Smooth Glitches with Francisco Quiles

From designer to animator in 6 months, School of Motion Alumni Francisco Quiles shares how he found his way in to the motion design industry.

We love seeing all of the incredible work created by School of Motion Alumni. When it comes to Alumni doing incredible work Francisco Quiles is killing it in the animation world. A lot of his projects left us asking, "how did he do that?" So we thought it was only appropriate to talk to him about his work.

In this interview Francisco talks to us about how he got started in motion design, animation life in Mexico, and collaborations with other motion designers. We couldn't help but pack this article full of his beautiful artwork; sorry, not sorry...

Interview with Francisco Quiles

Tell us about yourself, how did you become a motion designer?

Francisco: Well, a long time ago, around 2001 I was watching a Locomotion promo. I remember that the graphics were so fast-paced and surprising.

At the time I was studying graphic design, and I asked my sister (who’s also a graphic designer) how these animated graphics were made, who made it, and where I could learn to animate something like that. She told me that it was hard to find a school in Mexico, that maybe I could try to apply for a job at the local broadcasting industry.

I happened to have a friend that got me an interview at OnceTv, and I started working there six months after watching this Locomotion promo. My career started by learning motion design from the guys that were working there.

What's the motion design industry like in Mexico?

Francisco: I would say that little by little the clients are becoming aware of how vital this discipline is. There’s a lot of new and old agencies you can work at here. We also have broadcasting companies, and if you work in those places, you can experiment a lot with new techniques. There your bosses give you a lot of time and creative freedom.

Also, there’s a lot of motion graphics studios here in Mexico with very different styles. I think it would be easy to find people that share your animation taste. Generally, you can get a job quickly as a trainee or as a high-level animator, depending on your skills. As a heads up, we don’t have a union or something similar; so you should avoid clients that don't want to sign a contract.

I appreciate when I find someone cool to work with, and I’ve seen a lot of talented people to make collaborations here in Mexico: sound designers, 2d animators, 3d generalist, and filmmakers.

What types of projects are you drawn to?

Francisco: I think Typography and bouncing circles and short commissions with a lot of action and projects that broaden your horizon.

Most of the time the client gives me complete freedom with my project. That's the kind of projects that I like.

You have a lot of IG followers, has that helped you get work?

Fransico: Yes it has! It's brought work and collaborations.

What are you using to host your portfolio site? We've never seen one like it.

Francisco: I’m using CargoCollective it is easy, fast, and intuitive.  

You seem to collaborate with other people, would you like to talk about why that's important?

Francisco: For me it is always guaranteed that I will learn something new, it doesn’t matter if it’s a different discipline, that’s why I love to work with other people.

Collaboration piece with other School of Motion Alumni

Working with motion designers is a great experience because you can see the evolution of the piece from another point of view. Working with other designers could show you a new approach to solve a style-frame difficulty, a new technique or an after effects expression or I would pick up some new lingo, this makes collaboration not only interesting but important.

Your work features some very nice match action and eye-tracing, what are some of your favorite techniques for guiding your viewers eyes?

Francisco: I love to announce the next move with flashing lights; I like to add weight to a word adding smears. Other technique would be trim path lines crossing the frame to guide the eye.

A lot of your work features text and shapes that stretch as they move, why do you gravitate towards this style?

Francisco: I like using these features because it gives you a lot of things to watch in a short period.

When you stretch a letter it is the same thing but deformed; it changes a lot in just two frames, that is why a like that. I also feel it also gives the sensation of weight and speed.

Do you have inspirational sources?

Francisco: Takashi Nishiyama’s gaming mechanics and specially The King of Fighters '98 secondary animation.

And smears!

Editors Note: You can check out a huge library of smears here.

Also, from a few years to now the style and works of Ilya V. Abulkhanov.

How did your time in our courses impact your motion design style?

Francisco: Speaking of shapes and typography, the courses helped me to materialize what was in my head, I could animate almost any idea that I had that, but I couldn’t move in the way that I wanted, also I know what a smear is or a follow through and I can search for detailed information if I feel stuck.

Do you have any advice for someone going through our courses?

Francisco: Do all the homework in the course, try not to cut corners, trust me it’s worth it. Do your best to make friends and if some animation curve or style frame doesn’t feel good grab a beer or a coffee and be patient.

SOM: How can people see more of your work?

Francisco: You can check out my website! Franciscoquiles.com

Or on social media you can follow me:

• Instagram: _longsummerdays_
• Twitter: @quilesfrancisco
• Vimeo: Longsummerdays

Learn Essential Animation Techniques

Curious about learning some of the same techniques used by Animation Bootcamp Alumni Francisco Quiles? You can learn more about Animation Bootcamp here at School of Motion.