Conversations with Mikey Kelly

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mikey Kelly.

Hi Mikey , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up on the East Coast, one of four kids in a pretty lively house. My dad worked in finance and my mom stayed home with us. I had a normal childhood—sports, friends, all that—but I was always into making things. I’d spend hours drawing, building random stuff in the garage, and later, editing videos once I got to high school.

My dad wanted me to study something practical, so I went to Boston College and got a degree in Marketing. After graduation, I moved back home to Atlanta for my first job. One afternoon at the dog park, I ran into an old high school classmate who told me he’d gone to a place called The Creative Circus. I looked it up that night and saw that it was a portfolio school for people chasing careers in design and advertising. I applied right away and got in a week later. That move completely changed my path.

I spent just over a year there before landing an internship at Sagmeister & Walsh, one of the top design studios in the world. I was obsessed. I stayed late, came in on weekends, and started teaching myself motion design. It reminded me of those early days editing videos as a kid—and I couldn’t get enough of it.

In 2020, I decided to go freelance as a motion designer. Since then, I’ve had the chance to work with a ton of great brands and studios from around the world, helping them bring their ideas to life on screen.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road! Freelancing is definitely a learning experience. One of my downfalls as a person is that I don’t like to ask for advice or help from anyone. I want to figure it out on my own. So when it came to starting a freelance career, I didn’t have any mentors and no one in my family has had any experience with this career path. So I sort of just figured it out along the way.

There has been a lot of guess work and many times when I questioned whether I was a fraud or even good at my job. But that has gotten so much easier the more time that has passed. In my second year of it I was really struggling with imposter syndrome and it seemed like I couldn’t come up with any ideas. Self doubt is the enemy of creativity. I had to start finding ways to unwind outside of work so that I could come to my desk everyday feeling confident in my abilities.

It’s weird, I came into freelancing as a total workhorse with 0 other hobbies and quickly found that I needed to diversify my life or I would go crazy. Funny enough, the more I added to my life outside of work, the better my work became.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a motion designer specializing in brand identities. I work with new brands, ones that are established and going through a rebrand, ad campaigns, etc. It’s my job to take the brand identity and make it come to life through a unique system of motion behaviors that the brand can use for years.

For example, a recent project of mine was with a soccer team called Dallas Trinity FC. I worked on the in-stadium animations. So if your ever at a game, you’ll see my work all over the stadium screens.

I’ve done a lot of work with Nike Kids, Nike Airmax, Nike Run. Lots of Nike haha.

I worked with Apple a few times on the visuals for their WWDC events.

I’d like to think what set my work apart from others is the variety of projects I’m able to work on. I don’t necessarily have a set style, I like to take what the brand offers and create something own able for it. At the end of the day, my goal as a designer isn’t to create work that represents me, but to create work that represents the brand and makes my clients happy 🙂

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I share most of my work on Instagram, and I follow hundreds of other amazing designers and studios there. It’s a great source of inspiration, but I try not to get too caught up in chasing trends.

Outside of that, I love watching sports, and I’m always paying attention to the motion design details most people overlook—the lower thirds, the quick transitions before and after commercial breaks.

Another big source of inspiration for me is signage. I love driving around LA and seeing all the mom-and-pop shops and their signs. When I lived in New York and Brooklyn, I was obsessed with that too. There’s something fascinating about how people with little or no design background come up with creative solutions. Like the hand-painted logo on the taco truck parked across my street.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mikeykelly.studio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikikeli/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikey-kelly-5b182168/

Image Credits
Nike Airshop: Some days
Nike NFL Rivalries: Some days
Nike Kids: Some days
Dallas Trinity FC: Moniker