We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adriel Meka a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Adriel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Both of my parents grew up in Cameroon and from a young age, one of their favorite past times was to go to the local cinema with friends. The movie releases were a bit delayed and often took a few months to reach Africa, however, that never prevented my parents from catching up on all of the 80s classics. The love of movies, cinema, and Hollywood was very quickly embedded into our family culture, and it was only a matter of time before my sister, and I followed in our parents footsteps. Growing up, every weekend was spent at our local AMC, catching the latest blockbuster and movie review discussions were often part of our family bonding experience. There’s not one family dinner where my mom isn’t telling us about which horror movie scared she and her sisters the most a kids while my dad debates whether Arnold was better in Predator or Terminator. This, coupled with a childhood of watching cartoons with my sister, laid the groundwork that would soon reveal itself in my career.

As far as art as a profession, I was exposed to it from a young age. My grandmother is a graphic designer and professor of African art. My dad is an architect and my sister, a fashion designer. Creativity was always promoted at home and it just balled down to which path/outlet I wanted to take with it. I’d always been a bit of a tinkerer; building things out of arts and crafts supplies, scribbling characters on index cards, and creative games for my friends. It was only a matter of time before I picked up drawing and I found that learning how to improve my drawing became a large part of my identity.

When it came time for college applications my approach was that, while I loved drawing cartoons I needed to channel my artistic skills into more of a “stable” design career. I enjoyed cars and consumer products so I was initially lead to the study of Industrial Design. At the time, I had applied to Georgia Tech and Savannah College of Art and Design, knowing that both had solid Industrial design programs. After getting waitlisted for Tech I locked in SCAD as my college of choice then only found out afterward enrolling, that they also had an animation program where I could potentially continue my love of cartoons & film. I started my freshman year off pretty confidently as an Industrial Design major with a minor in Animation however, little did I know, it would only take one event to launch my career into motion.

SCAD was notorious for its industry events and special screenings at the local Trustees Theater in downtown Savannah. Mid-fall, the school hosted a screening of Wreck-It Ralph with a Q&A from two alumni that currently worked at Disney. I walked into the screening not really knowing what to expect and before playing the film, the two alumni offered to show the audience “ a bit about animation” by giving us a behind the scenes look at their current film in progress, Big Hero 6. They showed how the main characters including, Hiro and Baymax, were designed then taken into 3D modeling. How the city of San-Fransoyko was conceptualized then created. The audience saw how animators used side by side reference footage to animate the characters performances in the films. Finally they showed us shot progressions from the beautifully art directed visual-development, to the storyboards, to the final renders we see on the silver screen. I felt like the curtain behind Oz had been lifted and I could finally see the wizard…. then the lights went off…. and the movie began to play. I walked out of that experience with a whole new perspective; a family love of movies and an upbringing filled with art, animation just made sense. The next day I went to my academic advisor and asked to switch my degree to an Animation major with a minor in Industrial Design. I walked out of that theater and I knew.

I knew I wanted to tell my own stories. I knew I wanted to imagine worlds. I knew I wanted to create inspiring characters. From that moment, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in Animation. Since that moment, I’ve been fortunate enough to work for studios such as Nickelodeon and Disney; I’ve gotten to direct my own animated short, Camp Kona! After 7 years, I haven’t looked back.

Adriel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Canadian-American illustrator, animator, and director and to my core, I am a storyteller. A fun fact I enjoy sharing with people is that, at my current age of 27, I have lived in “3-6-9:” three countries, 6 states and 9 cities including Montréal, Los Angeles, Switzerland, Atlanta, Arizona, and more. I feel my many homes have contributed to me being a very adaptable person while my passion for creating art has always served as one of my most significant constants amidst a world of frequent change.

I shared a bit about how I got into the profession of art in the last question however, breaking into the industry wasn’t the straightest path. Upon graduating from undergrad I found the world of animation to be very competitive and initially hard to breach so my way around that began with a lot of freelance projects. I set a goal to improve my skills and turn any new opportunity into a learning one. I’ve always posted a lot of my art to the internet and began building an online presence at the age of 14. Shortly before graduating, an author had seen some of the work from SCAD posted to my Instagram and reached out asking me to create a children’s book with them.

Although it wasn’t animation, I chose to approach it like a short film and devised ways for my concept art and illustration skills to really shine in the book. Upon its completion, “Gary and the Great Inventors” was published and with it, I had taken a step further into my career. This book would soon spread and before I knew it, many people were asking me to illustrate books with them. For a while, I worked on updating my portfolio while concurrently doing odd jobs post-graduation and used my projects to apply to grad school at the University of Southern California. During grad school, I was able to illustrate the children’s book “I am a Triathlete” which went on to win awards and along with the platform of USC, I soon found myself fortunate enough to work for studios such as Nickelodeon, Sony Animation, and Disney.

Now I am in a position where I am gaining industry experience and learning how to improve from some of my favorite studios while I continue to expand my network and increase my clientele. Over the years I’ve offered a variety of services including illustration works that range between one-off commissions, consistent album cover art for various musicians, and children’s books. A love of animation has also led to me working on a number of animated projects where I handle tasks such as character designs and key visual development for short films and series. I’ve grown to respect business as much as art and truly admire the relationship between the two as they’ve helped me forge a lasting professional network. While many of my contracts take on the form of illustration, I usually enjoy the challenge of not conforming to one medium and adapting my style and skills to suit the creative project’s needs. This has resulted in opportunities such as directing animated short films, producing 3D-generated artwork, and even composing music for different clients.

