We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chelsea Parrish. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chelsea below.
Chelsea, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Above all things I am an optimist, meaning at my core I am hopeful and confident about the future. I think it comes from my ability to hold onto small wins instead of waiting for big ones, which then makes it easier to focus on the long haul and never give up. I’m also a New Yorker living in LA and after years of walking miles around Manhattan everyday, taking a walk around my neighborhood in the morning is just part of my routine now. Feeling really awake and optimistic is what charges my creativity and I’m proud to say that it’s gotten me to a place where most of my art comes from joy. Never let life beat you. Always fight back. Get up and try again.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a professional Motion Graphics Designer, and I love my job. Since grade school, I really struggled with processing information from textbooks and lectures, but when somebody put a map or a picture infront of me, suddenly it made sense. When I eventually discovered Motion Design, I didn’t just find something that was cool and beautiful, I found an easier way to learn and convey ideas. It made perfect sense to bring my understanding of visual communication and my passion for graphic design to the forefront of my work.
My career started off in New York, doing tiny off-off-Broadway shows for very little money. It taught me a lot about how to hustle and lead a production, but it was obviously not meant to be because I was sitting backstage doodling on my production schedule and reading film scripts on my phone instead of the show script. The first career shift was moving into event production which was a similar field, but in a more corporate setting. I was running events all day out of an office, managing logistics, marketing, and on-site production, all while continuing the search for my creative purpose. One day I was watching Catch Me If You Can and hit pause on the opening credits and thought, wait what is that? Some research, a class at Pratt Institute, and a subscription to AfterEffects later, I was a Motion Designer. One freelance job at a time I built a portfolio from nothing and three years later landed my first big job at Nickelodeon. I’ll forever be grateful to my mentors over at ViacomCBS for taking a chance on me and teaching me so much. I then made a big move from New York to California which helped re-fuel my creativity and perspective.
Motion Design is a unique field because it’s sort of a hybrid of graphic design, animation, and video, so everybody has a different take and style. I tend to lean more towards the graphic design side of it because I’m interested in using shapes, colors, text, and images to convey ideas, rather than leaning heavily into character. You can evoke a lot of emotion and thought from a viewer with a simple design. I also am so glad to be part of this tiny-but-mighty Motion Design community; a small industry of creatives that never stop learning or supporting each other.
I’m now a full-time Motion Designer and confident that I’m in the right place. Nowadays, I wish could say I draw inspiration from specific designers, but it comes from everywhere – Pinterest, the library, podcasts, even walking down the street or through a store usually sparks something. I enjoy creating short-form video, and anything where typography is front and center; title design, logos, marketing ads, lyric videos, and infographics. My biggest clients have been Nickelodeon, Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon, Sony, Disney, Warner Bros Games, Delish, and Meredith Corporation. I’m excited to also start focusing on marketing content in the lifestyle realm; food, travel, home, beauty, and mental health.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
It’s okay to give up. Be patient. And be excited about your work. I am trained to be a Broadway production manager, but I realized pretty quickly that working in theater was not for me. I had to believe in myself a lot in order to let go of a career I put so much effort into, but I’m glad I did because I found something else that made me happier. We’re not all meant to do just one thing and that’s okay. Be patient with yourself. Life is not a race. Animation takes a lot of time and practice. It took me years to master AfterEffects, a lot of frustration, and trying the same effect over and over before getting it right. And be excited! I want to do so many things. I’ve always wanted to put kinetic text over my favorite movies scenes. I want to tell the story of the greek gods, I want to explain how a lightbulb works, I want to create my own ad for Coca-Cola, I want to make travel guides and book trailers and music videos. And I will. And I’m gonna do it all with motion design!
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
Everybody tends to put a lot of pressure on learning software, which is definitely essential in staying on track in the motion design industry, but I think it’s also important to focus on what’s not on the screen. I took a step back this year and did some classes in drawing and digital painting. I spent a lot of time creating work that has more emotional depth, drawing out my ideas before jumping into AfterEffects, and thinking about my style and voice. It was harder than I thought, but I’m still working on it. So don’t forget to pick up a pencil and draw something once in a while!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chelseaparrish.com
- Instagram: @cparrishinmotion
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseamparrish/
