What is motion graphics?

Someone once asked if I could do the sign on the side of his van. Took me a minute to realise he’d misunderstood what motion graphics was all about (but I can see why he thought that). In a nutshell – think animation. The reason I don’t often use the word “animation” is people see that and tend to think of Disney or The Simpsons – cartoon characters in long-form narratives. Whereas I actually do very little character animation. Instead, I mostly work with text and graphics. I’ve seen motion graphics described as “short pieces of animation that entertain or impart information” which is a good summary.
Podcast studio setup including two mics, headphones and mixer

Podcasts

Why is a motion graphics designer helping people with podcasts? Because before doing this I spent over 15 years working in radio and virtually every day I’d be editing audio (when I first started in BBC Radio that meant chopping up the tape with razor blades!) So I’m very experienced and that makes me super quick and efficient. And because of my video work these days, I also can help market your beautifully edited podcast with bespoke animated promos for social media.

Click here to visit the podcast section

Post-production services

As you’d expect, post-production is all the stuff that happens after video footage has been shot. I can edit; do colour-correction; overlay graphics, subtitles and animations; add or improve audio – and I’ve yet to find a file type I can’t work with. An example would be a client who has recorded a 30-minute video podcast where they interview a guest over Zoom. I might be asked to balance the audio levels of the two people, cut some 15-second chunks out of it to use as social media promos, add subtitles for accessibility and overlay their branding.
Computer monitor showing Adobe Premiere Pro editing software in use.

What’s the process?

No two projects are exactly the same but generally this is how stuff happens:

Chat

Everything starts with a chat. Email, phone, Zoom, cafe – I’m easy, whatever’s best for you. I’ll listen to your needs and you can find out a bit about me. If you want to get a head start, I always ask “what do you want the video to achieve?” and “who’s it aimed at?”, because those answers will inform everything we do.

Proposal

From that initial phone call I will put together a proposal setting out what I can do to help along with important details like the cost, the process we will follow and the timeframe for the project to be completed in. Of course, you’re under no obligation to take things any further, but if you do we would happily then move onto step three.

Make stuff

If you’d like to proceed, I’ll send you some paperwork to sign online, and once I receive your deposit, I’ll get cracking. Depending on the project, we might spend some time working on the script/narration together, or if none is required, I’ll likely get straight to work on the video itself. I’ll keep you updated throughout the process.

Sign off

After you’ve seen a low-resolution approval copy of the video and we’ve made any amendments, I’ll send you the final high-resolution video along with a long, waffly email full of tips about how best to share it. I’ll also invoice you for the remainder. If you pay it promptly I’ll probably say nice things about you Twitter.