IDownVoteJerks
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Started a business with my husband precovid, it did really well until our main client started to reduce their budgets for motion graphic work a year and a half ago. Since it seems like it’s been so hard to find work. I’m part of a hand full of networking events, I’m on three boards that puts me in front of potential clients, and we do our best for the clients we have. They come back but it’s small budgets.
I’m applying to any marketing/creative project manager job so we can have secure income.
I hope things get better but I see a lot of people in creative who are also struggling with all the layoffs. I’m not terribly hopeful… but I have to keep trying.
DrPepper523
Check local manufacturing companies. The one I work for has an in-house marketing department that does all the print ads, digital ads, videos, PR, & events. It's not something ppl think about when they think marketing but quite a few of the big ones do it in-house instead of hiring out. Also, conference/convention centers
ki4clz
Stable Diffusion is coming for us all...
Gannon3d
Going through a low point in the art/design industry currently. Weather through as best you can friends, I'm cheering for you.
IDownVoteJerks
Thank you :)
languex
Same thing happened to guillotine salesmen after 1795!
HiImLick
It just takes more time than you want dude.. You'll handle your shit. It may even take a step or two but nah, I'm not convinced you won't kill it. :)
Johns415
Stay strong and God bless
SerialChickenLover
You should move to the Philippines, that’s where my employer hired replacements for my coworkers, and probably me soon.
IDownVoteJerks
Before my big client did a ton of layoffs and budget cuts before eliminating the budget for my services, I had a couple of employees. My father kept trying to convince me to hire out from the Philippines because it was cheaper. I asked him what would happen to the talent here if everyone did that, what would they do?
In my proposals we have a commitment to hire local talent on our projects, and how the clients indirectly contribute to a thriving creative community.
pibyte
Yeah ... haha ... graphics, animation, illustration ... our industry is collapsing .. haha ... nobody does anything about it ... haha ...
I need new meds.
IDownVoteJerks
It sorta feels like the creatives who are noticing this are screaming into the void while everyone else is playing with their new toys.
Bigbadtacomuncher
I run a business with a friend but business is bad and it's not looking very bright... I'm kinda in a position where I dont know if my efforts is best put on trying to find more work for our business or just finding a new job.
IDownVoteJerks
Maybe both? Try to find a job while working on the business in your free time. I know that’s exhausting, but I feel slightly better than doing nothing and just hoping the business gets back up on its feet.
I hope things pick up for you, truly. It’s hard.
longlivezorp
I feel ya. I started a video production company in 2015 and was doing ok. Covid happened, and all major clients slashed budgets. In 2022, I started to job search and found full-time work in early 2023. I saw my dream die, but it was a necessary move for the family.
IDownVoteJerks
There is nothing like working for yourself, but I feel you. I hate this uncertainty especially when i have a kid and pets to care for.
quietwalker
My company just laid off something like 40-50% of their workforce because they wanted the stock to look better for a q3/q4 selloff and my department, the one being laid off, was more of an investment for long term profit than a 1 quarter turnaround.
The guy who had to tell us - since the president of the dept resigned 2 months ago when he saw what was happening - had been there 25 years. He's out too. No conversions unless required by law.
IDownVoteJerks
That’s terrible. I’m so sorry to hear that. I wish more businesses were people focused, but that feels rare.
RocketKokket
Creative and tech in general is rough right now. I hope you find something !! The job market for software engineers has also been a bit drier past few years
rfleming1080
Idk the market for this field, but maybe try advertising more. I know the budget is probably super low, but YouTube, Insta, Reddit, and Imgur are all free to advertise on. You don't have to go all out. Just show off some of the work and some of the processes necessary, like a behind the scenes type of thing.
IDownVoteJerks
The president on my one of the boards I’m involved in wants me to organize a workshop with a speaker who is an expert on Reddit advertising. I’ll ask her some questions over it. Thanks for the idea. :)
N3B123
Yeah it’s hard out here. Sorry to hear it
WedsBunneh
I am in the same boat. I wish you luck! Being in the creative field these days is rough on job hunting!
MioTaalas
Find clients in live events like concerts and stuff. Motion graphics are constantly needed for example for Visual Jockey gigs with Resolume or such...
