Eilidh Reid on her squidgy, fun and humorous animations
Our New Talent series highlights visual creatives who are sharing great work on Facebook and Instagram. Here, designer and animator Eilidh Reid shares her journey so far
According to Eilidh Reid, her career to date has been a series of serendipitous opportunities and unexpected wins.
After four years of multidisciplinary experimentation at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, her confidence was dealt a blow. An external examiner derided her portfolio as ‘too broad’ and said no one would ever hire her.
“I was so worried,” she admits. Although she’d been keen to avoid a move from Scotland to London, she took a punt and attended D&AD New Blood with her classmates.
There, a chance encounter with Bob Young from Alphabetical led to an interview. Despite being a bundle of nerves and arriving late and flustered on a stiflingly hot day, Reid impressed where it counted, and the rest was history.
“Alphabetical put time and effort into mentoring me,” she says. “It wasn’t the fact I could do everything that they liked, but that everything I did was grounded in a concept.”
View this post on Instagram
Reid believes this eye for ‘design thinking’ gave her a useful edge for her subsequent move into animation. This was a natural evolution, she believes: “My illustrations always felt like a freeze-frame of some chaotic scene that had just happened, so it felt natural to see the before and after too,” she explains.
When Reid saw an ad for a junior creative role at Animade, she gave it a punt – but didn’t expect to get anywhere. With no showreel to speak of, she “went out on a limb” with a short animation about why they should hire her instead.
“It was really cringe, but it worked. Four stages of interviews later, I got it. I was so confused,” she smiles. “I love doing this so much, I don’t always see the value in what I do.”
Reid is particularly passionate about pro bono work for charities and organisations that may not usually have that route open to them – such as her recent collaboration with running charity This Mum Runs for our On Brief project.
View this post on Instagram
The positive energy in Reid’s work counterbalanced the trials and tribulations of 2020 well. At the start of lockdown, her Daylight Savings animation brightened up Instagram feeds and put smiles on faces during tough times with the endearing line: “Get ready to give the sun a cuddle tomorrow.”
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Reid’s cheeky and joyful No Bra Day animation was “made with big respect for breasts of all kinds” and reminds the owners of said breasts about the need to check for lumps in “respectful yet light” way.
Both projects were created at Animade during her downtime. “We are lucky to have allocated time to create anything we like that’s rooted in characterful animation to use as a learning experience,” she reveals. “These projects propelled my skills forward massively.”
And to celebrate Bisexual Day of Visibility, a recent personal project set out to “shed light on authentic Bisexual stories that might be overlooked in the LGBT community.”
View this post on Instagram
Although Reid’s problem-solving graphic design roots steer her away from crafting a strong personal style – she prefers to tailor every project to suit the brief – there are certain unmistakable characteristics that many of her projects share.
“I like things to be hand-drawn and tactile, and for things to be delicious in the way they move,” she explains, picking three evocative words to sum up this hallmark ‘deliciousness’: “Squidgy, fun and humorous.”
Reid’s penchant for creating relatable, endearing characters with authentic human quirks shines throughout her portfolio – a skill that she’s proven can deliver even the most worthy or serious message with just the right amount of playfulness.
New Talent is part of Inspire, a partnership with Facebook and Instagram to highlight outstanding creative work on the platforms; instagram.com/by.eilidh