent out kayaks and explore the rocks.

What’s your favourite memory of working at Torpedo to date?

Going on the charity walking challenge on the Isle of Wight. It was such a perfect day. Hiking and chatting with everyone was such a great team experience. We got to take in some amazing sea views too – it was so nice. I did get a bit of sunburn though!

What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever been given?

If you always put out a positive attitude, you’ll get back what you give out. It’s always good to say hi to people and smile – it lifts everyone up.