We recently connected with Raffi Simonian and have shared our conversation below.
Raffi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
As a creative person, I think it’s natural to wonder about that, and I certainly have. But I realize that it is likely just a misguided fantasy, acknowledging that the creative mind operates fundamentally differently than that of most people. Usually when my mind has gone to those thoughts, it’s been in moments of great stress and exhaustion due to my Imposter syndrome and the dread of being judged that comes with it. Ultimately, I’m aware of the chaotic order to my mind that comes with being a creative, so I know I wouldn’t be well-suited to an environment in which I’m asked to perform the same challenge daily. Sometimes I have to remind myself, but at my core I’m very appreciative to be hired to dream. This is where I belong.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in the Washington DC area, the son of Armenian immigrants from Iran. That cultural identity loomed large in my early years and has remained a core element to my artistic point of view throughout my life. At the age of 18, I moved to Los Angeles to study design. After studying graphic design at CalArts, in a fortuitous turn, I met the renowned main title designer Kyle Cooper, most known for his main title sequence for the film Se7en and hundreds of other films and television shows, at a transitional moment in his career. He hired me to work with him and eventually help start his company Prologue. During that time, he had several major projects coming in, but was severely understaffed. This opportunity threw me into the deep end, making artwork for major films and tv shows, guided by undoubtedly the greatest mentor I could have hoped for. After some years of working with Kyle and building up Prologue, I departed to start my own soup-to-nuts production company. We launched Simonian (then Nau) to the public in 2007 with the branding and graphics package for the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. From there, we went on to create content for a seemingly endless roster of clients including FOX, Toyota, Lexus, CMT, Miramax, Universal Pictures, Nintendo, Spike, Discovery, the United States Air Force, and on and on. Over the last 18 years, we’ve created commercials, promos, theatrical logos, feature film and television main title sequences, visual effects and other special content. Our work straddles the line between design, animation, and filmmaking; often crossing that line, deep into all of those disciplines.
Our process is unique in that most of our clients come to us with a relatively loose creative brief, and they allow us to work with them to craft a story that will help them solve their communication objectives in an imaginative and innovative visual form. That trust allows us to dream freely, fully develop dynamic concepts, and then use our broad skillsets to back into a technical approach to bring those concepts to life. Sometimes our solution will be wholly computer-generated; other times it’s done using cameras and practical techniques; most often, it’s a hybrid of methods.
I’m proud of many of our individual projects and certainly proud of the teams I’ve built. But I think more than anything, I’m proudest of my resolve to honor my own personal voice when working with clients. I’ve tried hard to resist emulating or conforming to what is happening in the cultural zeitgeist, and have never bit my tongue when there have been moments of creative debate. It’s important to mature ideas through constant discourse. I think that resolve has ultimately led to long-standing and deep collaborative relationships that are based on a mutual understanding. I think it is important to be steadfast in your authenticity if you’re going to endeavor in any meaningful creative pursuit.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
It seems to me that the difference in work experiences between creatives and non-creatives is that non-creative professionals are often able to “turn off” their working mind when they leave the office. This is foreign to me, because what I do and who I am are inextricably linked at the most fundamental level. As a creative person, I am perpetually curating my environment, and making definite artistic value judgements on just about everything I encounter. I’m always searching for inspiration or deconstructing existing solutions to problems to better understand what makes something work or makes something great. It is reflexive and cannot be turned off. This can sometimes come at the cost of frustrating others around me, because they don’t feel the need to be so analytical or discriminating all of the time. But I believe this core practice is a natural characteristic of the creative mind.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I ended up pursuing a creative career because I always had a particular point of view and distinct opinions as a young person. After art school, I was thrust into a business serving major commercial clients. And while it’s been a fortunate path, I think the excitement of working on high-profile projects deferred some introspection about my trajectory. More recently, I’ve been making an effort to unite my hand, which I’ve been training for the last 20 years, with my personal passions and philosophical thinking. My mission is shifting toward making more meaningful personal work, focused on exploring the greater questions to which I seek answers—sharing those questions with an audience to hopefully foster empathy for our shared human condition.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://simonian.tv/
- Instagram: simonian.tv
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffi-simonian-1b7ab15/
- Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/raffisimonian