Below are my notes from a talk at Durham College’s School of Art and Design on the alternatives to ‘getting a real job’.

______

Thanks for having me here.
I am going to try and confuse you about the path that you think you are on at this school. – Or give you hope.  Feel free to interrupt anytime if you have a question about something I will show you.
A – INTRO: FREEDOM VS. SECURITY

This school system is designed to create employees.

You go to school to get a job.

I want to talk about other options.

I want to talk about taking skills that you learn at school and in your own free time, and using them to be self employed.

There are a few questions to ask yourself to see if being self-employed is for you:

1.  Do I need job security? - Am I happy having security?
2.  With security, will my skills be tested and will I move forward fast enough?
3.  OR: Do I value Freedom more?

This is an issue of Freedom vs. Security.

Freedom and Security are opposites.

This talk is not about having a career, but about a type of lifestyle.  It is an idea that you can control what you do with your time.

B – HEALTHY SEFISHNESS:  It is okay to want to be happy.

It is okay to be selfish.  There is a type of selfishness that is good.  This does not mean hurting other people.

Why do you we money so much?
1. money buys freedom
2. money buys choices
3a. money buys time
3b. time is your most valuable commodity

Now, being an Entrepreneur is NOT for everyone.  It is bad advice to tell everyone that they should follow this path.

There is risk involved.  But it is worth it.  I will go over the pros and cons of being self employed later.

To be successful working on your own, you MUST be:

1. good at what you do.
2. have the personality type that can and will work on your own
3. have to be comfortable with not knowing what is going to happen next

Going on your own is an art.  You have a vision and idea for something, and it is up to you to make it happen. To create it.

I usually have no clue what I’m doing, so after a bit of anxiety I go sit in a coffee shop, or exercise, or read, or paint.  You will always find the next move.

If you want something, and have work ethic, than try.

C – CREDIBILITY INDICATORS

Now, a good resume and demo reel has ‘credibility indicators’.

It is like a gold seal on a book.  or an endorsement on the back of a book from a famour person.  or a ‘big name’ celebrity in a new movie that makes the movie seem like it will be good.  or the olympic athlete who is eating a big mac.  credibility to the brand.

You are a brand.  your name.

You have to learn to play this game.

If I show you that I have accomplished something, you will listen to what I say.  So, I will throw out big name brands, I will word things properly.

For example.  I am going to put this talk on my CV somewhere.  (if you dont know CV is curriculum vitae – latin for you life’s activities, your resume)

I could say :  ’Spoke to the third year animation class at Durham College‘

BUT.  I am going to write this:

‘Keynote Speaker at the School of Art and Design on Self Employment Strategies.’

as a sidenote, you can take more school after Durham.  I finished Durham, and than transfered credits to York university and have Finished a degree in three years, part time while I have worked.  Education is huge for credibility and there is a strong relationship between more pay and more education.

I’ll just do a quick ‘about me’, so that you will listen to what I say.
I am a motion designer for interactive content.  I work in advertising.  Basically, I work on videos that are distributed online.  I mostly use photoshop. aftereffects Final Cut Pro and Maya.

Here are some of the clients I have worked for:
Some of them I have worked for many times.

I have 4 of them to show you and I’ll talk about briefly.  If we have time at the end I have a few others if you are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ItYVrrkHKc

First, this is a video that was used for in store displays at all the AT&T store in the USA and for online promotion.

I started with designs in photoshop to get colours and motifs and the general stlye.

The idea i came up with that I liked what to use this round square shape to bring all the text in and out.  This was the first phone to have this track pad, replacing the ball.  Now they have this on all thier phones.

I animated a model phone.  I worked with a get named Zak Cheatham in Texas.  He models phones and we found him on ‘turbo squid’ site.  Blackberry sent specs of the phone, we had to sign confedentiality agreements called ‘NDA’s’ non disclaimer agreements.  Zack made the phone, I animated it, he rendered it and sent me the PNG sequences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZwo1rGuqOg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAmlQyeXtQM

Second, this video was on the homepage of Chryler.  Because the web is not restricted to 4:3 or 16:9 ratios, you can make videos any size.

This video was made in Maya and Aftereffects.  there are two videos.

this other one is called ‘community’  I loved this one because of the idea.  I worked with an illustrator.  The idea was to work with the 5 sides of the logo.  So we had an idea for each section, went through each and than built the logo at the end out of these sections.  We scanned in watercolour splashes and it was the first time I ever used pink.  Now I use pink all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQt2HtN9LEA

Third, this is a simple one, but was fun.

It was for a joint campaign between Knorr and Walmart.  Did some fun motion tracking.  These will play in walmarts on their screens and are on www.knorratwalmart.com

annoying part you run into is having to make french versions of everything.  so redid it again for www.knorrchezwalmart.ca

SHOW KNORRATWALMART.CA

bought stock video for the intro, animated the logo.  designed the clocks to match the brand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCh_kn-Lj4g

Bank of American and Hank and Frank.

