We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allie Crawford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allie below.
Allie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
One of the most meaningful projects I ever worked on was back in 2015 when I made a video for The UN to end hunger, poverty and climate change. It wasn’t a particularly long job, maybe only a 3-day job, combining footage and big, impactful text and then sizing it correctly to fit the billboards on the skyscrapers of Times Square and Broadway in NYC.
It was absolutely incredible to see it on the billboard mock-ups I made, as it sat over the bustling streets of one of the most iconic advertising locations in the world and with such a powerful message. I was thrilled to be able to use my creativity for such an important and meaningful campaign.
To help make the world a better place, through my work, is the ultimate goal for me. I love to work with sustainable brands with meaningful campaigns who also seek to make planet Earth a better place and so I was immensely proud and grateful to be able to make such an important video for The UN’s #GlobalGoals campaign.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I fell into the animation industry by luck after I decided to go to Art College to study Graphic Design. I got to try out animation and I instantly fell in love with the magic of the discipline. In the words of Walt Disney “The only limit to your animation is your imagination”. It’s a discipline where anything is possible and that’s why it lends itself so well as a powerful solution for so many companies who are struggling to communicate a message effectively.
I specialise in 2D animation, motion design and art direction. I often jump on a project from the very early script stage, right through to audio and the final edit. Clients come to me and explain what they’re trying to communicate, or sometimes they already have a script. I translate that into visuals that simplify complex ideas and communicate their message in the most engaging and effective way possible. The results can transform businesses and skyrocket products to success. I once made an advert for Google Android’s General Mobile 4G and after it aired, it became the number one selling electrical product in Turkey. It was viewed over 5 million times in under two weeks. For that to be possible, you’ve got to translate ideas into visuals that ensure your audience will be completely engaged in the work you create.
In 2020, I was very honoured to have won Freelancer of the Year and soon after that, I started my own media company called ‘Kymera Media’. I’m still freelancing for agencies but I also work directly with clients. I love creating animations with stories, characters and motion to explain how something works. I also love a challenge. Often clients come to me with a subject that they say is dull and dry. In animation, you can make any subject exciting and engaging and I enjoy showing them exactly that.
Recently, I had a client come to me with a very exciting challenge. They were a new company, trying to fill an overland tour. The previous marketing company hadn’t managed to fill any spaces so they came to me in the hope that I could make them an engaging video that would result in people signing up to their tour. I was really excited to help them because up until that point, they hadn’t used video and I knew I could create a great video ad that could really help them achieve their goals. Animation is a lot more effective than a static design. Social media algorithms favour video, so it’s a brilliant way to advertise a product or service. The ad went live on social and their tours are now full. The video played a pivital role in their campaign to fill their tours and increase brand awareness.
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of being part of a small team who won 3 BAFTA’s, 3 years in a row. It’s always an honour to have your worked recognized with an award but to be part of the BAFTA’s and collect our award was an absolute dream. I’m also very proud to have been given the opportunity to create work that children were so passionate about.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Part of freelancing is rejection and it’s a tough thing to get used to when you’re starting out. When I finished art college, I went to London to look for a job in animation. There was one studio owner who watched my showreel and then told me I wasn’t commercial enough. I didn’t know how to do anything else so giving up was not an option either. However, I have an attitude where if someone doesn’t believe in me, I like to prove them wrong. I also have romantic view of failure, thanks to the inspiring stories of people such as Edison, Michael Jordan, Oprah etc who all experienced some form of failure in their respective fields before making it big. I loved the idea of failing before making it big and becoming an inspiration for others. It shows such resilience and strength. So I saved all my rejection letters (back before it became rejection emails) and filed them away for the day I could make a rejection wall in my successful studio to inspire others that rejection is what will make you better, stronger and more resilient. You’ll be grounded, balanced, empathetic and humble. And the best part is that when you do eventually make it, it will be so much sweeter.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I have an animated comedy TV series that I’ve been working on for a long time but life keeps getting in the way. My dream has been to make that a success, for a long time. In 2005, I went out to Thailand for a year to focus on making it. I wrote 5 episodes and then I was offered a job as an underwater videographer and I did that for a few years. So I never managed to finish it. Life continued to get in the way, in the most incredible ways but it continued to hinder my long term dream for short term dreams of filming whales and going to the world freediving championships, then buying a house and having kids. So my dream continues to this day but I have no regrets for the detour I’ve taken as it’s been an incredible journey so far. But my pilot is definitely turning out to be my entire career’s creative mission!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kymeramedia.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kymeramedia?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kymeramedia
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18902236
- Twitter: twitter.com/KymeraMedia
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kymeramedia