Hailing from Detroit, cutting-edge animator Dorian Compo began his career as a Universal Images designer and producer. After earning his BFA in Animation & Digital Media from the Center for Creative Studies in 2003, Dorian made the move to L.A. to become an Animator for yU&co of Hollywood, California. Among his other accomplishments: jump starting Firstborn LA, an interactive design firm, and working on various interactive campaigns, including Toyota, Honda, and Hewlett Packard. Keep reading to get a dose of Dorian’s insight and ideas - as well as a sweet invitation to drop in on Dorian!

A token of advice from an accomplished animator: Find what you love and focus on it. Through his industry experience, he’s learned it’s better to be great at one thing, than good at many. “Also, don’t be in a rush,” he advises, “explore different industries and styles.” Dorian’s actions attest to this, as he has produced an award-winning script that is being adapted into a graphic novel scheduled for release later this year.

Kick-starting his career as a designer and producer at Universal Images in Detroit, Dorian has had his share of agency experience – working with the likes of JWT, BBDO, and Donor. After completing his BFA in Animation & Digital Media, he took his unique style and design aesthetic to L.A. to become Designer/Director of yU&co of Hollywood California, and soon graduated to Creative Producer of Firstborn. Dorian’s work has since gone global – you can find his creations in such magazines and books as Digit, EFX Art & Design, Layers, Texturing Concepts & Techniques and Exploring Motion Graphics.

Nowadays, Dorian is an avid designer focusing on Art Direction for video game development, and says he couldn’t live without Maya, Photoshop, After Effects, and, of course, his trusty iPhone. He currently works for Pandemic Studios – a division of Electronic Arts – working on EA’s next AAA title, due for world wide release later this year. Check out Dorian’s work which includes some great promos for Nike, Marvel Comics, and Miami Ink.

Dorian sends out an invitation to the MyToons community: “Feel free to get in touch. I love collaborating, creating and giving advice.”

Want an inside look at the world of Dorian Compo? Peep his blog at http://loyaltydivision.com/blog.

Thanks for sharing, Dorian!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 5:37 am and is filed under Meet the Artist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.