This one was fun to do.  It was me and one other guy.  The helper found assets and set up the images.  i designed and animated.

This was made by rigging characters in after effects.  just moving the pivot point and parenting layers.

I have some LG videos and European Videos and Nike ones at the end maybe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMUmhJ-ZwU

D – 10 THOUGHTS

I came up with ten things I have learned from other people and from making mistakes and reading books.  I hope something here will help you.

D1 – SEE INTO THE FUTURE

What I mean by see into the future, is not just get hired by someone to work for their vision, but notice some changes in technology and think about how you can fit in.

For example, the biggest change has been the growth of online video in recent years.  What does the merging of television and the web mean?
It means that you can create videos that play before a video online
It means that the viewer can interact with the video now
It means that videos do not need to be as high resolution
It means that these video will be played on phones as well
It means that these videos will be played on the ipad
it means that ‘mobile video’ is a new opportunity and market.
do not only think that you will be making videos for movies and television

Ask these questions:
How can I be relevant in the future?
How can I use my youth and knowledge about the internet and social networking as a selling point?

BUT, you need to investigate and try somethings out.  Make an iphone app for fun, and you will be an expert in iphone app animations all of a sudden.

there is a huge market for this.

No one will ask you to do something unless they see that you have already done it before…

…That you can do it well.

D2 – BECOME ACCESSIBLE

Just a few thoughts on how people connect with each other and see other peoples work.

Studios have piles of dvd demo reels.

dvds have to be opened, then have to be put into a dvd player or computer, they have to be played.  this takes time and companies do not have time to do this.  Dvds pile up.  They may get watched for fun when some people are drinking beer and want a good laugh.

no one has ever looked at my print portfolio except my mom and girlfriend.  waste of time and money.

QUESTION:  what do people look at?

send an email, with a link to your demo reel and online portfolio.

The video can be on youtube, and embedded on your website.

get a simple, .com address.

You can blog, which drives traffic.  at the bottom of every email you send out you can have a link to you work.. so EVERY email is a marketing opportunity.

I have had www.davezak.com for many years.

Now, even if you do not feel ready, I would start a site now.  It takes time to grow in search engine and to get catalogued and ranks.  Traffic grows with time. lay a foundation.  The site, reel and resume will NEVER be finished.  Ever.

First step is to a buy a domain name.  I use www.godaddy.com

I use wordpress to make the sites.

Wordpress is a free CMS – content management system. basically you make the whole website online in the browser and can edit it easily from anywhere/

D3 – PRICE YOURSELF

Money will come.

Money is a byproduct of doing something well.  of working hard and being a good person.

Do not make money the main goal.  This is hard.

As artists, there is also a conflict of commercial vs. personal art.

What do you make for money, and what do you make for yourself?

Imagine if you could have both?

This chart show the relationship between how challenged you are with work, and how skilled you are.  the best place to be is in ‘flow’ – where you forget to eat and sleep, and just love making things.  Nothing better.

example:  maybe you have a hard scene to animate, and do not have enough skill.  You may feel anxious.

or the oppostie.  You are great at what you do, but are given a repetitive, brainless task…  this can lead to bordom.

A few other things on money.  There is relative income vs. absolute income.

would you rather make 100 thousand dollars a year, but have 3 weeks off a year, or make 50 thousand dollars a year, but only work for half of the year?  The other half of the year is your time to make yourself.

Here are two qoute on money from two books.

1. ‘be smart with the money they give you, otherwise you will be a whore for the advertising industry your whole life.’ (that black book)

2. ‘maybe pricing yourself low does not make you look ‘good value’, but cheap’ – selling the invisable.

talk about logical (and wrong) pricing.
deadly middle. – being high price is a choice!

so, how will you set prices?

by experience, who you know… but mostly your confidence.  you will reach these levels of readiness where you will just know that you can charge more now…  and you can.

D4 – LEARN THE PROS AND CONS OF FREEDOM

In my opinion there are only pros.

Even harder things make you grow.

you will have to do your own taxes.  save your GST, save your income tax.  I hire an accountant for just under $200 who goes through all my reciepts and tells me what I owe the government.  You learn alot about being smart with money and how to handle business.

this means you will need an invoicing system.

you will not have benefits, unless you cover your own.  I am going to marry a teacher so try and do that.

learn about contracts and legal issues.  make sure you get paid and do not get taken advantage of.

you will be in CONTROL – this means independence and uncertainty.

you will grow faster. – client list will be bigger because you will not be at the same place with the same clients.

you will meet way more people.  your network will be huge

D5 – STAY FOR A BEER

This brings me to the next point, which i called stay for a beer.

relationships are so important.

go out for lunch with anyone you are working with. get to know them as people.

stay for a beer on weekends and laugh with them and have friends, not only people you have worked with.