You can download Resolume for free, it just has visual and auditory watermarks but is fully featured so you understand what I'm talking about.
Good luck!
IDownVoteJerks
I’ll look it up, thank you!
youcanttrustthegreenones
I am having the same problem. Very good friend who is a corporate recruiter told me that at this time of year maney corps don't hire. They wait until the end of the year. While looking I have gotten a LOT of non reposives
I don't care if you don't want me, but at least say no
IDownVoteJerks
Yeah, that’s one of my least favorite parts. Some companies actually take 3 months to even consider interviewing so you don’t know if you made it to the next stage or not for a while.
FranciscoSilva123
I just went to a concert of Iron and Wine and they had a screen amazing visuals made in real time with puppets and props. The company was called Manual cinema, and it was incredible!!!
Fiacre54
Throwing applications into the void is an incredibly low percentage way of landing a job. You really need to have someone on the inside, pushing your résumé to a hiring manager. If you don’t know anyone at a company that you want to work for, find someone that does a similar job, connect with them on LinkedIn, and ask them for an informational interview. Once the interview is over, ask them if they would be willing to forward your résumé to a hiring manager.
IDownVoteJerks
I do that. It’s gone are far that a lead engineer had invited my husband to apply to the job and his application would be at the top. Crickets.
roflipop
Hey, going through the same thing with me and my partner. The creative industry is in free fall. I recommend potentially moving sideways to video production (even small scale) as an option. If you’re in Australia there may be other avenues I can point to if you want to PM. I wish you luck friend.
IDownVoteJerks
We introduced videography into the mix in the middle of Covid. We studied as animation generalists so we have VFX and 3D skills too. We’ve got a designer buddy who is feeling it too and he’s putting his hopes into small local investments. It’s why I’m trying to pivot to project management if I can land it. It feels like a safe industry… for now. I hope things get better for you guys.
roflipop
Yeah. That sound familiar. PM is a good line of work, but it’s not for me. I can do it for my projects but I suck at managing other people. The last thing you might want to consider is offering retainer based engagement. It’s usually less profitable, you have to provide time tracking, but it offers some stability and cashflow. Pm me your website, I’d love to see your work. I am always looking for talented people to work with.
Broadway2
Might need to branch out of your desired field to get some steady income while still applying in your field. Takes the stress off a little which will make your interviews better when you do start getting them.
yamamasyamaha
As someone with a job in sales - yes. Nobody wants to do sales, but it pays bills, and a job is just a job. Everyone’s gotta have one… unless you’re born wealthy I guess
RandomQuack
Sorry to hear this OP. Do you think that AI is starting to hurt your field?
IDownVoteJerks
I think it’s helped as much as it’s hurt. The tools for artists now are fantastic, we can automate the tedious things we hate doing. However; things can now be made with a few simple prompts. GoFundMe had an ad that’s beautifully done that was AI generated, had it been hand illustrated by artists it would have taken a bigger team and long to producer. I see those as jobs lost. It’s not just big projects, but even small things like social media content, or being a creator for stock images/videos.
IDownVoteJerks
I was talking to a client about a video edit of the footage I captured for him. I was going to provide a couple of thoughtful video deliverables for his ad campaign on Amazon. He said he got a quote from a guy who was cheaper and could make 300 deliverables with his software. Where does the value lay? In a ton of eh edits, or a few purposeful and thoughtful pieces?
Kalbi
I'm a graphic designer and it's extremely competitive in the creative space. Create a plan of attack: get on Fiverr, Upwork, and create a portfolio website with your work (at least have a Behance portfolio). While doing this, keep applying to jobs. Even when you get a request to interview, keep applying to other jobs. Reach out to previous clients and coworkers from a previous job to see if they need any help with motion graphics or have leads.
FestusMA
.
IDownVoteJerks
I’ve done UpWork and it’s rare someone want to pay fair market value. Most of it is “I’ve got $200 and I want a video that will take you at least a week to finish”. We’ve managed to land one good client off there and it’s what’s keeping us afloat this month. We have a CRM to keep in contact with past clients and we’ve made good relationships with marketing agencies to be there source for motion work but budgets are short.
veritas1980
it's because 99% of the job ads you're responding to are fake bullshit. I am in the same boat.
