I'm choosing a specialization in a motion design

After spending years in web design animation, video editing, small 3d projects and various freelance jobs I've decided that's the time to specialize. Tortures on self-determination is quite a painful process. You're trying to guess the outcome in many professions, how you may spend a whole life doing some small irrelevant stuff without a chance to step higher. Doubts, research, AI growth prognoses, market demand. All those types of things that motion designer typically shouldn't bother about. Incredible amount of loops around different topics: VR/AR, Design, Illustration, Virtual Production, Color Grading, Video Editing, visual effects - VFX, 3D Animation, 3D Modeling, UI animation, explainer video, creative project management, visual communication, coding, app development, UI design, making tutorials, video content, 2d animation. Everything is great and related to solving complex ideas. Motion graphics is having it all and requires a decend skill set and knowledge in each direction. Inspiration from STASH doesn't help - it inspires in many ways, but it's needed to choose only one for a professional growth. It's hard to cut something and say - it's not interesting for me anymore. Instead, I find much more pleasant to stay for a while in some animation style or a project, so other stuff just fades away and you don't notice it. But when the project ends I have other options, and it's needed to choose something new again. It's not a specialization.

A little about me

Computer animation was something I wanted to do since my teenage years. Not design, not coding, just tough 3d animation and visual effects. But started with 2d vector animation, like animating in flash graphic element, animated logo, later added character animation in after effects, some work in cinema 4d. But graphic design was far away, hard to learn, not interesting type of thing for me. Unfortunately there were no big 3d studios in my city, just web design firms. So it was not much to choose from and I've started work with web, kinetic typography, animated video and other animated graphics stuff. Better than nothing, but not serious. Later switched to freelance and then found my first Ad Agency from NYC, worked remotely. It was a great time, but projects were various and usually too simple for a portfolio. When it was needed to do a complex explainer video - I was inventing a wheel. Time it was needed to create a video and the style was far away from standarts. So the lack of design experience and motion graphics design overall were needed attention and improvement. I've decided to take some courses later instead of jumping to different professions. And the first course was a Design Bootcamp from School of Motion, which was an eye-opening decision. I've seen many other motion designers, their work, and my actual level during the course. Frankly speaking, it was a devastation for my beliefs. I've thought I had some level in motion design, but it actually was a total zero in comparison to top 10% of motion graphic design artists that were around there in this community. My animation was good, but not receiving likes as other motion designers were able to get. So instead of acquiring some motion design inspiration, I've acquired a disapointment and some new motion graphics skills. Which was not so bad option. I've started to do projects in another way, some clients started to ask me for design work instead of animation. I've built a simple design portfolio. Currently learning a typography, which is quite unnatural for me. And planning to stay with this research for some time, because type is a necessary part of motion design. Any social media currently is dependent on videos and type is used almost every time. Further I hope it will be a route to motion title sequences for films. It's a 2d animation, not 3d, but at least it's something I can implement in probably every motion graphics video. It's not a character animation, where you have to learn about each particular character everything, most probabbly unique just for this current project. Like personality, skills, physical parameters, reactions and other features. I guess it all relevant to the type animation, but for example if we take a PIXAR logo animation, where the lamp jumps over the I letter. Most probably an animator who did a jelly-like I letter animation received the same money as a main character 3d animator. Just joking, but still it can be close to reality.

Why Typography

So far typography is the only option I've found to be useful in many motion design cases, which is covering many tasks, as for graphic designer, motion graphics animation, 3d animation sometimes, UI/UX design, title film sequences, branding and visual design. For many of us typography is just a skill. But for me it must be a direction and specialization, because it's always easy to jump at anything else if you not taking this seriously as a final decision. I just think it will be easier to be more productive, if my work will be built around the Type. Next few months I will be learning this topic more closely, it will be time for this (I hope). Especially january, february are great for education and for winter fun :)

It's never enough time for type, and it never will be enough, because it's such a huge topic to learn. I've seen many interviews, read books about ad agencies, have chaecked many websites. Type's everywhere, it's a first design element by which your work is evaluated as professional or amateur design. Type represents some emotion, describes something, and helping transmit information much faster on a intuitive level. Motion graphics designer is bound to limits of time. And if it's needed to show the text for half of a second, you have to know specifics of the type to make it possible to show the message so that viewer will understand it. Color, size, composition, motion. Many things are tied to this.

What's next

I'm so inspired that I'm sharing this information with you. And would be incredibly greatful if you will also share your experience of choosing the specialization and skills for learning. Your variants and choices. Any story is an impressive resource of truth taken from life, not just from imagination. Any motion graphic designer or other creative person can find this useful. If you have good examples of sites or books - feel free to post them here in comments. I'm open for discussions and video calls. It will be great time to share experience or just talk about anything in the motion design.