Everything I do needs to have a reason. A story behind it. A bigger picture, a concept.
I think it makes a difference...
Welcome! Tere tulemast! Herzlich willkommen!
I'm guessing you already glanced at my portfolio and now are curious who made it... It's nice to see you here! =)
I'm Annabel Backes. I grew up in Estonia, so my brains Operating System is Estonian with a few updates from German culture (I've lived here for over a decade). Mixed with other smaller plugins, I consider myself European.
I've worked over 5 years in marketing, creating Visuals for a wonderful small company, but now it's time to move one.
I'm a Motion Designer, Graphic Designer, 2D Animator, UX Designer, Creative problem solver, Lifelong learner, Experimenter, Amateur musician, Crafter, Science enthusiast, ... And the list goes on.
The thing is, I really like to try out new things and the "learner" identity should probably be the very first on the list. My brain seems to need new challenges. Otherwise I just get bored. I will not give up learning something until the result is good enough for me.
My standards are high. Really high! I am hardly ever 100% satisfied with what I've done. I am sure this is very familiar to anyone working in the creative industry. However, over the years I have learned to distinguish what result is needed to fulfil the purpose.
To illustrate my learning need, take this portfolio page... I had something very specific in my mind and I couldn't find the solutions that matched it. So I ended up writing the code from scratch all by myself. Mind you, I had veeeery basic knowledge of HTML and CSS when I made the decision. I don't aim to become a developer. It just made my brain very happy... At least at the times when everything worked. I almost gave up a few times, but tried again the next day and now it's done.
I could go on and on describing myself, my world view and philosophies, but I also know, people generally "can't read" long texts - me included... So for any further details get in touch!
I'm not "precious" about my work. Please give me direct feedback without sugar-coating the issues.
I do ask you to be nice about it, but it won't help anyone in the long run to beat around the bush. Let's talk openly and still enjoy the journey!
I will most likely ask a lot of questions. They are sometimes critical questions. Don't be alarmed if you can't answer them right away. My job, in a way, is to get to the core of what You want to achieve. For me, it's less about the "art" and more about the "why". Let's make meaningful visuals!
I am big on time management. One of the first things I want to know is: "When do you need it?" I calculate the average time I need to finish the project, add buffer time and consider the rest of my schedule. In rare cases I can work with "I need it yesterday", but for every ones peace of mind, let's refrain from that.
