LONDON — Movidiam and HP recently partnered on a campaign that’s designed to inspire freelancers as well as empower them when working on creative projects that often undergo endless revisions. The partnership is detailed on a Website (www.movidiam-hpcreativepro.com), where a short comedic video presents a very commom scenario in which an artist does his best to keep up with constant changes, as ridiculous as they may seem.
Visitors to the site can also learn about Z By HP products, receive sales discounts (UK and Ireland currently), and find out more about the Movidiam creative network.
Movidiam currently has over 21,000 creative freelancers and teams in 170 countries, with the highest concentration in the US and Europe. The platform services the advertising, design, online content, feature film, TV, VFX, gaming and music industries, and is a way for brands and freelance talent to connect.
HP’s Z workstations are designed to help artists edit and create 3D models fast, thanks to their processing speed. This can free up time for the user to relax, adapt to client requests, or get on with the next job.
Here, Movidiam co-founders George Olver and Alex Vero offer a number of tips to the freelance community.
- Don’t get frustrated with the feedback loop. It’s a knee jerk reaction to defend your work from criticism and explain the thinking behind it. Especially when you have no idea what exactly the client wants – and you’re pretty sure they don’t either. It’s important not to get frustrated with the feedback loop. Instead, keep a calm head and listen intently for the next few minutes to get clarity around your client’s thinking.
“Part of your job is creating eye-catching, effective imagery, but another equally significant part is listening, understanding and effectively communicating. People are keen to work with people who have all those traits.” – Laurie Rowan, freelance animator & illustrator,
Think through different approaches and agree on a solution. No matter how long it takes, you want to leave that discussion with a clear, final creative vision in your mind’s eye.
- Invest in high-grade hardware. The right hardware can dramatically improve productivity and responsiveness in a freelance setup. You need a computer designed for today’s creative professionals, who most often operate remotely – without connection to large corporate networks – but require the same compute power and capabilities as a blockbuster production team.
Movidiam members in the UK and Ireland will receive an additional 10 percent discount when purchasing HP workstations, available through partners such as SystemActive, Escape Technologies, and Jigsaw24.
- Keep learning new things. Curated from Movidiam’s community of creative professionals, one of the most common tips shared between artists is to “actively pursue learning opportunities”.
Whether or not you go to university, you’ll need to learn the skills, insights and software that allow you to do your work efficiently and well. Always need to teach yourself new things and be sure not to neglect aspects of your job. Perform little experiments and make prototypes. Build an amazing portfolio of your own short films, games or designs.
“Most of my inspiration comes from all the hundreds (maybe thousands) of games I've played over the years. I’ll remember a clever trick or particular mechanic that made the game fun, and try to put my own spin on it.” – Iain Lobb, freelance game designer
Your job is to create eye-catching and effective imagery. It’s vital you keep up to date with the latest techniques and technology to achieve these stunning visuals, and constantly apply them to your own portfolio in order to remain competitive.
Freelancers are the future of the creative industries. Major studios are scaling up with external talent on almost every project, allowing them to remain flexible and source the best skillset for whatever task is at hand. In short, there are more opportunities open to freelancers than ever before.
“Show that you are driven, that this is something you really want to do. Make yourself indispensable. For example, we had people who joined for two weeks, who didn’t have a problem getting their hands dirty and wanted to hone their skill set and six months later, we offered them a job.” – Arthur Lewin, filmmaker & studio founder
- Take advantage of all the tools available for you to achieve success in this fast-growing, independent sector. Movidiam allows creative professionals to access these studios, while HP gives them the computing power and flexibility needed.