IDownVoteJerks
Yeeeeesss. So if I see a job post on a third party site, I now just go to the company’s website and apply there. Even then it’s hard to tell if it’s a PR job post.
bluntforcedrama
I'm just entering the same place. Hours cut for me, our primary copywriter and lead dev. Dropped probably a hundred resumes so far, at jobs at or below my experience and pay, barely getting responses and those I am getting are either scams or automated rejections.
I am fortunate enough to have saved a little bit up, but we're well into negative cash flow, so it won't last forever.
IDownVoteJerks
That’s really rough. I’m sorry you’re going through that and I appreciate you sharing. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one. I hope you land something good soon!
bluntforcedrama
There is something out there, I know it, but these companies make the entire process so painful, and take forever about it.
SayRamrod
after hundreds of applications, someone reached out to me for an interview yesterday. they asked me to download a RAR file and click jobapplication.exe. quite deflating.
IDownVoteJerks
Yikes!!! I’m sorry to hear that.
bluntforcedrama
Or "reach out to our HR manager using the signal app."
pareidoliaperson
Well my well-deserved, worked hard for position is also becoming questionable by day and they're asking me to be more flexible so they can also place me in some of the most mindnumbing menial work stations for peanuts! I said no thanks so now they're saying they'll rethink about my employment! So yeah...good luck to both of us!
IDownVoteJerks
Gosh that sucks. I hope they come around.
JohnSmithterms
As a 3d dev yeah join the club. Media is one of the first to go in a recession. We are in a huge recession which will last for years. Unless we tax the rich and ideally change our economy our lives WILL get progressively worse. We need food, clothing, medical, infratructure, energy and shelter. We should all have those needs met to bare basics cheaply and the gov should be incentivising money and jobs in those areas primarily. If we did that we would lower the current insane cost of living.
hufflesnuff
Consider that there is no recession and this type of work really may just be getting automated away.
JohnSmithterms
Well. As an expert in 3d development i see little evidence of any serious automation options. But yes Ai is definitely replacing a few jobs here and there. Not even 3% would be my experience. There are far more viable reasons afoot. Like over recruitment during covid. And widespread corporate profiteering resulting in a drop in demand fornon essentials.
hushpuppyextraordinaire
Motion graphics?
spookyactionatadistance
You know the animations done before teach youtubers talk. MKBHD is one of them. Polyphonic is another amazing one.
https://youtu.be/BgkSnRXycZg?si=Xdygg3mQNrPmtfSt</a>
https://youtu.be/63EVXf_S4WQ?si=k60a55bLSYQIgG7G
notacobra
You know those videos in corporate Memphis (sometimes referred to as "Globohomo" - global homogenisation) style?
The sort of thing you see on a bus ad for a pixel phone, or an office mandatory HR meeting.
2d graphics, pastel colours, but simple motion - like a 2d character putting their arm around another, or a speech bubble popping up.
donutposse11337
Corporate porn
NuclearMonk
Like this?
AllMaktAtTengilVarBefriare
No that's art
AllMaktAtTengilVarBefriare
Graphics but with motion
MarkOfTheCovenant
Huh. Never would've put that together
JohnSmithterms
Do a search on youtube for "blender mograph" and you will see 3d examples. But there are people who specialise in 2d motion graphics also. I do 3d myself. And yeah the industry has tanked in the last 2 years.
Cthulhu2121
Do you think it's due to ai, or a shift in what advertisers want?
Sheari
I wouldn't at all be surprised. A lot of companies and media are now using ai and its awful. I've seen friends lose work over ai. One of my (now formerly) favorite bands recently released a music video that was entirely ai and then mocked the backlash. I was hoping to buy an album of theirs soon but...oh well. Yo ho. If they don't want to support artists, then neither do I. Cake and eating, y'know?
