Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Murray.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
It’s been an exciting journey! I feel like each step has helped pave the foundation of my skills as a director and helped me start my creative studio.
I have always been incredibly curious and usually had my nose buried in some book. Eventually, this curiosity found the arts, and I was hooked. By the time I was in high school, I was creating work around the clock. I was shooting and editing videos, developing my photographs in the darkroom, and staying up late teaching myself 3D animation and design. I loved getting my hands on something new to learn.
In college, I studied Arts & Technology at The University of Texas at Dallas. The program was a great hybrid of left-brain skills like programming, technology, and software – paired with right-brain skills like design, drawing, and painting. It was an inspiring time because social media was just starting up and artists were starting to use these brand new platforms in new ways. It really felt like we were on the bleeding edge. The crazy thing is that websites we take for granted like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Behance were all created while I was in college.
After college, my first job was as a graphic designer for the Office of Communications at UTD. There I got to work on print, web, and eventually video ads for the university. A couple of years later, I got my first ad agency gig, which would be indispensable in my growth as a visual artist and director. I owe a great deal of my knowledge to my time spent at large ad agencies. It was so inspiring to be surrounded by amazingly talented people with so much experience in so many different disciplines. I also go the opportunity to work on great Fortune 500 brands like Walmart, Ford, Samsung, Verizon, Phillips 66, IBM, P&G, Marvel, Nestle, MARS, Coca Cola, Southwest Airlines, Unilever, ConAgra, General Mills, and many more. I did this for nearly eight years until I had worked my way up to director before I decided to venture out on my own. My agency experience was great because it taught me how to run the creative and business side of commercial production. This proved invaluable when I chose to venture out on my own.
In 2017 I went solo and started my own company, Isaac Murray Studios. My goal was to create a full-service creative studio that puts clients goals first. I believe being humble and collaborative makes the work better and that we all create better work in a positive environment. This client-focused experience has helped me deliver creatively compelling projects that also meet strategic goals. Since starting my own company, I have been honored to continue to work with Fortune 500 companies like Uber, Metro by T-Mobile, iRobot, Southwest Airlines, Goodyear, McAfee, MoneyGram, and many more.
Please tell us about your art.
I really love craftsmanship involved in making each frame look its best. I focus on finding ways to bring a strong design aesthetic and minimalist cues to all my work, personal and professional. Cinematic frames that are highly art directed that distill complex thoughts or emotions into powerfully simple visuals. This is the through-line across my diverse set of execution styles.
With my projects, I try to communicate with viewers through the universal language of design and leave them with a thought, question or a sense of learning something new. It’s a fun challenge of continually reducing the information that is being shown to the viewer until only the parts that are important remain and then turning the volume up on those elements.
Like I mentioned before, I also think it’s essential to be as collaborative and positive as possible. It really makes a huge difference in the work and puts the emphasis on “how can we make this better.”
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
It’s never been easier to create and share content thanks to widespread accessibility to high-end tools and robust distribution platforms.
Thanks to smartphones, powerful computers, DSLRs and digital cinema cameras, most people have access to the tools of the trade. Additionally, platforms like Behance, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram make it so much easier to find an audience for your work.
The flip side is that now there isn’t a barrier to entry, so it’s a much more competitive landscape. You have to work harder to develop your own unique style so that you stand out.
That said, I still think it is a great time to be in the industry, and I would encourage anyone that is interested in video production to get out there and create work as often as possible, it’s the best way to learn and experiment.
I love chatting with other artists and sharing ideas and techniques with the community so feel free to hit me up on social media. I am also a member of DSVC and try to attend a lot of the events if you want to connect in person.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can view my work on my website (isaacmurray.com), Instagram (@isaacmurraydirector), and Behance (IsaacMurrayDirector), Vimeo (IsaacMurray).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.isaacmurray.com
- Instagram: IsaacMurrayDirector
- Facebook: facebook.com/IsaacMurrayDirector/
- Twitter: @artjunkie
- Other: Behance: behance.net/IsaacMurrayDirector, Vimeo: vimeo.com/isaacmurray, Promo: https://vimeo.com/312285527
Image Credit:
Isaac Murray
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