Regular readers will no doubt recognize the name Mike Goedecke as the Founder and Creative Director of Belief from the past references in these pages. While in Vancouver this week to speak to a sold out crowd at an ACM SIGGRAPH event, Goedecke was kind enough to take a break from his busy schedule to sit down with IBC for an interview about his passions, creativity, inspiration, films and his influences. He also toured the VFS campus and spent the afternoon critiquing student work and discussing his perspective of a design studio’s needs in contrast to the current landscape of design education and his belief that concept should be at the core of good motion graphics design, not just pretty animation.
An excerpt:
IBC: Mike, How do you define creativity?
MG: To me anything that falls within the definition of breaking routine is creativity. It’s a pretty broad definition and I think a lot of truly creative people don’t even consider themselves creative. Which I think is the biggest bummer. The key is finding creativity in everything, no matter what your profession. People say “Oh, I don’t have a creative profession”, accountants for example. But there are accountants that do extremely creative things and come up with creative solutions to solve problems. Of course, one plus one will always equal two – that’s not creative, but how you go about other parts of your job, whatever it may be – can be creative.
It is the same from the opposite perspective as well. A lot of companies get this rep that they’re really creative companies and people worship them, but when you look at the span of work that they’ve done, it’s very homogenous and not especially creative. I would say that’s not a really creative company. They’re riffing on themselves. But when you look at a company and the pieces that they’ve done are all really different and effective, even if not always super glitzy, then I would say that’s the more creative company.
Please check back soon for the balance of the Goedecke interview
Posted by Mark Busse
Tags: Design, Inspiration, Interview, We love, Websites
Todd Smith (January 24th, 2006)
My ears are still ringing and my eyes are propped wide-open from the mind-blowing knowledge and unbelievably succinct images that gave me a one-two punch on Wednesday night.
I’?ve followed the progress at Belief for a while now, each day becoming more amazed by the waves their projects send into my creative workflow; each day seeing their structure find a way to surface in my own production. The knowledge packed into simple experiments such as the pollinate sessions are enough to breath life into a creatively exhausted mind, but only skim the iceberg of great projects they?’ve done. Mike Goedecke’?s presence in Vancouver was one of unforgettable impact; he spoke to a packed house, yet I felt thousands of people were missing out, oblivious to the top-notch professional steps away in the beautiful walls of Vancity Theatre.
Mike?’s keynote presentation left jaws on the floor as audience members salivated over the notion that he is actually human, not a futuristic creative robot sent back in time to vaporize the motion/live action sector. Seamless visuals, beautiful compositions, and million hour renders slapped me in the face as Mike explained past and present projects and the ways in which he and his team are driving Belief to knock down every creative and technological wall set in their way. The multi-panel, video driven kiosks that they delivered for clients at this years Detroit Auto Show sparked my interest early in the night. The streamlined aftereffects comps and complex video switching cracked a door open that proved the value of a large creative toolset; it resonated deeply within me throughout the night, nearly a week later I still have an elevated heartbeat, as I rush to integrate this surge of inspiration and strive to achieve Belief’s clarity in every design decision I make.
Meeting Mike was a truly defining moment; he is an icon of remarkable creative goals that are made attainable though hard work and an intense love of one?s craft.