JohnSmithterms
There is a lot of reasons. But the primary one is corporate scalping of goods is widespread since COVID. Companies lost money and are desperate to claw it back. This results in people's purchasing power reducing . This cascade effect in a capitalist society results in certain "non essential" jobs because Ng lost while companies cut costs. My job for example went a few months ago. Another reason is game companies saw massive profits during COVID and recruited heavily. 70000+ jobs lost in 1/?
JohnSmithterms
Game Dev alone in the last year. So it's pretty bad in a lot of digital entertainment industries right now. There are other reasons. But it boils down to #taxtherich . If we do not do this our lives WILL continue to slowly devolve in quality. 2/2
Stoneagedudeman
I think Wizards of the Coast had some design jobs posted, try there?
wildwestpb
That’s cold.
Stoneagedudeman
...is a job not a job? Bills need paying, homie, you do what you gotta do.
wildwestpb
Not there - no. Sending them to apply in what the majority of ex employees have called a toxic workspace, why not suggest they become an EA dev too.
insertcointocontinue
Outside chucklefuck uppermanagement, I found my time at EA to be fairly pleasant by games industry standards.
ThereWasNoMovieMadeFromOurShow
What did you think of the frostbite engine
Foxsayy
Why's that? Aren't they the D&D guys?
wildwestpb
From what I’ve read and from friends who’ve worked there, it wasn’t pleasant experiences.
Foxsayy
Ah, damn. That's truly unfortunate. The Humblewood people seem to be having fun though.
wildwestpb
Humblewood is their own company, they’re just working with WotC/DDBeyond to allow their stuff to be published as an official resource, same thing for Ghostfire Gaming/Dungeon Dudes, etc.
littlecoatfatguy
Concert designers need this kind of work constantly. I'm off to bed but would happily explain more tomorrow.
Webnet668
I'm going to suggest the problem isn't lack of clients, it's the competition (AI) is what folks are using instead. It just doesn't make much sense to hire an artist anymore IMO.
iCommunicateInGifs
MrsHowVeryDareYou
More please!
RueandWoe
@op contact littlecoatfatguy
Freak0zoid
Just leaving a reply to remind you. Hopefully OP can get some helpful tips from you.
littlecoatfatguy
THIS is how you remind me?
Freak0zoid
Couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing
RuNacken
Wakey wakey!
pixelsnader
Dude, that's 4 hours of sleep.
littlecoatfatguy
I mean I do work in concert touring, but even for us that's not a lot.
LupusLilium
Is that not enough? Asking for a friend.
pixelsnader
Generally, no. Unless you do it twice per day.
littlecoatfatguy
So, every rock concert with a video wall needs an hour to 90 minutes of content for it. Some shows now do this with live, generative software like Notch or Touchdesigner, but most still use prebuilt video content.
…and especially at the mid-tier where they don’t use a big fancy design firm, it’s hard to find content creators that understand how to build and edit content that often needs to time up to the music, or even have lyrics display over top. (Continued below)
littlecoatfatguy
Best suggestion would be to spend an hour browsing YouTube clips of a variety of club-to-arena-sized bands to get a sense of the kind of thing they put on their video wall, and figure out (A) if that’s a kind of content you can deliver on fairly quick timelines and (B) whether you have an existing body of work that’ll let you build a sales reel you can send to bands or design firms.
(Continued below)
littlecoatfatguy
Don’t burn a week just creating a reel just to go cold-calling these clients, but maybe DO spend an afternoon cutting a custom demo of existing work, 30-60 seconds, timed to royalty-free rock, to showcase your existing work.
The other sector that needs a TON of this work is larger evangelical churches - those folks LOVE timed-lyrics overlays - but I don’t have any sense of how that work pays, and obvs. you’ve got to want to work on religious material.
Hope this helps as a start?
IDownVoteJerks
Thank you! At this point we’ll try anything to fill in the large gaps in our schedule. My husband is really great at music, I can see him doing well with this. What’s the best way to contact bands? I can’t imagine it’s LinkedIn.
Cyggscyr
Learn about Meda Servers as well. The content for these things must be built with the server in mind and need to be programmed accordingly. Disguise and Green Hippo are starts.
littlecoatfatguy
Resolume for sure, D3 Hippo and Avo far less common at the levels a new content creator is going to be working at first.