Eamonn Blake
What’s your routine to start your day?
I’ve been working from Sao Paulo, Brazil since February so I’m usually up pretty early in the morning. First thing I’ll jump on NYT’s Connections to get my brain working and then I’ll usually go for a walk and catch up on some emails while the sun rises over the city. It’s good to get outside for at least 15 minutes in the morning even just to grab a pastry and practice Portuguese. It’s been hugely important for me to get the basics down while here so I’m glad now when I get milk and coffee in the same cup.
Where in your home do you like to work?
Currently working in the living room means getting a bit of natural light and not looking too much like a gremlin on 6:30am calls. The desk is as far from the bed as possible which has a huge mental impact having previously come from a bedroom office. My laptop’s fairly beefy so I can move around the house while it renders, but the heat’s deadly here at times so the odd use of a fan/aircon unit keeps it from melting into the floor. My 4K monitor somehow survived between socks and t-shirts.
How do you stay in a good head space when working on a project from home?
Being in a city with ambient noise everywhere noise canceling headphones have been a blessing. Music has always been a big motivator for me so something low on vocals like Flying Lotus or Dilla slides into the background nicely. I also think the breaks away from your desk can be as important as your time at it. Taking five minutes to make a coffee or talk with my girlfriend allows me to recuperate and come back at the work fresh and regenerated.
How do you wind down once your working day is over?
The huge plus of starting earlier is I usually finish a workday earlier at around 2-3pm. It’s great to have the time to take Pilika for a walk, go to the gym or start prepping dinner for the evening. These hours feel a bit stolen after 9-6 back home so I’m trying to make the most of them. Then we’ll eat, watch a series on the sofa (Shogun’s been immense!) before spending time on a ‘Fauna & Flora da Amazonia’ puzzle.
What keeps you motivated and inspired when you’re not working with clients?
I think staying in a receptive state with all mediums is always important. Deeper learning happens when you see something in a film or gallery and think ‘how would I go about it?’ Now, my main motivation is to crack Houdini on a deeper level. In an age of AI it’s important to prove that the things designers can do far outstrip the abilities of deep-learning. Plus it can be easy to see Cinema4D only as a tool to accomplish linear goals, so I think fundamentally understanding Houdini is key to more granular ideation. It’s like going from Lego to the building blocks of the universe!
What have you been watching, reading or listening to that Motion Designers should know about?
If you’re looking to get into Houdini check out Rich Nosworthy’s recent work on Lululemon for Man vs Machine. A really good example of how attributes can be transferred across different simulation styles to create more organic effects. Super intentional, super cool.
For freelancers I would hugely recommend Hayley Akins’ Motion Hatch podcast. She’s just started Season Two and it’s really helped me transform my view of Motion Design as a business, which I think is something a lot of freelancers miss when we transition from full time work to being self-employed. Well worth a look.