We were lucky to catch up with David Urbinati recently and have shared our conversation below.

David, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

I had been animating little random GIFs and posting them to dribbble (back in the day when that was a popular design platform). A few of them got some decent attention and folks started reaching out asking me if I was available for freelance. I was working at a marketing agency at the time and felt confident enough to take the plunge into freelancing. Through various client projects I decided to found my company “Rocket Powered Milk Truck” and the first project I ever did was a logo animation for a company called “Themehouse.’ With great success, logo animations became a thing I did and do quite regularly!

David, 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’m a motion graphics animator who creates narrative based animated content for my clients! I got into this field because originally I wanted to create visual effects content for myself as a way of expressing my imagination in a larger-than-life way. Animation was a natural segway in being able to create everything myself without much equipment. It started as little looping GIFs or tiny VFX shots but what I really was drawn to was telling a story in an emotionally engaging way.

I went to school for mechanical engineering though! Finishing my degree, I was still drawn to the visual arts and I think I bring a very analytical approach to my creative process which works really well in describing tech products. I feel like I’m good at asking the right questions and understanding a client’s goals while making their content.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Doing the work I love and sharing it. Even if it doesn’t directly result in a client or series of clients it will inevitably draw in the type of people I want to work with because they’ll see me “doing my best” at what I love. I don’t have to convince someone to let me do my thing because they’re already coming to me for that. Hands down, I’d say this is the most effective strategy for building my portfolio of work. Work begets more work. Not to say that sometimes I do the types of projects that aren’t the most fun but those I don’t put in my reel or on my portfolio because I don’t necessarily want to do more of that type of work. Making money is a nice byproduct of such projects though and honestly it’s easier not to be as attached which honestly can make the project better off in a lot of ways.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I would say the quality and consistency of my work. I’m always putting something out (usually my personal work) which shows activity and establish myself as a creative “go-to” for animation storytelling. Personal projects can be tough to accomplish amidst client work and sometimes it can feel like “more of the same” even if it is something I “want” to be working on but it’s so worth it and important to show that your craft is something you love and do anyway regardless of getting paid for it. It tends to make your quotes and estimates just that much more valuable.

Contact Info:

• Website: davidurbinati.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/davidurbinati

Image Credits
Nick Murray