Social media has played such a significant role in my freelance career and I’ve enjoyed sharing my progress and growth with my followers. Many of my clients, followers, and fans know that I’m deeply passionate about this creative world and am always eager to connect with people through my artwork and career!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Art, like many other creative media, is a tool for communication and is often referred to as a voice. One of the most rewarding aspects of being creative is centering your whole world around the mastery of using your creative voice. My artwork can tell people what I’m going through, how I see the world, what I like, and what I dislike. In a client sense, it allows me to help someone communicate what they want to express but cannot yet visualize. This visual medium enables me to be unapologetically true to myself and share the stories I want to share in a manner that is universally understood. I love the feeling of drawing a character in my style and then seeing someone else halfway around the world turn it into their profile picture on Instagram. The idea that something I hold near and dear to me can reach out and speak to so many different people brings me comfort and joy every time I put my pencils to paper.

Additionally, I appreciate the family built around animation. So many artists I’ve met are passionate people who took a leap on a hobby or something they love wholeheartedly and that admiration radiates in everything they do. During university, all of my classmates were bonded by a love of classic animated flicks that influenced their childhood and made them want to pursue a career. Today, many of the people I’ve met at Disney and Nickelodeon have truly inspired me with their life paths and library of projects they’ve worked on.

I find aspects of the industry create a cycle of becoming inspired and inspiring others and it’s a cycle that’s perpetuated by talented people. It’s an industry that keeps me always wanting to learn and always wanting to create. I also find it to be consistently dynamic. The classic cartoons of the 1930s developed into the 90s classics such as Lion King which we all grew up with. As 3D animation became increasingly popular, people began to master the visual spectacle that animation can provide, and now, with movies like Spiderverse, people are constantly developing exciting ways to push and expand the medium of visual storytelling. My ultimate goal is to be able to direct and show-run my own projects & I was able to accomplish the first step of that when I directed my animated short film, Camp Kona. The process of leading a team of creatives towards a goal they can all rally towards and greeting to share it with everyone has probably been one of the proudest moments of my career thus far. All in all, breaching, staying, and growing in the field of animation requires a lot of resilience, determination, and persistence, however, as the hard work pays off, I find it to be a very rewarding and fulfilling career.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience on social media over the course of several years. As a young teen I began learning how to scan my drawings and posted them to Deviantart (I know…) The process of doing so got me used to the idea of consistently sharing my works on the internet. For a minute I used Tumblr to post my drawings then, after I reached freshman year of undergrad, my friends got me to make an Instagram.

To date, Instagram has probably been my favorite and most used platform for my online presence. I’ve been fortunate enough to get a lot of client work from the platform and it is such a widespread app that connecting with people felt very natural. The gallery layout of Instagram is also very conducive to sharing artwork and as they began to incorporate things such as stories and reels it easily felt like a simple one-stop-shop for content. More recently I’ve integrated Tik tok but find there’s still room for me to grow on that platform. Overall, through a mixture of word of mouth, real-world exchanges, promotions, and posting I’ve been able to amass the following I have and I’d love to give you guys some tips!

Social media has developed into one of the most successful tools for modern creatives. Nowadays we live in an attention-based society and social media structures itself to favor the type of content that is engaging, authentic, and attention-gathering. What I find to be the best approach to social media is a balance of Consistency, persistence, and awareness.

Before beginning I think it is very important to identify what you’d like to effectively communicate through the content that you share and this starts with finding what you’re passionate about. People are at various levels of their careers, or their skills, and experience but as long as you come to pick a focus, you can produce results. In order to grow It’s important to define a space that you can commit to consistently producing content for. If you’ve picked art, photography, or lifestyle, for example, make it a purpose to post things that are relevant such as drawings, new photo shoots, and life events that will keep your audience engaged. The key thing is to be consistent so you can develop a reputation from which your followers know what to expect.

Not sure what to post? A visual medium/niche can be treated a bit like a portfolio where you post your latest pieces however if you need some ideas, Tik Toks, Reels, and shorts, have been great ways to boost your audience engagement. You can offer things such as your reviews on topics in your field, behind-the-scenes clips showing your process, or even hopping on trends that will cause your content to surface. The next part here is to be persistent. While posting, don’t be discouraged if you’re not meeting the numbers you like or are struggling to live up to your IG idols. Keep going! Through practice, you will make improvements and you will learn what works for your page. Maybe it’s a print giveaway? Maybe it’s a live drawing session? Maybe you noticed that 2 posts ago, people really liked when you added humor to your posts? To key it’s to be persistent and try new things frequently so you can identify a sweet spot that will allow you to coast.

Lastly, what’s equally important in your social media grind is awareness. Make it a purpose to be aware of the platform you chose. Whether it’s Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter, this means gathering a general understanding of the way your platform works and learning about what makes the machine tick. This can take the form of studying what video lengths are optimal or even seeing what new waves are trending. Across the Spider-verse came out and Instagram was packed with an audience that was hungry for Spider-Punk, Miguel, and Pavitr Prabhakar artwork. Trending audio can help make your travel blog video get noticed in a sea of videos. Be aware of things such as when to post for maximum engagement. You don’t necessarily have to treat these guidelines as black and white but being aware and perspicacious in a space that is so dynamic can only serve to benefit you while you’re trying to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.adrielmeka.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arekusan_meka/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adrielmeka
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriel-a-meka23/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/arekusan_meka

Image Credits
The Motion Epic, Jack Preston, Bashia Rivera, Max Cruise, Sony picture Animation, Spiderman, Spiderverse, Jinx, Netflix, Arcane, Walt Disney Television Animation, University of Southern California, Gunjan Dere, Pablo Diaz De Leon Hicks, Sydney Chen, Adriel Meka, arekusan meka, Camp Kona, League of Legends, Procreate,