Meet Jonathan Lindgren, Award-winning Motion & 3D Designer.

This week we talk to UK-based freelance motion and 3D designer Jonathan Lindgren. Jonathan has spent his career working as a Graphics Designer/Motion Designer on TV, film-productions, commercials, channel identities, branding and live-broadcasting. Currently situated in a studio packed with other creative freelancers in Hackney, London, Jonathan has been working for clients like: Xiaomi, History Channel, Vivo, Molton Brown, and others. Let’s see what Jonathan’s been up to.

Sandip: So let’s start from the beginning. Tell us where you’re from, your background and a bit about growing up.

Jonathan: Thanks for having me! I was born in a teeny tiny town called Östhammar, among the pine trees of Sweden. It’s a very nice and idyllic place along the coast, but unless you’re into sports, cars or working at a nuclear power plant, there’s not much to do. I spent the first 19 years of my life there together with my parents and my sister. A few recurring themes during that time was a lot of computer games, music and the occasional underaged intoxication.

I kind of crawled my way through school not really knowing what I wanted to pursue. In Sweden you narrow down your study-field in 10th grade, so I decided to go for a general technical education thinking I’d be smart enough to manage that. I wasn’t.

Somehow I got through those three years and just wanted to get away from my hometown at that point. Conveniently enough, I found a University that had something to do with “computer graphics” and guaranteed students accommodation. So I just went for it with no expectations.

Sandip: That’s awesome. So growing up, would your parents say your current career choice was pretty obvious given your hobbies or what you were good at?

Jonathan: I’ve always been into cartoons and manga, so I drew a lot of comics as a child. Before I learned how to write and spell, my grandma had to help me fill in the speech bubbles of all the comic strips. She saved all of those and 20 years later keeps them in a binder at her house. Very intricate and moving stories as you can imagine.

I think, because of that, she and my parents always had an indication that I had some form of creative output. But being a creative was never presented as a career choice to me back then. I was also too shy and insecure to act on it, so when I got older and realized it wasn’t considered a cool hobby, I dropped it.

Sandip: What was your first job in “design”? What did you like about it? What lessons did you learn? What did you dislike?

Jonathan: It was actually as a Graphic Design Propmaker for a series of Swedish TV movies. I applied for loads of Motion Design positions but got zero responses, and then this popped up a few weeks before me and my girlfriend were supposed to make our big move to Stockholm. The only qualification was pretty much to know basic Photoshop, so I could create fake paper bills and Police IDs.

The actual design work was simple and not very creative, but everything had to be created quickly on the spot. There were moments when the production of 25 people stood still because of some faulty signs or whatever on set. Meanwhile I was having a breakdown trying to figure out how to feed A3 paper into the printer.

Even though I probably lost a few years off my life-span, I definitely learned how to be quick and effective from that. I also got to learn how to work as a team, which was something I hadn’t experienced before. But yeah, as I said, forging bills and IDs isn’t the most creative work for a designer.

Sandip: You have a pretty extensive background that spans film, tv, broadcast, branding and more. How do you do it all? If you had to pick, what would you say you’re the best at? What would you say you enjoy the most? What do you enjoy the least?

Jonathan: I’ve been freelancing for the majority of my (short) career, which means I’ve never been at a place for more than 3–6 months. If you bounce around like that and do a solid job, you’re gonna get loads of opportunities to try out different things.

What do I like the most? “Dem curves and keyframes!” Just sitting down and animating, coming up with movements, edits, timings, character, whatever. If it’s moving, my eyes are on it!

I’m actually not a big fan of doing simulations or dynamics. I do appreciate how it looks, if done right, but it’s too tedious of a process for me. Tweaking attributes, waiting for a result and then repeat. Give me some tangents and curves for pete’s sake!

Sandip: Your background is impressive. You’ve worked with high-profile brands like Molton Brown, Xiaomi, History Channel, and Vivo to name a few. How did you land those clients and projects?

