Meet Aaron Ray | Animation director and illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aaron Ray and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aaron, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
Outsiders are usually unaware, or unclear on what an Animation Director does. Everyone knows a film director directs the actors, develops the concept, makes creative decisions. Well, an animation director is similar, but instead of directing actors, we direct the animators (who are essentially the actors)!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a commercial animation director, my role is to take a brief from a client and develop a conceptual story and visual language for the project. This includes script writing, storyboarding and concept art. When the pre-production is finished, you begin the animation phase. Typically, animation directors are chosen for their unique vision, or artistic style. I’m my case, I’ve never settled on a style and feel comfortable designing or illustrating in whatever the best style for a particular project is. I like the freedom of that, it keeps things interesting.

Before becoming a director, I was a partner and creative director at a creative studio I co-founded in 2008 called Legwork (legworkstudio.com). It was a crash course in everything from business, to client interaction, project processes, and learning to mentor and lead a team. The team leadership and direction knowledge gained was essential for getting me to where I am today.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For food, we’d go to Perdida, Illegal Petes, and Uncle. For drinks, we’d go to Ratio (I designed their logo/brand), Sputnik and Hi-Dive. We’d visit Meow Wolf, Lakeside, Mayan Theater, and chill out in Wash Park.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ll dedicate my shoutout to the many talented artists, animators, and sound designers that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Animation is a team effort, without them we couldn’t have cool commercials, movies or music videos.

Website: www.aaronjray.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/aaronjray

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronjray

Other: www.vimeo.com/aray

Image Credits
Aaron Ray