Creator Stories: Seb Summers 🇬🇧
Meet the brilliant Seb, an amazing Vidsy Remix creator and motion designer from the UK. We sat down to discuss winning a pencil from the prestigious D&AD New Blood Awards, as well as overcoming imposter syndrome as a creative.
Hey Seb! A massive thank you for joining us today. And under what exciting times?! A little birdy told me you've been nominated and have won your very own pencil at the D&AD New Blood Awards. Firstly, huge congratulations 😀
Before we get into the nitty gritty… Do you mind telling those who might not know…who you are, where you're from in the world and what it is you do!
Thank you for having me! So yes, my name is Seb. I'm a creative communications designer. I'm an illustrator, but I also do a lot of graphic design and I'm currently doing a lot more art direction at the moment.
I come from Falmouth, which is down in the southwest of the UK in a little county called Cornwall. I live right by the ocean and I certainly do not take advantage of that enough.
Please could you tell us a little more about the category you were nominated for and a bit more about what the D&AD New Blood Awards are all about?
D&AD, in a nutshell, is real briefs set by real clients, judged by the industry's top creatives.
The D&AD New Blood Awards are specific to students and emerging creatives only. But, it's primarily aimed at students, those who are in university doing a BA or a Masters. I'm about to finish a Master's degree, which is why I was eligible and could do it.
The brief that I worked on was for Heineken and Designbridge, which is a design agency in London. It's a really, really important award that gets your work seen by professional creatives and can really kick-start your creative career. And, being honest, it's a really good bit of validation. Having someone say, "Hey, I like that, keep doing what you do. Here's a pencil to prove it" is always nice.
What does this type of recognition mean for an emerging creative like yourself?
For me personally, it felt like I was doing something right and I’m finally being seen by people. I graduated with my BA when I was 22, which was six years ago. Afterwards, I took a creative hiatus. I was freelancing, working in mind-numbing jobs I wasn't interested in to get by. And then, the pandemic happened, which ruined everything further.
I went through a lot of changes in my life, a lot of bad choices, and it sort of came to a nasty head. I decided to go back to university on a bit of a whim to do a master's. Getting that pencil was the first time in my creative trajectory thus far that I was like, ok, I'm finally on the path I need to be on.
I struggled horribly with imposter syndrome for so long, never really putting my work to a high standard and that must have shown because I wasn't getting any work and wasn't getting where I needed to be. So to finally have received this award and everything that's followed thus far showed me ok I can do something with this. But to anyone else, a D&AD award means that you are what they describe as a creative mind to watch out for. You might not be perfect, but you've got something the industry needs or is interested in pursuing. It helps you solidify that you're on the right path and get your foot in the door. So if you are an emerging creative interested in D&AD, go for it!
Could you tell us a little bit more about your entry specifically and what you went on to create?
The brief that I worked on was for Heineken and Designbridge. The brief was all about leveraging Heineken's brand as a catalyst for sparking connections and gaining new perspectives. They were looking to target Gen-Z and millennials. I began researching Gen Zs and Millennials and found that 63% globally follow Western astrology and use it as an influencer in their life decisions. By Western astrology, I mean horoscopes like Gemini, Taurus, Libra, and all of that. I thought that was a really interesting little pocket of information, but the more I looked into it, the more I realised that even though it's so popular... Many, many people are using astrology as a way to sort of label and categorise people without actually getting to know them at all.
Something that was initially aimed to help people connect with themselves and others on a deeper level was actually doing quite the opposite and causing this divisive narrative. And I thought, hmm, that could be interesting to look at, especially seeing as Heineken has that iconic red star logo. I could see all these pieces and was like. There's something there. But, how could Heinken tap into this?
I created a platform called 'Ourstrology', an interactive platform utilising geo-location, A.R. and younger people's newfound love of cosmic guidance to connect people worldwide. Users can find shared interests, cultural perspectives, and new connections by exploring and interacting with hundreds of unique constellations. It's quite a nice thought that you sit here and then look up, and it's just this entire world of creation happening up there. All because people want to connect based on what they've described themselves as rather than a preconceived label that, you know, Western astrology tends to force.
