Krishna Kumar: Creative Director (Motion and Design)

Krishna Kumar is from Chennai, a self-taught 3D Motion and Graphic Designer. Who is a diehard fan of Dexter’s laboratory, Marvel and DC. He has started his career in the film VFX industry as a Compositor, Motion and Title artist. He then moved into corporate as a graphic designer and implemented his infographic skills in animation and became a Motion designer again. He is good at creating Explanation videos of products and he loves to create marketing and sales videos, product tutorials, brand and website animation, product prototype animations, etc.
He has fuelled by curiosity and passion for design and most of his skills are self-taught and all that he has learned has been extramural; outside the walls. He designs characters, paint, illustrates, storyboard and does visual developments and he has been working in the field of animation for the last 8+ years.
Currently, He is working as a Creative Director (Motion & Design) at an IT product based company AppviewX. He likes to learn new things and explore new mediums and love to be challenged.

Why are you a Graphic/Motion Designer?
My interest in Art and Design roots back to my childhood where all the shows on cartoon network were quite inspiring and created enthusiasm in me to become what I am today!

Did you attend school for fine art or design?
NO, I’m completely self-taught! I have completed M.A Mass Communication, however, my fortune led me to what I love.

You have a distinct style of Design. How long did it take you to develop your style?
Thanks! Practice makes a man perfect, with a lot of practice and consistency it took me around 4 years to find a unique style in me. As we all know, Art and Design are two ever-emerging elements of this world, and I’m evolving each day to relate with current industry trends and needs.

Your designs have a lot of awesome illustrations. How did you focus so much on graphic illustrations? When did you realise you loved doing it and wanted more of it?
To be a good motion designer, you have to be a great graphic designer in the first place. Motion design is like a superset and all other factors (Graphic design, Color sense, Typography, Alignment, etc..) are subsets of it. In a need for high-quality motion graphics, I found there is an equal need for good visuals which made me realize the importance of graphic design and started practicing more consistently.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
There are many. But particularly In my family, my grandfather used to make crafts and draw a lot. During my summer holidays, I used to spend lots of time with him and he inspired me a lot. And A.R Rahman. I’d say I used to notice very keenly the nuances he adds in his compositions and the western plus Indian music mix (Fusion of different Instruments) got my attention and I still follow those patterns in my graphic design and motion.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in graphic design?
Yes, Andrew Kremer, Raphael Rau was my first inspiration when I got into this field and there are many others too to name a few- Andrew Vucko, Ordinary Folks, Aleksandar Savic, etc.

When and how did you start freelancing?
I started freelance 10 years ago and my first project was received from Indiapost through my friend.

Was there any time when you wanted to quit graphic/motion design?
No way. I love what I do. I can’t leave this.

Are many advertising agencies hiring graphic designers? Do you work more with brands or production companies/TV Channels?
Yes, nowadays Graphic/ Motion design is part of any company not only advertising agencies and Now I’m interested in product companies. Especially in video marketing.

How do you market yourself?
Through my work quality.

Any other Indian graphic/motion/branding designers who you admire?
I like a lot of artists, specifically the great illustrator Danny Jose, Motion designer Ameen, Trendy agency Adaar VFX.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on graphic and motion design as a career option?
Passion, Plan, Sticking to it, Consistency, Discipline make us a great person in any industry. Design challenges/ personal projects make us learn things much easier within a specific time frame instead of practicing randomly or expecting to get experience from official work.
Career-wise, once familiar with the technical things, concentrating on soft skills will help one grow and move upward whether as an employee or freelancer.
If we are able to achieve this, then the future is ours – We have to create our own opportunity.

Do you think Clients are opening up to keeping aside a decent respectable budget for design work? Do you think clients are understanding that they need to invest in Design as a communication tool and also to cut the clutter, and that good design comes at a price?
Yes, nowadays clients are acquiring awareness about the design and its need in their businesses. I’d say we have to educate our clients to make them understand the process we follow and the impact of the design in business.

Mac or PC?
Both

Who would you like to take out for dinner?
A.R. Rahman 🙂

What’s on your iPod?
I don’t have an iPod. I love to listen to soundtracks from the movies at one point of time Tron legacy’s soundtracks were my morning suprabhartham:), ACDC albums, and of course my most favorite A.R. Rahman songs in all the languages.

What’s your Twitter Handle? Instagram?
Insta: krish_mograph

Come back to Madras

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4 thoughts on “Krishna Kumar: Creative Director (Motion and Design)

  1. Eswari Krishnan says:

    Awesome

  2. Subash says:

    Inspirational

  3. Arunkumarran says:

    Realy super sir good work .keep rocking

  4. Gopalakrishnan says:

    Great Interview Krishna. Great inspiration for upcoming Motion Designer’s

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