We were lucky to catch up with Maurice (Moe) Murdock recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maurice (Moe), thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I didn’t know this was what I was going to do right away. I came from a household where it was always important to have good education and stability and focus on studies. At the same time I was always an artist and dreamer. So through my life I always strived to do both things (something creative yet practical). I love art, drawing, painting, video games, comics and spent many many hours drawing and painting and dabbling in computers as a “hobby”.

While working various jobs in the advertising space (non creative) I was always taking painting and drawing classes and fantasized about having a creative career and living a creative life. Up to and until Covid I kept struggling with this duality of how to sustain myself financially and emotionally.

Finally one day during the pandemic I decided that I could no longer neglect those creative impulses and decided to make the leap. I took the next three years after that to get where I am today. That was pretty much through an online school by myself in front of a computer watching You Tube videos and lessons. Now I am coming up on three years of making the transition to Motion Graphics and Motion Design. Other people are doing it and so I can too.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a motion graphics designer, animator and 3D artist. I basically take visual ideas and make them come to life via my unique and artistic vision.

My specialty is bringing storytellers’ visions to life through elegant motion design. This is done through 2D and 3D visual work for brand and companies and this transition is one of the things that I am most proud of to date.

The thing that I think sets me apart are my ideas and my creative voice. When not doing client work I am making my own creative work and music and projects and posting them on various platforms…all while continuing to learn software and new tools to enhance the stories and ideas that I come up with.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

This is such a timely question because people in the creative industry are currently caught in the AI tidal wave that has arisen over the last few months/year. This seems to have really taken off as of late. Right now for example actors and screenwriters are striking against policies that affect their earnings and ability to remain financially viable in their fields.

I don’t think doing away with AI is the answer it’s nearly impossible at this point. I have learned to embrace it as best as possible. At the same time, I do think laws and regulations are the key to helping protect artists from theft and unfair use of their work as well as ensuring that they are fairly compensated for their talent over time.

We artists are going to also have to learn to adapt and change with the trends and pay attention. By educating and keeping informed we will be able to stay current and use these tools to our advantage rather than be afraid of them.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For this answer I think back to when I had my “day job” and then would go home and live in my creative fantasy world (drawing painting, etc.) Since I have made this transition to a full on creative life, I no longer feel like I am neglecting a part of myself out of fear. Now I am living my full creative self and can use all I have learned to date to move forward. This feels a lot like living as a whole creative human instead of doing it part time like I was before. Additionally the part of the creative process that I really enjoy is making my imagination and ideas come as close to real life as possible which I get to do in a ton of my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.moebocop.com
• Instagram: moebocop
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mauricemurdock
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/Moebocop/