How a personal test ended up in a show

🟧 How 1 exercise turned into a project for an exhibition

There was a time (not that long ago honestly) when every personal project I imagined felt too big to start.

Too many moving parts. Too many unknowns. Should I learn a new skill everytime? Push the ones I feel like I already started?

I kept trying to come up with the perfect concept, something original, something that felt worth the time.

But the more I thought about it, the less I moved.

Then I started a project that made me change that mindset.

The good thing, is that it wasn’t meant to be a full case study project.

The initial idea came from the tiles that we see on our grandma’s houses. Those that in places like Lisbon they are everywhere.

Well, a version of that but digital and moving. Not moving the exact designs but to reinterpret them.

Photo published at Unique Tours Factory

This, brought to my idea of an exercise, one that could translate into a series of small, modular animations.

My limitations were to work only with 3 or 4 layers of elements, that I could change and generate new, so they can create new combinations.

Each one felt like a block: self-contained, clear.

And for once, the process was simple.

I wasn’t reinventing anything. I just had a clear boundary to work inside.

And that made a difference.

I kept working with these weeks in and out. And in a few months I already had more than a 100 variations of these animations.

I started to see how to make also other versions, slightly different, with less elements, with more, with fake 3d. Exploring many options.

And it started to be a project that I share on my reels and as its own project.

The great thing came early this year, when I got to see a piece of this project exhibited at DEMO Fest in the Netherlands.

At Amsterdam’s central station

The first time I actually got to see a piece I’ve made in real life.

And a great reminder that a small format can become a bigger thing, not because it tries to, but because you keep showing up to it.

I did a recap of that event on this post right here:

It also helped me let go of this idea that personal projects have to be necessarily deep or different.

Sometimes they’re just a way to get moving again.

That’s a big part of why I started the practice group.

Not to teach anything.

Just to create the kind of small, focused space I wish I had earlier.

Somewhere to try things. To give and get feedback.

To keep your creative muscles active, even if you’re short on time.

👇 If that sounds like something you’ve needed too:

You can check more info below:

the Practice File

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