We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Champ Panupong Techawongthawon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Champ Panupong below.
Hi Champ Panupong , appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?
To be honest, I’m still figuring it out haha. I sat down and thought about it. I think it comes from many periods of time in my life. The experiences shaped me to become who I am today. One thing for sure I’m a completionist. I hate myself when I am not getting anything done or satisfied with my needs. I also learn and see from the best person, my grandma. She has five children. My grandfather passed away when my dad was very young. My grandma is a warrior. She never gave up on anything. She worked so hard to provide for and raised her children. Now she is so rich and retired haha. My grandma is also one of the reasons I can have a life here in the United States. My family also played another factor. When I was a kid, my family introduced me to console games. When I play video games, I feel like I am in the zone and I want to experience and see them all. I love it so much. Before I played video games, I finished all my homework or anything before my family wanted me to do first. Sometimes, I just finished my homework in advance in order to play longer each day.
Interestingly, my self-discipline comes naturally when I start working or doing anything creative. I just want to make beautiful stuff. I just want to show my creativity as I imagine as much as possible from my head. I’ll keep doing it, I’ll keep fixing it and doing it again and again until I love it.
Nowadays, I have to do whatever it takes to provide for my family. I just had my first born baby a few months ago. I’ll probably work harder and smarter. For me, self-discipline is gasoline and cars are life-goals. If we don’t have any gasoline, the car doesn’t move and we don’t arrive at our destination.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Hi, I’m Champ. Once, he was a monk. Now, I’m a motion designer, artist & dad. He is from Thailand who currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, California. Being Thai, he went through a phase of becoming a monk (and he became one for a whole a month). Shortly after, he moved to Boston in 2014 to pursue his American dream. In 2017, he graduated with MA in Motion Media from Savannah College of Art and Design. Since then he moved to Boston to work in an animation/production house called Black Math. Then in December of 2018, he moved to Los Angeles to join another animation house, Buck then turned freelance. He specializes a lot in shapes, type, branding and abstract 2D animation.
Nowadays, I provide a service for clients and studios who need to create a beautiful design and animation for their brand. I’m specialising in 2D type animation and 2D abstract geometric shapes. Sometimes, I provide full service for clients. My team and I can help with music, sound effects, storyboards and concepts. Of course, one day I would love to have my own studio. One day!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1.Asking questions Asking questions is one of the skills that help me to learn new things quickly. Every time I see people make beautiful designs and cool animation techniques, I always ask my friends and people around me, “how the heck they do that?”. Sometimes, asking is faster than figuring it out on your own. The knowledge is pretty handy for any future projects. In terms of project, you may have more options in design and animation technique. The tips or new techniques may help your project flow better. Any tips or new techniques will save you some time one way or another.
Asking your clients and studios before working with them will help you to understand the project better. For example, I always ask my clients about the timeline, scope of the project and budget. The reason is that I just want to make sure that I’m the right person for the job. It will help me to make a decision before taking on the project better.
2.Be Confident
People always say “Fake it until you make it”. I think it is so true. When you do any creative stuff for clients and studios, you will face so many different challenges. Each challenge is unique. What I do, I’m trying my best for every project even though I’m not confident in my vision that I create for clients. Confidence will help you to reach your goals and finish lines. You must believe that you can do it. You can do it on your way, not anyone else’s way. Sometimes, I’m worried that clients don’t like the design and animation or art direction that I create for them. So, I always make sure that I love what I created for them. Be confident.
Being confident is another way to keep myself from going crazy. It helps to cope with your mind and emotion not to compare yourself to anyone else. A sense of jealousy and loss is always around. It comes and goes. It is up to you how to deal with them. You have to tell yourself you will get better. Everyone has their own journey. Be confident in your own journey. This is a marathon not a sprint or a race. Be confident in your own path. You need to learn how to cope and deal with them because there are new creative talents that shine out every single day. If you can’t cope with it and are not confident in yourself then your mind has a negative cloud, you get stuck and you won’t feel like you can’t do anything. Just remember we are not perfect. Be confident and have fun in your own journey.
3.Overachiever
I always give my clients and studios more than what they ask for. They asked me for 50. I give them 100. I always work so hard to make my client happy. Surprising them is very good because they can feel the hustle. Always make cool stuff and create more than what they ask for. It is like giving them a bonus. The reason is who doesn’t like free stuff, right? If they think you are the one, I’m confident that they will come back for you. Try it!
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Inner conflict is my number one challenge. I know what I want. I have a passion to do it. I want to have it but I can’t stop myself from not doing it. Does it make sense? For 4 and a half years, I decided to specialize on my skills set. I decided to work on 2D stuff only. I focus on 2D animation, type animation and geometric shapes. My design will be bold and colorful work. I just want to be good at one thing so people can come to me because of my 2D skill sets. To be honest, I can keep going to learn and explore more 2D worlds. There are a lot of things that I can learn from and master them. Recently, I feel like I’m not moving forward in terms of creativity. I got stuck at the same design and animation that I’m very good at. I got stuck. I want to get out of my comfort zone a bit but I still can keep my creative DNA. What surprised me the most is that I have started wanting to learn 3D. I want to use 3D techniques to integrate my 2D style in different ways. Either creating a new look on design or creating a different animation movement. Learning 3D will be a game changer for me because my creative mind will run free. It will also open doors for me to meet new clients and people.
The question is how I can overcome my inner conflict. I still ask myself everyday haha but I do have a game plan though. I’m telling myself I have to make the process fun. If I have fun, I’ll enjoy doing it. Here’s a game plan. Firstly, I’m gonna start collecting references of the 3D art that I like. Secondly, picking one reference that I love the most. Thirdly, starting to do some research on how to do it. Asking people around and see if there are any resources that I can look up to. Finally, I start to play and have fun with it. Yep, have fun with it. I probably need to keep telling myself that the marathon doesn’t start until I start to run. Running fast or slow doesn’t matter as long as I get to the finish line.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pleasecallmechamp.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pleasecallmechamp/
- Linkedin: Champ Panupong Techawongthawon + www.linkedin.com/in/champ-panupong-techawongthawon-7bab33127
- Other: www.behance.net/pleasecallmechamp
