In times of digitalization, creative and unique content is becoming increasingly important. One artist having discovered a passion for this is Ali Hadian. In an exclusive interview with us, the artist explains what his working day looks like and how he managed the leap into the media industry.
The 26 year old Iranian, currently residing in Malaysia, holds a position as co-founder and art director at ColourCollective Studio, a creative company based in Los Angeles producing premium animation and mobile-first media. In the past the studio has worked with agencies and brands from all over the world – such as Under Armour or Valentino.
Notice: Published with permission of Ali Hadian. This video does not serve as an advertisement. A remuneration of our side did not take place. The rights are owned by the artist and the respective trademark.
The studio has recently collaborated with ice cream brand Magnum to produce 3D animations of popsicles. Taking a closer look at the caramel, it is difficult to imagine creating such a realistic simulation. In addition to technical knowledge, creative imagination also plays a major role: scenes must be played out in the mind, new positions and models must be thought up. Ali draws inspiration from his surroundings and other living beings, which he analyses on the basis of a fixed personal point of view. He follows the principle of never expecting anything in return for his work and therefore creates content driven by his own curiosity and satisfaction. He thus also sacrifices his time, effort and even sleep to work on things he values personally, without expecting a certain end result. As the artist tells us about his everyday working life, it becomes quickly apparent that his work and his routine is part of his personal life and both merge together: “Ever since I wake up, I constantly try to visualize the concepts and ideas I have come up with and then I try to think of ways on how I can create them using my medium and portray the mindset and emotions behind that particular artwork.”
Ali especially appreciates those projects in which he gets to ideate original ideas and builds up new assets together with clients or agencies. Nevertheless, his favorites are the ones that include his personal work, originating from traditional painting. This work is characterized by the idea that animations are created according to the same principles as paintings, trying to tell a story or express emotions (instead of focusing exclusively on the animation aspect of the work). He explains „I also find it interesting that my personal work makes the viewer unsure of what to base the impression on, is it the same as looking at a painting or watching animation or motion graphic content.“ Looking at his art, one can see that Ali is burning for his work. The only thing the artist doesn’t like about his work is the migraine headaches he gets from constantly working on the computer.
Entry into the media industry has become more difficult in recent years. Many young people who work with design or animation as a hobby dream of great success. For Ali it was his strong personal interest that brought him to where he is today. He advises everyone who wants to enter the industry to have confidence in what they are doing. Because as long as people are pursuing something they really believe in, they are working towards achieving their personal goals. According to Ali “it’s genuinely a learning process and over time and with enough practice almost anything is achievable.” Yet to stand out from the crowd he considers three important characteristics: Originality, the personal connection between the artist and the artwork and the extent to which an artist portrays emotions in his artwork.
Ali’s way of thinking and his statements about his work of art lead us to suspect that the artist is in some ways quite perfectionist. However, when we confront him with this, he argues “…to many people I could be considered as one but I personally like to think I have established a specific standard for my own work, which I cannot consider fulfilled if these standards are not met. This level of standard is set differently for every individual work.”
We are curious which projects Ali Hadian will realise in the future and where his journey will lead to. If you want to be part of it, you can follow him via Instagram or visit his website.
Transparency:
All videos and pictures were published with permission of Ali Hadian. Links and contents in this article represent the recommendations and opinions of the respective author. A paid cooperation has not taken place.
