How would you describe what you do?
We are a creative duo from London that create 3D digital assets for branded content and immersive experiences. This can take the form of things like social media posts, music videos, billboards and AR [augmented reality] filters.

Due to the digital nature of our work we are fortunate enough to be able to travel and work remotely.

Can you tell us about how you two met and set up Fromm Studio?
We met at uni halls and started living together afterwards. Lockdown hit whilst we were both still studying at UAL [University of the Arts London].

This gave us time to hone our 3D skills without the distractions of the city. Our first project together, Jess World (below), was where we experimented with photogrammetry and motion capture. This was the starting foundation for our current work.

Like many graduates of 2021, we both went into Kickstart jobs. During this period we would pick up small freelance projects on the side. After our Kickstart jobs ended, more freelance projects came our way, so we decided to focus all our efforts into starting a studio that our work could be identified together as.

What’s been your favourite project to work on from the past year, and why?
We’ve been lucky to have worked with so many amazing and talented people this year. The article headers for The New York Times stood out, as we had very short deadlines to make them. This forced us to really evaluate our workflow in order to complete things quickly, whilst maintaining the quality that clients would expect from us.

The efficiency we learned became invaluable as it made our bigger projects – such as the Spotify campaign we worked on – more manageable. The Spotify campaign was really special to us, as it was the first time seeing our work outside of the computer screen and on billboards.

Would you say you need any specific training for what you do?
In terms of learning 3D, patience and consistency are the most important skills needed. Sticking to a routine helped us combat boredom so our minds didn’t wander and try to procrastinate.

Getting past the basics of 3D is the longest and hardest bit. We trusted the process of committing to learning or creating something every day, and it all eventually clicked. We started off doing 10-minute tutorials and slowly increased the time we spent on our work, until it expanded into full working days. The process involved a lot of trial and error – we learned all of our technical skills from the internet.

Don’t worry about making mistakes. The more comfortable you get with showing your mistakes, the closer you will be to finding your style.

If you have the privilege of being able to go to university, we definitely recommend it. It gives you the time and space to explore your work and be surrounded by a diverse network of creatives. One of the key skills we picked up was communicating our ideas clearly to a wide variety of audiences. It definitely prepared us for interacting with our current clients in a professional manner.

What was your journey like when you were first starting out?
Our first few 3D projects were self-initiated. Having no client involved meant we didn’t overthink how they would turn out.

The main focus was enjoying the process and improving from the last piece of work. We learnt all the basics of 3D this way, and continued with the same way of thinking as we took on more paid projects. The fact that we were a duo also helped in that it made the workload less intense, as we’d assign ourselves tasks based on our individual strengths.

Reaching out to more experienced artists was also really useful when we were starting out. Receiving advice from someone who was recently in a similar position helped guide us in the right direction and started getting us to envision where we wanted to be.

How did you go about landing your first clients?
Shortly after Vince got featured on It’s Nice That, we started getting more attention on our socials. That momentum was really encouraging, so we started to create even more work until our first client discovered and reached out to us.

Since that feature, we’ve been in an extremely lucky cycle of completing a project, posting it on social media and having someone new stumble upon our work and reach out with opportunities.

Of course, it hasn’t been the most consistent of processes to gain new work. So at the start, we focused on things that we could control. For example, we’d learn new techniques through working on personal projects, update our website and portfolio, send them to potential clients and figure out ways to further grow the vision of our brand.

When we stopped trying to accommodate everyone and started trying to create value for a specific group of people, we started getting more work.

What would you say has been your biggest challenge along the way?
Like so many others, the biggest challenge for us was finding work-life balance. When we first set up the studio, we had the bad habit of working all day and through the evening.

With everything being on our phones or laptops, it can be really hard to switch off at the end of the day. We would work non-stop days then crash and burn after finishing a project. This made it really difficult to get back in the flow of work, especially when we had multiple deadlines.

Nowadays, we try to have set working days and hours so we can have enough down time to be consistently productive.

If you could pick three things that you’ve found useful or inspiring to your work or career, what would they be and why?
First of all, The Freelance Manifesto by Joey Korenman. This is an amazing resource for anyone wanting to get into freelance work.

Then, Give and Take by Adam Grant. The creative industry is very competitive and we generally think you have to be selfish to get ahead, but this book portrays other ways to get on top if that isn’t your personality.

And finally, Deep Work by Cal Newport. It’s a book on training your focus to make longer lasting work. It helped us to stop relying on inspiration and to start working like accountants – even whilst utilising our artistic minds.

How important would you say social media and self-promotion are to your work?
Social media and self-promotion has been essential to getting work. Our Instagram and website act as public portfolios, so we have to keep them updated to attract new clients.

It is definitely a tricky balancing act; it may be the best tool to get your work out there, but you can easily get sucked into trying to keep up with the algorithm. We have gone through periods of trying to post often and consistently, but it is really difficult if you don’t want to water down your work.

Nowadays we try to concentrate on producing as much content as possible and keep posts to a minimum. We want to focus on making quality work that offers value to people, rather than trying cliché techniques to grab their attention.

What have been your greatest learnings with making money and supporting yourself as a creative?
You can’t control something you don’t measure.

If you list all your monthly expenses, you can start to see ways to cut down. Like a diet plan, when sticking to a budget you can start saving little bits every month and start making gains. With freelancing, we found that one month we could be getting lots of work, and the next it would be really slow.

We have tried to save as much of our earnings as possible into an emergency fund. This has been really beneficial in combatting anxiety during dry spells and helping to keep us focused on the work.

Do you have any advice for creatives looking to form a creative duo?
Your partner in a creative duo doesn’t always have to be someone who is creating similar work to you. Instead, a partner could be someone who helps you in an area of work which you’re not as proficient in. This could be anything from the business side of things to copywriting. We found that being comfortable enough to have no filter when it comes to talking about work helps us progress the most together.

University is where we met and it’s a great place to find a creative duo. However, if this isn’t an option, we also find that people [we want to collaborate with] are always very open and friendly when we reach out to them via Instagram or email.

What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
The riskiest thing you can do is to play it safe.

This year, we decided to take the plunge and solely focus on building our studio up. We moved out of London and started working from our laptops abroad [in Barcelona], so that we could save some money whilst gaining new experiences and opportunities to further develop our work. These moves were terrifying as we were completely stable in our careers, and it was considered risky by our friends and family.

So far, these moves have paid off and we think we would’ve really regretted it if we didn’t embark on them.

What advice would you give someone looking to get into a similar career?
While working through the basics of 3D, try figuring out ways to stand out from the crowd. We started out by copying work we liked and combined all those different techniques into our own new style. Nothing good comes easy – we did so many tests and experiments before we got to where we are now.

The amount of work you produce will eventually lead to work that is of quality. And once you’ve found the right combination [of styles], be confident in your way of doing things. By being unique, you can cut out the competition.