Keri Birmingham

Working for big brands in big agencies: it’s every marketing student’s dream, and Keri Birmingham was living it early in their career. But they had a feeling that they were meant to do something different. Today, Keri runs a unique creative business blending motion design and marketing strategy. We find out about their journey as a self-taught designer and what’s guided them along their path – which hasn’t always been clear, but luckily, always fun.

What I do

How would you describe what you do?
I bring pixels to life – sometimes in a fleeting burst across a screen, other times in full-blown immersive form. That’s seen me direct, animate and motion design for everything from social media campaigns to festival stages, blending vintage elements with a playful edge to surprise and delight.

What are the main influences and inspirations behind your work?
I pull inspiration from everywhere: it can come from artists on my Instagram feed, a killer Ben Marriott design breakdown, the pixelated aesthetic of a “game over” screen and so much more. Basically, anything with color, attitude, or a smart visual twist.

Animation, 3D design, and motion graphics for Billie

Would you say you need any specific training for what you do?
You don’t need a fancy degree to do what I do. I didn’t have that either. What you do need is curiosity, a solid Wi-Fi connection and the guts to learn – from the internet, your peers and your mistakes.

It’s not just about learning technical skills either. Tools and techniques can be taught, but clear communication and managing expectations? That’s the real craft, and it only comes from actually doing the work in conversation with the people around you.

Event poster graphic design for The Travel Agency

What’s been your favourite project to work on from the past year, and why
Hands down the show visuals I created for Walker & Royce at Lollapalooza. Seeing my work light up a massive stage at one of the biggest music festivals in the world? Unreal. Having full creative freedom and working with a team like Super Evil Genius Corp (which let me get weird in the best way)? A dream gig, with a giant LED cherry on top.

Lollapalooza show visuals for Walker & Royce

What does a normal day-to-day usually look like for you?
Every day starts with walking my dog, to clear my head before the inbox hits. Then, it’s straight into Slack, emails and whatever deadlines are knocking. Most days, it’s paid client work; other days, I’m elbow-deep in personal projects like making AR experiences – because why not? Keeps the creative muscles limber.

If there was a starter pack for your job, what would be in it?
- A camcorder for capturing grainy gold (texture is everything)
- A Tamagotchi, because digital pets
- A 4TB SSD hard drive stuffed with client chaos
- An Apple Pencil for Procreate doodles and design game plans
- My signature blue headphones for Google Meet compliments and deep focus mode
- And of course, my dog – a.k.a my Creative Director of Emotional Support

Keri's Starter Pack

How I got here

What was your journey like when you were first starting out in your career?
You could say that I took the scenic route. I started in international marketing and media planning, which involved working with big brands at big agencies. But the creative itch wouldn’t quit. So I hit pause during the pandemic, taught myself design and built a portfolio out of personal and volunteer projects.

Email design for Wild One

That got me in the door at Billie, where I learned the ins and outs of creative production from a stellar team. From there, I went solo and launched a freelance business that blends marketing strategy with motion design chops. Untraditional? Absolutely. But it works.

How did you go about landing your first few jobs, clients and/or commissions?
My first freelance gigs came through referrals from people I’d worked with in the past – proof that being a solid teammate pays off long after a project wraps.

When the inbox grew quiet, I got proactive, sliding into DMs, hunting for freelance motion gigs and paying for LinkedIn Premium to reach people I wasn’t already connected with. Once I was in the door, my reel and portfolio did the rest.

I also swear by Joey Korenman’s The Freelance Manifesto. This guide was my playbook for turning creative hustle into paid work.

Illustrations for Nurx

What has been your biggest challenge along the way?
Juggling it all. Client work, personal projects, learning new tools, finding new clients, promoting myself, sending invoices, evolving my business – there’s so much to do and I’m still figuring it out. But that’s part of the job too: building the plane while flying it.

Motion graphics and editing for Starface

What skills from your creative work have you found helpful — and vice versa?
Clear communication is the throughline. It shows up in my design choices, my style of pitching ideas and my approach to setting expectations. Every client call or every round of feedback also just sharpens that skill even more. The work makes me a better communicator – and being a better communicator makes the work better.

Animation for client commission

How important are social media and self-promotion to your work?
They matter quite a lot. I’ve landed gigs just from posting my work on different platforms. Instagram is great for making new creative connections, but don’t sleep on LinkedIn either – it’s less crowded, more focused and where the real leads live since everyone there is in work mode.

AR filter for Instagram

What are three things that you’ve found useful to your work or career, and why?
1. YouTube tutorials, especially from channels like SonduckFilm, have been key to sharpening my After Effects skills.
2. Online communities like Monday’s Challenge on Instagram keep me inspired, connected and on track by providing prompts and collaborations to dive into.
3. Podcasts from School of Motion have been invaluable for navigating the business side of freelancing and staying on top of industry trends.

Animation for Monday's Challenge

What have been your greatest learnings with making money and supporting yourself as a creative?
Tech makes the business side of creative work so much easier. I track hours with Clockify, send invoices with Wave and use a simple Google Sheet to forecast income and stay on target. It keeps the admin side of things organized so that I can focus on being creative.

Art Direction and motion design for Angi

Advice

What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
Know how to pitch yourself. What makes you different gives you an edge, so lean into it. When I first pivoted into design, I didn’t have years of creative experience, but I did have a background in media planning and marketing. So I positioned myself as a hybrid: someone who not only designs, but designs with strategy – a creative that serves the overall campaign, not just the moodboard.

Animation and motion design for L.L.Bean

Where do you go to feel connected as a creative?
I mainly connect with other designers from around the world through one-on-one DMs or online platforms like Motion Collab’s Discord. But meeting another motion designer in person is a total recharge. Events like LightBox Expo remind me of how good it feels to chat with like-minded people face-to-face.

Animation for Motion Collab

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into a similar role?
Start by figuring out how you learn best. Need structure and accountability? Go for a paid course (the ones from School of Motion, Motion Design School, or Ben Marriott are solid picks). More of a self-starter? Do what I did: pick a project, dig into free YouTube tutorials and learn as you go.

Create enough work to make a reel, then put it online – who knows, you could even blow up on social media. There’s no one path in and you’ve got to put in the reps. The good news? Motion design is a ridiculously fun way to work hard.