Episode 73: Tim O'Shaughnessy, Broadcast Art Director, ESPN

“You should start spending a half-hour a day learning Cinema 4D to advance your design repertoire. It's not hard, it will make you better.”

ESPN College Football, Mike & Mike, NBA on ESPN, the 2014 World Cup—do these brands ring a bell? Our guest this week is Tim O'Shaughnessy, broadcast art director at ESPN, and has worked on graphics packages for each of these TV brands.

We discuss Tim's undergrad degree in psychology and how it aids him in his work as an art director and empathizing with his intended audience or designers he art directs.

Music is an art that influences many designers. Tim is no different. We chat about why designers tend to either be musicians or appreciate music so much, including recognizing creative patterns and applying them to their own work.

We touch on the trend of amateur animaged GIFs in college sports and what makes an actual "animation" vs. turning off a layer in Photoshop.

Lastly, Tim gives us deep insight into some of the processes the broadcast department uses at ESPN including working with agencies or freelancers, rendering matte paintings, developing an overall vissual language for a show or event, animation engines & software being used, as well as the behehmoth of a project he worked on with LoyalKaspar for the new ESPN College Football motion package which is up for an EMMY.

Mentions include:

Tim on Twitter
Tim's website
Chris Radcliffe Photography
Cinema4d
Chin Wang, ESPN Magazine Creative Director
Episode 24: Chin Wang
ESPN Front Row article on 2014 World Cup
2014 FIFA World Cup Crest Animations
2014 FIFA World Cup Rombus Flag Animations
2015 ESPN College Football Animation Package Reel
ProximaBDA article on ESPN College Football rebrand
Jordan Giesler, Kansas City Chiefs
Brian Gundell

My next guest is going to be Sloane Kelley, Senior Director of Content for the PGA Tour. Sloane has an extensive agency background and has been with the PGA for 3 years. She recently spoke at SXsports on VR and golf.

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