An Open Letter to Dash Bash Attendees
dash: from two to twelve and everything in between.
Let’s roll back the clock to 2015. The Supreme Court affirmed same-sex marriages. We found water on Mars. Australians FINALLY gained access to Netflix. And with all of the other life-changing milestones…dash was born.
It was an unseasonably cool summer evening when dash was first conceived. A few beers led to an honest conversation about motion design and the direction that co-founders, Mack Garrison and Cory Livengood, wanted to take with their lives. They had met five years prior while working at a content marketing agency in Raleigh, NC--an agency they had both just left.
Cory, a Senior Animator, is self-taught and proud of it. His background in stage and film production at North Carolina State University gave him a knack for solving problems. This, along with his easy-going and charismatic personality, makes him a great fit for a motion design company that demands critical thinking and a cool head.
Mack, a Raleigh native, is an optimist and dreamer. He found his creative direction studying at North Carolina State University’s College of Design where he fell in love with animation and motion graphics. As an Animator and Creative Director, he has been exposed to a myriad of concepts—this allows him the ability to clearly articulate direction for a wide range of clients and creatives alike.
Cory Livengood and Mack Garrison
The Bash to end all bashes.
So, what were two (recently) freelance creatives to do? Hop on a plane to NYC and attend their very first Motion Design conference, of course! These conferences highlight some of the most unique and interesting work being created within the industry, but it wasn’t the recognizable names or the incredible projects being exhibited that struck them. It was how welcoming everyone was; Big wigs of the creative world chatting it up with two “Average Joes” from Raleigh--lending advice and genuinely wanting to hear their story. The positive experiences really stuck with them. It had made an industry that had once felt so massive a little less intimidating and more familial.
Fast forward again to 2021. Mack and Cory have now surrounded themselves with a team of passionate, hardworking folks who are dedicated to sharing their creations. This October 15th will mark dash’s sixth birthday, and we’ll be celebrating in style at The Dash Bash on September 23rd and 24th. Why a Motion Design festival you may ask? The studio would not have been half as successful without the connections and wisdom gained from hangout opportunities such as F5, OFF fest, and Blend. It’s now our time to give back to the community that has given so much to us.
Offering the festival in an atypical environment is a nod to the city that we love so much. Because let’s not beat around the bush, Raleigh isn’t exactly an LA or a Chicago. What it is, however, is a perfect example of one of the many changes happening within our industry. Modern technology is beginning to break down many of the barriers of the Motion Design world. It’s no longer a requirement to live within those larger markets to make a name for yourself.
Dylan Carrow, Mack Garrison, Cory Livengood, Meg Snyder, and Meryn Hayes
Continuing on.
Our intentions for this fall’s festival are not only to take the long-overdue time to reconnect with the community that we have been isolated from this past year and a half but also to raise our group consciousness. We spoke of change. Change is good. Change is growth. Change is constant. This industry has begun to change for the better, but we would be remiss to not acknowledge why it has been made necessary in the first place.
Present-day Motion Design is a multi-directional world of possibilities. Rising students today have the unique opportunity to choose from a number of career paths: 3D motion graphics, publications, UX, branding, sometimes work that completely resists definition or categorization. So yes, this field has an incredibly diverse range of professional foci, but the industry itself has historically (and presently) not been as inclusive when it comes to who is doing the creating. Motion Design as a profession cannot survive if it doesn’t represent the audience it’s meant to target. With Black Lives Matter, the Me Too Movement, and other social justice initiatives, it’s time we self-assess our own industry to acknowledge both the good and bad happenstances. While things are steadily changing, it’s time we recognize that as a whole, Motion Design has been lacking in diversity. Particularly when it comes to leadership positions. As a result, the Dash Bash is prioritizing a diverse range of speakers and topics to be discussed. It’s time we diverge from the traditional vision of what it means to be a leader in creative. It’s time to show exactly where this industry is heading. We’re excited, we hope you all are as well. See ya’ll in September!
The full dash crew