How Design Bootcamp has impacted Dorca Musseb's career.

This week we’re kicking off a new series called Alumni Showcase!

Thousands of wonderful, talented, and dedicated people have taken our courses and have gone on to do great things over the last few years. So we thought it’d be fun to talk to them about their time at School of Motion and how they’re using what they learned out in the wild.

This week we’re talking to Dorca Musseb. Dorca’s a New York City-based freelance motion designer who has worked for a lot big names in television including MTV and BET.

Dorca Musseb Interview

SoM: Who are some of your favorite artists and studios?

DM: I openly keep watching the work of Psyop, Giant Ant, Buck, Gretel, Eion Duffy, Irene Feleo, and my good friend Terra Henderson.

I collect a ton of references from all over the Internet. I’m constantly looking at stuff on Pinterest, Vimeo, watching films (animated and otherwise), reading comics/graphic novels, watching classic and contemporary anime. I also keep up on art/design/animation related groups, blogs and books and go to exhibits and museums.

SoM: You’ve taken quite a few courses with us and we’ve gotta ask.... What did you find the most challenging?

DM: Design Bootcamp. It hurt my brain in the most wonderful way. I had to think more thoroughly about things while learning a ton of technical skills.

SoM: Yeah, Design Bootcamp’s a doozy, but we’re glad to hear you learned a lot!  What would you say were the most important things you learned in our courses?

DM: Technical skillz, yo - and most importantly, speed. My workflow got so much faster because I was able to break projects down into smaller doable tasks whether - it’s design or animation.

I credit Joey’s incredible “this is totally doable, you guys” approach to teaching and now I’m now able to confidently assess how long it’ll take me to animate a project by looking at the design. And because I learned what I can get from my tools, I’m able to create more freely.

School of Motion also taught me to focus on creative problem solving. Sure, we’re artists and we want to make cool stuff that’s like totally us - but at the end of the day we’re hired to create solutions for our clients and not simply do something because it looks “cool” or is trendy.

SoM: So, what you’ve you learned has had a big impact on your personal and professional work?

DM: In so, so many ways. Although I haven’t done a ton of personal work, having the confidence to make my ideas a reality translates directly into the work I do for my clients.

I can clearly tell them what I can feasibly do, as well as manage - and at times, exceed - their expectations. Having that special set of skills because of what I learned at School of Motion has only made my professional work grown exponentially!

Clients trust that I can and will get the job done, do it well, and have a good solution to the specific needs of the project - which goes beyond just technical skills. I feel very very fortunate that my list of awesome clients keeps growing!

SoM: Glad to hear it! Finally, what advice do you have for incoming School of Motion Students?

DM: A few things really… But first and foremost, come in with an open attitude for learning and you’ll get a lot out of it.

Don’t be shy and feel free to ask fellow student questions about how they did something. Reach out to the TAs, fellow students, the teacher of your course... this is how you learn, and more importantly, how you grow.

If you’re new to design or animation, please don’t give up. I saw a lot of people get discouraged because other students were a bit more “advanced”. Take this opportunity and learn from it instead. We’re all at different levels.

As “advanced” as I may or may not be; trust me when I say, I know nothing Jon Snow. There’s plenty of other people who are far more talented and advanced that I’d ever hope to be in one lifetime and it makes me want to give up too - so, don’t get discouraged and keep learning.

Finally, have fun - please have fun. Make sure to bookmark all the extra goodies and resources that you get in the courses you’re taking, they come in really handy. I know for me, the Design Bootcamp resources have been invaluable.

You can check out more of Dorca's work over on her portfolio page.

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