Peter told me that the ‘older’ people in studios are scared of the younger people…. The younger people are scared of the older people.

Do not be scared of the older people.  say hello to them and mean it.  you will be suprised.

D6 – DON’T WATCH TV

Okay, onto time.

Thomas Edison has a quote that is very relevent for people who are unemployed.

you have to ‘hustle while you wait’. ~ Thomas Edison.

There is another quote by Louis Pasteur that says ‘chance favors only the prepared.’

this means that if you get lucky, it is only because you were ready for that luck…  get yourself ready for the unexpected things, because when a good opportunity does come by chance, you can say ‘of coarse I can do that.

chance favors only the prepared.  Be ready for luck.

I do not watch TV.  I do not have facebook.

Stop watching TV.  I can’t stress this enough.  Not even one ‘favorite show;. not even the news.  decide to have TV and it will change everything.  You will be forced to find other things to fill the time with.  Getting off Facebook may be too much for you, but I promise, you will feel a freedom, and still have all your closest friends.
A few other notes on TIME:

RescueTime is a free software you can use to track what you do with your time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8S6qX1GVmc

here is a Tim Ferris interview

D7 – HAVE SIDE PROJECTS

With Time, you will, after a while of confusion, naturally do things and make things that you want to.

If you have time to do what you love, what you love turns into what you do with your time….  this turns into how you can make money.

Side projects can turn into what you do all the time!  really.

So, think about other ways you can use your skills.

Here are a few ways that I do.

1. dropshipping

I sell epoxy resin online.  I paint a lot, and have my art covered in this thick clear coat.  - i use videos and design to sell the product.  www.artresin.com – the large majority of my traffic comes through youtube where people are searching for how-to videos. I provide this information for free and then direct them to my site where they can buy the product.   This site pays for my groceries.  This idea could be a whole talk on its own.  I’d love to go on about this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZL2PyJkbA

2. pro bono work.

What about working on projects for free because you love the idea, it is fun and it is what you want to do for work.  you may need to do this to make a portfolio that can get you into exactly what you want to do. (nifty music video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EziPPnMhFvU

3. Art Shows – This is art and design.

My website has videos and graphics that all lead back to sales and promote myself as a freelance artist.  people love hiring ‘real’ artists. real artists make art.  art is fun.

Many of my freelance interviews have started with the client looking through my art.

Making what you want to make is NEVER a waste of time.

4. Facelessbook

This site is on hold because facebook contacted me with a legal letter.  I travelled to the Congo and Zambia and south africa and filmed and took pictures.  The original site has been visited by over 90 countries.  This is not a money making idea, but one to help people.  I can only do this because money buys time, and it is what I wanted to do.  i want to do lots more of this stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU88ldIpqMM

5. GoGoEco.com

A website that me and some friends work on.  we want to make money off this.  the idea is to be ’social entrepreneurs’  we know that ‘going green’ is a hot topic, and ‘online and mobile video’ is a hot topic, so we make online videos about the environment.

6.  McGarbage…

Another fun art and social justice piece – photography and design.

Again, these projects are more things that you want to do.  And they help others.

7. g20central, lifeinpaint, cutestface, faces of opportunty…

these things help to define success… which I will define at the end.
D8 – INVEST IN YOURSELF

Almost done.

you need to spend money on your dream.  If you need a Mac to make the things you want, then buy that mac.

if you need more education, then pay for it, and see the big picture…

these are smart risks.

D9 – KNOW THESE SKILLS

I have found these programs and skills helpful:
1. photoshop – everything starts here!  know this thoroughly.
2. 3D is growing and needed.  not only for pixar work, but for advertising, architecuture, product design, healthcare..
3. After Effects – great program. If you know photoshop and FCP you will learn this fast.
4. learn the basics of flash.
5. learn some basic web skill.  Knowing wordpress will be helpful.
6. Understand video file formats.  best compression for web, highest quality for broadcast, what resolution is youtube, how to make an FLV.
7. Basic Audio – how to count, how to dance, how to edit to music.
8. know FTP transferring

D10 – DEFINE SUCCESS

It is a bit depressing to know the Leonardo Davinci died wishing that he had completed more in his life.

So just accept that there is no end to doing things.  You are not in life to complete something.  You are not racing to some finish point.  The journey is the reward.

If you make a million dollars, you will look back and realize the best part was getting there.  So calm down.

ultimate success?

E – CLOSING

Great, I hope that was helpful.  I love to meet with people and brainstorm ideas.  I live in Oakville.  If you can make it out there or are ever in the area I know a great coffee shop and bakery with free wireless internet and free coffee refills.

_

If time… Show WP back-end.

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