Months in Motion

Alex Center is the founder of CENTER, the Brooklyn studio behind Apple's "Mac Does That" campaign, Liquid Death, Coinbase and New Balance.
Before going solo, he spent a decade as a design director at Coca-Cola, leading design on Vitamin Water, Powerade and Smart Water.
In this episode of Months in Motion, Alex breaks down how a traditional branding designer won an Apple motion campaign in a ten-day pitch (and has now made 600+ films for it), why motion belongs in brand strategy from the start, and why "brands don't live in case studies, they live inside of people."
We get into his ten years inside Coca-Cola, the leap to founding CENTER in 2018, how motion became central to the studio's work, and his honest advice for anyone thinking about going independent.
00:00 Intro
01:45 Ten years at Coca-Cola
06:17 What connects the brands CENTER takes on
09:45 How motion crept into the process
14:40 When motion masks weak design
20:20 Brands don't live in case studies
23:29 The Apple "Mac Does That" story
34:19 What hosting Front & Center taught him
39:38 Advice for going solo

Months in Motion is a design podcast about brand identity, motion design, and how the world's best studios actually work. Hosted by OK Social.

Subscribe for a new conversation every month.

Follow CENTER:
https://center.design/
@center

Follow OK Social:
https://www.oksocial.co.uk
@oksocial_
#motiondesign #branding #graphicdesign #apple #brandidentity #motiongraphics #designstudio #cocacola

Brands in Motion started as two designers at JKR trying to fill a mood board. There was Pinterest for logos, typography and colour, but nothing for motion in branding. So Jamie Quantrill and Winston Duke built it themselves.A few years on, it's grown into a genuine hub for the industry: a curated library of the best motion work in branding, studio interviews, a talent directory, a jobs board, and their own principles of motion in branding. In this episode we get into their journeys into the industry, why motion belongs in brand strategy from day one, the trends they're seeing across thousands of submissions, and their honest advice for freelancers on what actually gets you rebooked.Topics covered:00:00 Intro: the story of Brands in Motion01:37 Winston's route in: waitering, personal projects and a lucky break05:55 Jamie's route: graphic design, JKR and teaching himself motion in the pandemic14:18 How Brands in Motion started with an empty mood board18:08 What changes when motion enters the room at strategy stage27:03 Talking feeling, not easing curves: how to communicate motion33:14 "I added bounce to everything for ten years"35:32 The trends they're seeing: motion systems, custom tools and AI42:32 What separates freelancers who get rebooked from those who don't51:01 What's next: connecting studios, freelancers and clientsAbout Brands in MotionBrands in Motion is an independent resource showcasing the best of motion design in branding, founded by motion designers Jamie Quantrill and Winston Duke. What began as an Instagram account has grown into a curated library, studio interview series, talent directory and jobs board, along with their own motion principles for branding. Jamie and Winston's combined background spans JKR, Wolff Olins, Taxi Studio, TMW and freelance work across the industry.Subscribe for monthly conversations with creative directors, motion designers, brand strategists and studio leaders at the forefront of the industry.brandsinmotion.xyzoksocial.co.ukMonths in Motion is produced by OK Social, a London-based motion design studio.#MotionDesign #BrandDesign #DesignPodcast

Cavalry has gone from a small Manchester-based motion tool to one of the most talked-about names in the industry, acquired by Canva in February and then made entirely free in April. This is the story straight from the founders.
Adam Jenns and Chris Hardcastle, two of Cavalry's co-founders, join us to talk through the journey, what's changed since the Canva acquisition, why they made the entire app free with no restrictions, and where Cavalry sits next to After Effects, Affinity and the wider Canva pro suite. We also get into the web player, AI integration, the Discord community, and what this all means for the next generation of motion designers.
Topics covered:
00:00 Daily downloads up 10x since the acquisition
00:21 Intro: from Mainframe to Cavalry to Canva
01:50 How Mash, an Oscar nomination and Ben Black's moan started it all
06:00 Cavalry vs After Effects: procedural, node-based, and why it matters
08:00 A million renders in a single project
13:00 How feature requests get filtered: scars from real projects
14:58 Inside the Canva acquisition
19:15 Why Cavalry is now completely free
27:00 Beer-can tutorials and the community keeping Cavalry alive
35:14 The web player: the future of motion handoff
42:43 AI, MCP, and the line between craft and generation
About Cavalry
Cavalry is a procedural, node-based motion design application built in Manchester. Founded by Adam Jenns, Chris Hardcastle and Ian Waters out of motion studio Mainframe, the team previously built the MASH plugin acquired by Autodesk in 2015. Cavalry launched in 2019, was acquired by Canva in February 2026, and made entirely free with full commercial usage in April 2026.
Subscribe for monthly conversations with creative directors, motion designers, brand strategists and studio leaders at the forefront of the industry.