Jonathan: I didn’t. Haha. No but I’ve worked on great teams/agencies that work for those clients. Working directly with the client is not that important to me. As long as the people between me and the client aren’t diluting the quality, I’m good.

History Channel was during my brief permanent position at DixonBaxi in London. They work with very high-profile brands over there, so it was great seeing how they approached branding such massive identities.

The Xiaomi and Vivo projects are all thanks to Yambo. He’s landed those huge client gigs and has been bringing along people he believes in and crafting a team packed with a high skill-level and expertise. Funnily enough, we’ve never even met. It’s all through the beauty of the internet he can cherry-pick exactly what he needs. The world is a pool full of talent. You just need to use it properly.

Sandip: You’ve been doing this for awhile now. What are some things you believe have helped in the success of staying in business and growing? How have you weathered the ups and downs that come with running a business? Ever any low points that made you question what you were doing?

Jonathan: I’ve always just tried to stay present online. That’s where people go to absorb design and animation nowadays. On Instagram, Behance, Dribbble or whatever it is. Stay active there, comment and interact. And yeah, posting some sweet content might be good, too.

I might sound spoiled, but I haven’t had any downs on the business-side as a freelancer. I’ve always strived to be approachable and ambitious as a co-worker, and that rarely rubs people the wrong way. Who likes working with a naysayer? If you come in with an open mind, do good work and smile occasionally, what’s not to like? So yeah, I think word of mouth and an online-presence has kept projects coming my way ever since starting out.

The mental blocks, however, that’s way scarier than being without work for a couple of months. Self-doubt and insecurity is something I struggle with everyday, but it has never made me want to quit or question what I was doing. The only thing it’s made me question is my own perspective of adversity.

Sandip: What’s the hardest part of being freelance for you?

Jonathan: The hardest thing is definitely balancing work and life. I have a desk at a studio in London, and mostly work remotely with clients and collaborators, so I can manage my time however I want. That sounds great, right? Yes, and also, no. When you have multiple fun opportunities in front of you, it’s incredibly hard to pick and choose one. So I said yes to everything, and double or even triple booked myself so I wouldn’t miss out. #FOMO. That kind of behaviour can easily wear you down completely.

I worked permanently at a studio for about 7 months when I got to London. There I had co-workers that helped me out, producers who kept track of the schedule and so on. You’re sharing responsibility with people, and that helps you relax when leaving the office. Another solution is also just saying “Nope, kthxbye” to some exciting projects. Currently trying to master that!

Sandip: On the flip side, what’s the best part of being freelance?

Jonathan: The fame and fortune of course. ;)

No, but in all seriousness, the best and hardest thing goes hand in hand. The fact that you have full control of ydour output, manage your time however you want, and being completely independent. I have been renting desks in collectives and studios for the past 2 years as a freelancer. That fills the pitch black void of loneliness you feel when you’re doing it from your underwear at home.

Sandip: You’ve worked on all sorts of projects and for big clients and small. What would you say are some common themes you’ve noticed that makes for successful projects?

Jonathan: For me, a successful project is defined by how much you have to compromise the quality of the final piece. There’s a ton that plays into that of course, but I think having a good group of people that are on the same page is the most important thing. We’re all striving towards creating something amazing. You could call it having a “shared ambition”. If there are certain people on the team who don’t want to strive towards that end goal, that’s going to show. So yeah, good people and good communication. A massive budget wouldn’t hurt either.

For the Xiaomi and Vivo-videos, I’m sure some people wouldn’t believe us when I told them we concepted, designed, animated and scored music for them within a few weeks each. We were all determined that we wanted to create something special, and the ambition and standards were set high because of that. Everybody pulled their weight and a lot more. Just brilliant team effort.

Sandip: Walk us through the process of starting a new project. What’s that look like? How do you like to start, your processes, the different phases, tools you might use, etc.

