Eilidh Reid on her squidgy, humorous and humorous animations
According to Eilidh Reid, her career so far has been a series of fortuitous opportunities and unexpected victories.
After four years of multidisciplinary experimentation at the Duncan of the Jordanstone College of Art & Design, her confidence was given a blow. An outside auditor mocked her portfolio as "too broad" and said no one would ever hire her.
"I was so concerned," she admits. Although she wanted to avoid moving from Scotland to London, she took a boat and visited D&AD New Blood with her classmates.
There a chance encounter with Bob Young from Alphabetical led to an interview. Though Reid was a bundle of nerves, arriving late and nervous on a sweltering day, he impressed where it mattered and the rest was history.
"You put your time and effort alphabetically to look after me," she says. "It wasn't the fact that I could do anything they liked, but that everything I did was based on a concept."
Reid believes this eye for "design thinking" gave her a useful advantage as she later got into animation. It was a natural evolution, she believes: "My illustrations always felt like a still image of a chaotic scene that had just happened, and it felt natural to see the before and after," she explains.
When Reid saw an ad for a junior creative role at Animade, she gave her a boat – but didn't expect to get anywhere. Since she didn't have a showreel to speak of, she got on her feet with a short animation about why they should hire her instead.
“It was really upsetting, but it worked. I got it four phases of the interviews later. I was so confused, ”she smiles. "I love it so much, I don't always see value in what I do."
Reid is particularly passionate about doing pro bono work for charities and organizations that are not normally allowed this avenue – such as her recent collaboration with Running Charity This Mum Runs for our On Brief project.
The positive energy in Reid's work offset the problems and difficulties of 2020 well. At the start of the lockdown, their daylight saving time animation brightened up Instagram feeds and put smiles on faces during tough times. The lovable line is: "Get ready to cuddle the sun tomorrow."
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Reid's cheeky and joyful No Bra Day animation was created "with great respect for breasts of all kinds," reminding those who own those breasts of the need to look for lumps in a "respectful yet light" way.
Both projects were created during their downtime at Animade. "We are fortunate to have time to create elements based on signature animations that serve as a learning experience," she reveals. "These projects have massively advanced my skills."
And to celebrate Bisexual Visibility Day, a personal project was recently launched to “shed light on authentic bisexual stories that may be overlooked in the LGBT community”.
Though Reid's roots in graphic design problem solving keep her from developing a strong personal style – she prefers to tailor each project to the assignment – there are certain distinctive traits that many of her projects share in common.
"I like it when things are hand-drawn and tactile and things are delicious to move," she explains, choosing three powerful words to sum up this hallmark of "deliciousness": "Squidgy, fun and humorous."
Reid's penchant for creating relatable, lovable characters with authentic human quirks shines through her portfolio – a skill she has proven can convey 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