Nice to meet you!
I’m Michael Jakob
I’ve been working as a Motion Designer in the advertising industry for 8 years and counting. Over the past 4 years, I’ve produced state-of-the-art content for premium brands at international car shows (when I wasn’t driving through the Australian Outback in my ’95 Mitsubishi Pajero).
I’m originally from Freiburg, Germany, the gorgeous capital of the Black Forest. These days you can find me in thrilling Beijing, China. My motion design skills are definitely still better than my Mandarin though. 加油!
I excel in conceptual thinking and handling data for massive, multi-LED-screen setups while working under tremendous time pressure. I’m a team player who pays attention to detail and keeps the big picture in mind at the same time. I take an organised, structured approach to work, which is how I keep tens of thousands of files in order for any given project. But don’t just take my word for it — have a look at my portfolio!
I also moonlight in photography with my Fujifilm XT-2. Framing and composition is very important to me, even when I’m snapping a shot of a parking ticket with my phone 😜
TOOLS
The everyday tools I’m using for my work. Adobe Creative Suite and occasionally Cinema 4D.
Currently I’m looking into Houdini and DaVinci Resolve/Fusion as professional alternatives to the Adobe Creative Suite.
SKILLS
The skillsets I provide.
MOTION DESIGN & EDITING
(After Effects, Premiere Pro)
CONCEPTUAL WORK
(an organised and structured approach is everything)
PHOTOGRAPHY
(Travel, Landscape, City, People)
WEB DESIGN
(HTML, CSS, JS, PHP)
IT KNOWLEDGE
(not all thumbs, since I’m also an IT System Technician)
EXPERIENCE
Here’s where I’ve worked for the past decade and beyond, gaining my experience in Motion Design, Photography and IT.
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: November 2018
- Project: Auto Guangzhou 2018 (Volkswagen)
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: April 2018
- Project: Auto China 2018 (Beijing) (Volkswagen, Lincoln)
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: September 2017 – November 2017
- Project: Auto Guangzhou 2017 (Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover)
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: May 2017
- Project: V-Day Stunt Show (Cadillac)
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: April 2017
- Project: Auto Shanghai 2017 (Volkswagen)
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: November 2016
- Project: Auto Guangzhou 2016 (Volkswagen)
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: April 2016
- Project: Auto China 2016 (Beijing) (Volkswagen)
Commercial Break
During my commercial break, I spent most of the time in Australia (2.5 years) travelling 35.000km across the continent in my ’95 Mitsubishi Pajero. I co-piloted a tiny Cessna to an island in Vanuatu where I stood on the rim of an active volcano. I shook the hand of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Melbourne. And I traveled the Trans-Siberian/Trans-Mongolian Railway via Abakan, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude and Ulaanbaatar. In Mongolia, a dream came true by coincidence when I got to ride a horse into the sunset of the Mongolian steppe.
During this time I traveled to Thailand, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, Indonesia, Vanuatu, Russia, Mongolia and China.
- Studio: image unit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: October 2013
- Project: Lavida Family Launch Event (Volkswagen)
- Venue: Guangzhou International Sports Arena
- Studio: dondon
- Location: Berlin, Germany
- Role: Motion Designer (Freelancer)
- Time: July 2013 – September 2013
- Projects: Erste Bank und Sparkasse – s Lab (TV Commercial Austria), 3 drei Launch (TV commercial Austria)
- Studio: PIXOMONDO
- Location: Berlin, Germany
- Role: Motion Designer (full-time employee)
- Time: 2011–2013
- Projects: (open projects overview)
- Studio: qu-int.
- Location: Freiburg, Germany
- Role: Motion Designer (Intern)
- Time: October 2010 – December 2010
- Projects: (open projects overview)
- Studio: Mainframe
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Role: Motion Designer (Intern)
- Time: March 2010 – May 2010
- Projects: (open projects overview)
- College: Freie Hochschule für Grafik Design & Bildende Kunst
- Location: Freiburg, Germany
- Qualification: Screen Design & Web Design
- Specialization: Motion Design
- Time: 2007–2011
- Projects: (open projects overview)
- Company: AVAYA
- Location: Freiburg, Germany
- Qualification: IT System Technician
- Time: 2004–2007