Jonathan: Pinterest and Spotify! Wish this was a product-endorsed message, but it’s not. There’s always a brief and usually references from the client, and then I just go into a sponge-mode and soak a lot of stuff in. I actually make Spotify playlists of music that could resemble the visuals. It sounds strange, but I try to find music that sounds like what I’m looking at. And I think that just helps my brain to work. It places me in a certain mood that connects imagery and ideas.

Whatever I come up with there, I try to write down. If you don’t write your ideas down and articulate them, they are just brain waves. After that I just want to visualize it, and might even try out some animations. Seeing how things could move, helps me spawn new ideas that a still image isn’t communicating.

Sandip: Have you had any mentors that helped you along the way?

Jonathan: I haven’t had any specific mentors, no. I have come across some really motivational people during my career, though. Doesn’t even have to be design-related. I’ve found a lot of good advice on how to look at your services as a business from Ash Thorp and Chris Do through their podcasts.

I wouldn’t be in London if I hadn’t met my girlfriend 6 years ago in Uni. So if I’ve ever had a mentor it would be her for sure. She helps me see things in a different light and gives me some well needed perspective from time to time. Definitely the partner in life I needed.

Sandip: What’s been one of your favorite projects to date? Why?

Jonathan: Favorite personal project is probably last year’s 36 Days of type (2017). I had never sat down and designed something new every single day for an extended period of time. Something definitely snapped there. The work wasn’t even good, but it was just so much fun. I was at my previous agency then, and a lot of people in there did it at the same time. Loved it.

When it comes to commissioned projects, I’ve been working on a game with Sennep here in London for the past 6 months. It’s a mini golf game where each course is a letter, and there’s a specific theme for each letter. A designer’s dream pretty much. Doing interactive design is very different, as well. It’s coming out late summer of 2018, so sign up for the newsletter! https://sennepgames.com/

Sandip: What advice would you give your 20 year old self?

Jonathan: There’s lots, but mostly try and enjoy the present and don’t care so much about what other people think. Get out of your comfort zone and do stuff you little shit!

Sandip: You’re in London, what do you love most about living in the UK? If someone was coming to visit for a few days, give me a list of must-do, must-see, must-eat places!

Jonathan: The pub culture! I come from a place that’s got a pretty stiff view on alcohol consumption and social gatherings. So the whole British pub culture was definitely eye opening for me and my girlfriend.

London’s got some great museums and galleries. Tate Modern is fantastic. Get yourself to St Paul’s Cathedral and walk there across the Millennium Bridge to get a beautiful view of central London and the Tate. I live and work in North/East London, so a walk along the canal from Angel to Victoria Park is never wrong either. Get off at Hackney and visit Broadway Market on a Saturday, get something to eat in the park and enjoy a drink on the Netil rooftop. Day sorted!

Sandip: Favorite book or podcast (or both)?

Jonathan: I hate to admit I never read books. I’m an avid listener to podcasts, just to entertain myself to and from work. Currently I’m loving “Not another D&D podcast” even though I’ve never in my life tried a tabletop role-playing game. It’s just very funny interactive storytelling, carried out by improv comedians and writers. Highly recommended!

Sandip: What are you listening to? Have a favorite artist/band?

Jonathan: I’m listening to a really mixed bag of things. Currently crawling my way through the latest Arctic Monkeys album, and a scattered consumption of Anderson Paak.

Sandip: Any daily routines?

Jonathan: I recently started doing yoga in the morning, which sounds nice and peaceful, but it’s pretty much me cramping in front of the TV for 18 minutes. Just one way to get some movement in before I spend 9 hours by a desk. Something I do for my own effectiveness is to-do lists. Not just for work-tasks, but also things like “water the plants” or “take a break from the screen”. I do that before I leave the flat every morning and it’s just a super-simple way for me to remind myself I have important shit to do before I lose myself in NBA highlights on youtube.

Thanks so much for reading! Our team publishes interviews with designers, illustrators, filmmakers, animators and artists that inspire us. A big thank you to our Jonathan for taking the time to chat with us! You can see more of Jonathan’s work over on his personal site or Behance. You can also follow him on Dribbble, Vimeo and Instagram.

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