I must've done something right because they were like, yep, cool, that's good, here's a pencil! Motion graphics play a big part of the D&AD submission video. The fact I could execute the video with all the motion graphic skills I learned from working as a Vidsy creator for so long was a great feeling.
Take us back to when things were just starting out. What got you interested in a career in illustration/motion design?
I've always liked to draw. However, I first realised this was what I wanted to do when I was about 14. During my GCSEs, I remember someone told me in an English class that they wanted to become a graphic designer. I turned around and said, wait, what's that? And they explained it. And I was like, you can do that as a job?!
So yeah, I jumped on this feeling I had as a 14-year-old. And discovering what a graphic designer is and followed it and took everything that came as I was on that path.
I find a really deep therapeutic nature in illustration. In my darkest moments, I've always been drawing. I lived in Vietnam for nine months. I was an English teacher out there, and I got very, very unwell out there and really quite low. Genuinely one of the only things that got me through that dark time was drawing, and many of those drawings became prints I went on to sell.
In terms of motion design, I always found After Effects to be such a weird and difficult to comprehend. I wanted to tame it. When I did my first video for Vidsy, there wasn't a lot of motion in it. It was much more static and working with the track beat we were given. And then, slowly and surely, I learnt more and more about the skill. But mostly, I got into motion graphics because of Vidsy.
What/who inspires your work?
Specifically regarding illustration, I like drawing pieces that offer a quirky, weird outlook on mundane everyday things. I love puns and dad jokes. There's something magical about brightening up a millisecond of someone's day with a dreadful joke and a nice colourful illustration.
I did a piece called Hansel, the tentacle-fingered man. Or the worst superpower you can think of. The poor guy,
In terms of actual artists, David Shrigley is a big inspiration of mine. David's work is similar in that it's about a quirky outlook on the mundane. It's a lot more stripped back and raw and includes spelling mistakes that he's scribbled out or poorly drawn perspectives to get his weird messaging across. It's impossible to do what he does in the way he does as confidently as he does and be that successful.
My brother would be my next biggest inspiration. There's a three-year age gap between us, and he's an animator. He actually introduced me to the Vidsy platform. So thanks, George! In my opinion, he’s an actual genius—his eye for composition and this beautiful childlike whimsy in all his stuff. Every time he shows me a piece of his work, I'm just, just taken aback completely.
My first real inspiration as a graphic designer would be Saul Bass. Who is like the OG digital artist. He actually coined the term graphic designer. He was the first person to say, why don't we make opening title sequences as much of the film itself? He did the opening titles for Psycho, which was arguably the first, the first form of motion graphics possibly out there. I love his work. He was a genius.
So yeah, David Shrigley, drop me a message if you're reading this.
What advice would you give to any other emerging creatives looking to make their mark in the creative/design industries?
One of the most important things is in regards to imposter syndrome. It's taken me a long time to realise this, but in the bluntest way possible, everybody dies trying to get it right. No one is an expert on how to get through life as a creative. We're all humans trying to do human things, and that's enough. I think it's really important for creatives to hear that. That you are doing everything you need to, even if you feel like you're not.
My second bit of advice is a bit more tangible. And that's around self-branding. If you don't value your work, no one else will. You need to have confidence in what you are creating. You need to be able to confidently say this is what I do, how I'm going to do it, and I'm the person for you. I would try establishing personal branding as early in your career as possible because you can always develop it as you go.
The last thing I'd say is don't ever forget to have fun with it. When you start moving into the more professional part of the creative industry, the idea of fun sometimes gets disregarded. Hold onto what you find fun and what brings you joy.
Is there anything else we or anyone else can do to help you with your career growth and progress?
Follow us on our socials. Please, God, help us destroy the algorithm. I hate it, and it ruins everyone's lives. Follow us on LinkedIn, find our websites, and get in contact. Even if it's to say, I love your stuff. There is nothing like receiving a message from someone somewhere in the world saying, hey, I just wanted to let you know I think your work's great.
Interested in the D&AD awards? Fancy getting your hands on your very own pencil?
You can find out all about The D&AD awards here 👈
Applications for this year's awards open on the 14th of September 2023!
Read more 👀
