During the Inspire 07 conference, some friends, who are also motion graphics artists, and I were drooling (as usual) over the great work being shown. But we were differing in our opinions on what factors helped make them so good. Obviously it’s a combination of several conditions, but which ones do you feel are more important than others? Some of the ones we discussed were:

Geography – There were exclusively NY and LA studios presenting at the conference and quite frankly we weren’t surprised. Since I’ve gotten bitten by the mogra bug, I’ve heard that in order to go anywhere in this industry I had to go to one of two places. Does the concentration of the HQ talent pool in larger markets (particularly NY and LA) increase the stakes, allowing competition to drive the standard of work up exponentially more than in smaller markets? I’m of the opinion that location doesn’t matter but I couldn’t deny the challenge it’s been getting the kind of projects we would like here. Is it any easier in places where high quality work is the norm?

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The aim of the Inspire07 symposium, held this past Friday, was to spur the attendants on to higher heights of creativity and I’d say “mission accomplished.” There was a lot of emphasis on the artistic side of this art form we call motion graphics, which was good since I tend to get bogged down with the technical how-to’s of the tools. I wanted to touch on a few of the themes that stood out to me.
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Was it easy getting speakers to agree to come to Savannah?

Just a little background on how the first Motion Graphics conference in Savannah was born.

Justin gave his reasons why he wanted to go back to school for his MFA and why he chose the Savannah College of Art and Design instead of somewhere in L.A. or New York.

Few of us can identify the exact cause of our attraction to something but Justin gives the specific moment when he got bitten by the motion graphics bug.

If you’ve read Justin’s postings on Motionographer or his blog chronicling his MFA work, you’ll find Justin’s very transparent with his writing. I asked him what made him want to open himself to the blogosphere like he has.

Justin answers the question, “How has the popularity of his blog changed your life?”

In this clip, Justin talks about his never-ending surprise with the overwhelming success of his blogs.

If you’re in any way interested in, or involved with the motion graphics industry, you’ve probably heard of Justin Cone, or maybe his blog Motionographer. In the midst of preparing for the upcoming Inspire’07 symposium and his MFA course work, Justin was able to spare a few minutes to chat with me about how he got to where he is now.

I’ve broken down the conversation into a series of soundbites and will post them as soon as I can. In this one, Justin clues us in on how he came up with the name Motionographer.