Motion design as a medium for storytelling, impact, and empowering self-actualization.
This collection highlights my exploration of motion design as a tool for delivering impactful concepts through crafted experiences. Each project was designed to evoke emotion, inspire action, and empower viewers to rethink their own experiences. These works represent my early journey into using storytelling and visual design to create meaning and shape perception—principles that now influence all my design work. Rather than individual case studies, I've outlined my general process and included a selection of my motion design projects.
When it comes to well-being and living the Good Life, there is a lot of noise. Everyone has a perspective on what these things mean from their unique perspective and they feel very strongly about it. In the modern attention economy, influencers are incentivized to connect with their communities primarily by speaking to their experience and hoping it resonates, hence the cacophony of information and advice.
Looking for ways to identify and amplify signals amidst that noise, I've done an enormous amount of research. Conversations with high performers, podcasts with psychologists focusing on mastery and excellence, and reading hundreds of books have all contributed to my understanding of this space and how to navigate it.
Key Finding: Animation can help boost signals in the personal excellence and wellbeing space.
In an effort to use my skills to serve my community, I’ve crafted animations exploring wellness concepts that have profoundly shaped how I design my own experience. Through visual storytelling, my goal is to inspire reflection and empower users to intentionally design their own lives.
Inspiration can come from many sources. Oftentimes I'll read about a concept and evaluate it for its utility in designing a life geared towards excellence, its actionability for the end user (the viewer), and how animation could be leveraged to communicate the concept in a way that sticks with the viewer better than words alone could.
One source that I trust and seek to support with my work is The Growth Equation. Redesigning their logo was actually one of the first freelance gigs I had when I started out. Their mission aligns with much of what I've described here.
After I understand the concept that I'm trying to communicate, I'll write out a script for the animation. This is an iterative process that involves pruning many words.
I'm always conscious of pacing, timing, and where the user will be interacting with these projects. I generally design these animations for Instagram so I try to keep them less than a minute.
While developing the script, I'm also thinking about what the visuals are going to look like. Since the concepts I'm trying to communicate tend to be more abstract, I try to keep the visual elements simple enough to support the script.
The storyboarding phase is where I sketch out the general storyline that will accompany the script. It's usually quite rough, just intended to get the ideas down.
Next, I take the storyboard and connect the ideas together into a rough animatic to get a sense of the timing. At this point I'm paying more attention to the flow of how the story moves from one place to another, rather than worrying about tying down the visual elements. That comes later.
This is also the step where I try to sync up the visuals with audio elements from the script.
Usually by this phase, things are getting close, they just need a bit of tightening and polishing. I use Procreate Dreams as my preferred animation software. I like the versatility of keyframing with frame-by-frame drawing.
This tends to be the most time consuming part of the process, but if I've handled the early part of the process with intention, it saves me a lot of time here.
This animation is designed to communicate the concept Emotional Granularity—the ability to identify and name specific emotions. It shows how recognizing subtle emotional differences improves self-awareness, communication, and decision-making. The end of the video points viewers to the How We Feel app to learn more.
This animated explainer covers the concept of Rugged Flexibility—a gritty antifragility that can be cultivated to balance toughness and fluid response. This powerful concept comes by way of Brad Stulberg and the end of the video invites viewers to learn more with his book Master of Change, where this concept is explored in depth.
Without calling it by name, this video explores the concept of the Second Order Change—transforming underlying systems or beliefs rather than trying to change the outcomes of those beliefs. It invites viewers to reflect on what small changes they could make in their lives that could nudge them in the direction of the life they want to have.
I’m passionate about animation and its unique ability to distill complex, abstract concepts into tangible, memorable experiences. These projects represent the earliest work showcased on this site, embodying a spirit of creativity and exploration. As I reflect on these animations, I see an opportunity to infuse the strategic insights I’ve gained from more recent projects to amplify their impact and deepen their connection with audiences.