Months in Motion is produced by OK Social, a London-based motion design studio.
oksocial.co.uk
#MotionDesign #Cavalry #DesignPodcast

Laurence Stoffel spent 10 years leading the creative team at On, helping turn the Swiss running brand from a challenger into a category-defining name. In this conversation she shares what that decade actually taught her about brand, culture, and craft.
We get into why she thinks brand guidelines are overrated, why brand culture can't be manufactured (the Liverpool story is a great one), and how the relationship between brands and agencies is changing.
A genuinely thoughtful conversation for anyone working in brand, design, or creative leadership.

Topics covered:
00:00 Why brand guidelines are overrated
00:25 Intro
02:00 Learning to think in systems
14:00 Operating without guidelines and what that unlocks
17:00 Why a great in-house team changes everything
23:00 The friction between in-house teams and agencies
26:00 The questions the best agencies actually ask
29:00 Why big brands are turning to smaller boutique studios
32:00 Brand culture can't be engineered: the Liverpool story
43:00 Making the case for creative work as a win-win

About Laurence Stoffel
Laurence Stoffel led the creative team at On for a decade, helping grow it into the largest in-house creative studio in Switzerland and shaping the brand's identity across product, motion, retail and events. She studied at ECAL in Lausanne and works across product design, brand identity and art direction. She now works as an independent brand consultant.

Subscribe for monthly conversations with creative directors, motion designers, brand strategists and studio leaders at the forefront of the industry.
Follow OK Social: https://www.instagram.com/oksocial_/
Months in Motion is produced by OK Social, a London-based motion design studio.
#BrandDesign #BrandStrategy #DesignPodcast

Kristian Shepherd (Sheps) was kicked out of school in Manchester, ended up at Turner Duckworth, his "Real Madrid of design," and is now a Senior Designer at Pearlfisher in New York.
Alongside the day job, he's hosted 65+ episodes of the What Does Your Mum Think podcast, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu daily, and just been announced as a D&AD Shift mentor.
This is a different kind of conversation. We get into the journey, the moments of feeling completely lost, what mental health actually looks like inside the creative industry, and why he genuinely believes pressure is a privilege.
00:00 Intro: 17 years, three cities, one designer
03:18 Turner Duckworth: the dream agency and what really happens when you get there
08:37 Feeling lost after TD and the leap into freelance
12:32 Where the drive comes from: dad on the removals, kicked out of school
17:50 Pearlfisher: leaving a legacy and building community in New York
22:11 Three years of What Does Your Mum Think and how it has changed
29:00 Running a podcast alongside a full-time role: structured chaos
38:22 Delaying joy for success and learning to define it for yourself
45:48 Becoming a D&AD Shift mentor and giving back
53:26 Why vulnerability is the most underrated leadership skill
Kristian Shepherd, known in the industry as Sheps, is a Mancunian designer with 17 years of experience across Turner Duckworth, B&B Studio and a freelance chapter in London, before moving to New York in 2023 to join Pearlfisher as a Senior Designer. He's the founder and host of the What Does Your Mum Think? podcast, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, and a recently announced D&AD Shift mentor.

Subscribe for monthly conversations with creative directors, motion designers, brand strategists and studio leaders at the forefront of the industry.
Follow OK Social: https://www.instagram.com/oksocial_/
Follow WDYMT?: https://www.instagram.com/wdymt_official/
Subscribe to WDYMT?: www.youtube.com/@WDYMT_OFFICIAL

Months in Motion is produced by OK Social, a London-based motion design studio.
#BrandDesign #DesignPodcast #CreativeIndustry