Our guest today is Michael Jones, founder of Mograph Mentor. He has a background in motion design and developed a passion for educating younger motion designers. Confronting his analytical side, Michael put together Mograph Mentor to connect some of the best motion designers in the world with those who aspired to become the same.

In this episode, Chris talks with Michael Jones about building the online education platform, the future of education, and what it means to have people who believe in you and your goals. We’ll learn about Michael’s unusual path to mentorship, and the importance in having a mentor.

Michael is somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades, which gave him some major leverage during his time working in motion design. He’s worked with studios big and small, working as an animator, VFX artist, and developed a solid roster of clients as a freelancer. He’s also led various projects as an art director. He’s mostly self-taught, and credits his online classes as the catalyst for his career journey.

It comes as no surprise, then, that he’s the mind behind Mograph Mentor: an online school for motion design with a very holistic approach. They’re teaching students the artistic, technical, and professional skills they need to excel in a motion design career.

So what’s the curriculum like? Students are broken into groups of six and take part in live, weekly 3-hour sessions, as well as school-wide sessions, where they discuss, critique, and learn alongside their classmates, all online. The work is largely project-driven. Students present their work, get feedback, explain their thought-process, and even defend their process in their live classes.

This more holistic approach is unique to Mograph, and allows mentorship to come easily to students. With opportunities for open discussion and learning, mentors are accessible to students and help them take the steps they need to build a successful career.