“Motion is meant to deliver emotions, Can emotions be visualized?” The motion designer Ahmed Alsagheer believes that Motion design fuses a sense of beauty with a sense of time passing.
Ahmed Alsagheer, aka “Sagheer” is a motion designer and animator. His belief that emotions can be visualized through motion design sets him apart and showcases his unique perspective on the craft. His experience and education in media production from Cairo University, combined with his love of anime and milk tea, enable him to bring a unique perspective and creativity to his work.
Q.
How did you get started in Motion Design? What is your creative journey?
Ahmed Alsagheer: That’s a long time! It all started as a hobby while I was at the university. I was learning some photoshop for fun, it helped a bit in my assignment for the university. I once saw some dynamic typography, which completely blew my mind. This felt like the beginning of what I felt I needed to understand.
Q.
“Motion design is much more than tweaking keyframes” How would you describe motion design in your own words?
Ahmed Alsagheer: Motion design combines an aesthetic sense with a sense of movement in time. The more you perfect those, the better works you will make.
Q.
You have a degree in mass communication and media studies, how did you go from that to design?
Ahmed Alsagheer: Well, design is a primary tool of media platforms. Intros, lower thirds, on-air graphics, magazine design & direction, title sequences, and many more all involve design in one form or another. Many of us were prepared to use other design tools from the Adobe family because we used video editing software like Adobe Premiere at the university.
“Motion design combines an aesthetic sense with a sense of movement in time. The more you perfect those, the better works you will make.”
Q.
Can you give us a peek into your day as a motion designer?
Ahmed: I should give an answer where I look at that creative guy whose day is full of interesting stuff, but I won’t since this is not the reality. I am a man with a fixed routine in some way. I start work at 11 am, examine my daily tasks and make any necessary preparations for meetings or deadlines. As a freelancer, I assign some time for networking and looking for new gigs. I have a lot to learn but unfortunately, there is not much time (Or I am lazy sometimes).
Q.
Many creatives believe that a good motion designer should be an excellent graphic designer. Do you agree?
Ahmed: I believe that every motion designer started as a graphic designer. Still, I see some really good motion design animators who don’t do the design themselves. I believe that any additional skill you add to your pocket will make your value higher. Many producers now prefer someone who both designs and animates.
Q.
Over the years you have worked with studios and news agencies alike, how different or similar is the experience? How is the approach to work is different?
Ahmed: I collaborated with a variety of studios and agencies. worked with both small teams of 5 people and larger teams of more than 100 people. Although the creative process is essentially the same, start-ups and small teams typically have greater leeway for inventiveness.
The atmosphere at newsrooms is a little different; you always work with the same brand identity; news urgency usually prioritizes efficiency and timing over quality and creativity.
Q.
When working with agencies, You worked on multiple projects. With each project demanding a different aesthetic, how did you shift gears to excel in that position?
Ahmed: I believe working for 4 years in a specialized studio in motion design gave me enough experience to handle the needs of agencies. The work required in agencies is typically social media-related and much simpler than the fully animated explainer movies we produced in the studio.
Q.
Motion design entails a lot of steps and different techniques to reach the final output, what is your favorite part of the process?
Ahmed Alsagheer: Animation. Animation. Animation. Every part of the process is fun, but I love animation the most.
Q.
Can you tell us a bit about one of your most memorable projects to date?
Ahmed Alsagheer: The one I made for FIFA. It was a video for the BEST Awards 2021. That one was on the right schedule. It was memorable not only because we finished on time with satisfying results, but because I pushed to take the work to next level by adding some nice additional animation beyond what we were asked to do and they were really happy with that.
Q.
Any words of wisdom to up-and-coming artists who want to follow in your footsteps?
Ahmed Alsagheer: Wisdom? and my footsteps? Probably not me lol. But if I will advise with something, it would be to practice as much as you can. Invest time and effort in personal projects.
