Takeover Tuesday with Josh Edwards
Q&A with Josh Edwards: a motion graphics designer based along the Sunshine Coast in Australia.
Q&A with Josh Edwards
Read time: 10min
“Personal Branding” | Josh Edwards
Madison Caprara:
Hey, Josh!
Why don’t you start off by introducing yourself and giving us a bit of background on how you got into the MoGraph world.
Josh Edwards:
G’day, (I’ve got to say that right?) I’m Josh Edwards and I’m a freelance Motion Graphics Designer based along the Sunshine Coast in Australia. I'm also a husband and dad to three rad little humans.
My road into motion graphics I suppose was pretty typical. As a kid, I always loved to draw and in high school, my older sister told me about graphic design. She thought it would be right up my alley. So I checked it out at a university open day and knew right away that it was what I wanted to do. I didn't so much like the idea of being a struggling artist, so commercial art seemed perfect. I got to the end of my third year and had the thought that I was making all of these static designs and images, but how much cooler would it be if they moved? So I decided to teach myself After Effects for part of my final project. That then landed me my first job outside of Uni as a Junior Motion Graphics Designer.
Madison Caprara:
You definitely had to throw in the stereotypical g’day!
So, after University, at some point, you ended up as an Art Director at BUCK Sydney. I understand you’re no longer with them. How has the transition been from that to remote freelance work?
Josh Edwards:
Definitely a gradual one! I absolutely loved being an Art director at BUCK, they are seriously the most talented and awesome people. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. But between my wife and kids (I had two then, three now), and the cost of living combined with big hours in Sydney, it just wasn't sustainable for us, especially with no family close by. It was a really tough decision, but we decided to move up north to where my wife’s family is. BUCK was awesome about it and I stayed on staff for about a year, mostly working with the NY office on c4d jobs. I then naturally just shifted into freelancing, since I was already working remotely and working across multiple offices.
Madison Caprara:
Makes sense, it’s awesome they accommodated for a bit. You don’t see that very often.
Did the pandemic play any role in your decision to transition?
“Our Heroes Fight Monsters” | Josh Edwards
Josh Edwards:
For the most part, you hear stories of how much COVID has disrupted work/life. But for me honestly, not a whole lot changed. I’m very fortunate to live in a place where they managed to almost eliminate the spread, and I had already been working remotely for over a year. It just so happened that the pandemic shifted everyone else in the industry quickly over to what I was already doing. We did have a baby girl literally days before lockdown, being able to work from home and enjoy so much time with her has been a great gift.
Madison Caprara:
Congratulations! My sister also had a baby mid-pandemic. She VERY much valued the extra time in his early months.
So, freelance was a great move for you, is there anything you miss about being a part of a larger company though?
Josh Edwards:
Friends and community for sure. I’m a natural recluse, so I'm quite comfortable doing my thing on my own. But I also realize how incredibly beneficial it is to rub shoulders with such talented people today. I still get to do it a little, but with freelance work being mostly job-to-job, it takes out some of that consistent interaction.
Madison Caprara:
I definitely think we can all understand that feeling to a point. Even us self-ascribed introverts or home-bodies.
This industry has so many talented creatives. And now with the pandemic promoting remote working conditions, it’s even easier to collaborate with someone halfway across the world. How do you maintain that creative edge?
Josh Edwards:
The thing I love about design more than anything is that design is about problem-solving, and more often than not, that problem-solving is for someone else. I’ve always been interested in the ‘why’ of things. I was the kid that pulled cameras and toys apart to figure out how they worked and why they had been created the way that they were.
I find that it’s pretty easy to just accept things as they are, but almost always, there has been a lot of thought and reason put into something to arrive at the final result. I honestly just love the problem-solving aspect of design and being able to use processes from unrelated areas to come to an effective solution.
Madison Caprara:
Interesting, speaking more on that, in your opinion how does someone go about setting themselves apart?
Josh Edwards:
Haha, that’s a great question and to be honest, I'm not sure. I learned a long time ago, that I personally do my best work when I'm not the frontman. I’m way more productive and comfortable being a right-hand man, so I’d much rather blend in and get to work with all of those insanely talented people rather than compete against them for attention.
I know that some designers niche down and develop a ‘style’ to set themselves apart. But the reason I work in short form animation rather than film is that each project looks totally different from the last. I’d get so bored if everything I did looked the same, mostly because I feel like there are fewer design or animation problems to solve.
Madison Caprara:
A lot of creatives believe that a good motion designer should also be an excellent graphic designer. Would you agree?
Josh Edwards:
I think it definitely helps, but it's not essential. One of the things that I love about our industry is that almost everyone has a different way in, which adds so much more character and substance to what we make.
Design fundamentals are really helpful but also things like animation principles, life drawing, photography, storytelling, good transitions, sound design, and cinematography principles are all super helpful. For me, I've always loved making things, which is partly why some of my favorite jobs I've worked on are practical or mixed media. But that's not for everyone.
Madison Caprara:
Happy to get your take on that, Josh. When asked, I have been getting a wide variety of answers, but everyone always has a killer reasoning for backing it up.
If you had to choose one collaborator for a dream project, who would it be?
Josh Edwards:
It’s really hard to work out what a dream project would look like. If I think about the best jobs I've ever worked on, it’s all about the teams that I got to work with. I’ve managed to tick off working with almost all of my favorite studios. However, I would still love to line something up with Jorge R. Canedo Estrada at some point. I worked on the biggest story with him ages ago and we just haven't managed to make our schedules work.
Madison Caprara:
Sick! He’s actually one of our most anticipated speakers for The Dash Bash this fall. Jorge’s work is amazing!
I have to ask this next one of everyone, I usually find a new outlet for some inspo. Where do you go for inspiration?
Josh Edwards:
Probably the same places everyone else does, to be honest! Instagram, Pinterest, WINE after COFFEE, Stash Media. But I also like some alternative sources like leManoosh (for product design) or places like Colossal.
We are currently renovating a house that we bought at the end of last year, so I’m learning a whole lot more about building, architecture, interior design, and all the trades. Learning how to do all of it is super inspiring, and I'm sure it'll flow into my work in some way.
“Bridgespan - Narrowing The Crowd” | Josh Edwards
Madison Caprara:
Nice! Well, good luck with the house renovations! That’s always an exciting/stressful time.
To finish this off, do you have any closing advice or statements you would like to share, Josh?
Josh Edwards:
I’ve found the best thing that you can do is to solve other people's problems. Try to make the lives of the people around you easier, not more difficult. The amount of responsibility that the leaders in Motion Graphics companies carry is massive, so the more you can help them out the better everyone ends up. It's a team sport.
Madison Caprara:
Nice! So we’re reaching the end. Do you have any closing advice or statements you would like to share?
Josh Edwards:
I’ve found the best thing that you can do is to solve other people's problems. Try to make the lives of the people around you easier, not more difficult. The amount of responsibility that the leaders in Motion Graphics companies carry is massive, so the more you can help them out the better everyone ends up. It's a team sport.