Who the hell is Ed Steadman?

We’re chatting with members of the DixonBaxi studio about what makes them who they are. From the professional to the personal, nothing is off limits here. Introducing Ed, a motion designer and musician who’s also very good at maths.

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Ed and I’m one of the motion designers here at DixonBaxi.

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What’s your story?
So it took me a little while to find my feet. I finished school with qualifications in maths and physics but knew it wasn’t where my passion lied. So I went off to college to study creative media production before moving on to do editing and post-production at uni. From there I started working at creative agencies, initially as a video editor using motion graphics to support my edits, before choosing to move into motion design full time.

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What are you working on right now?
I’m currently wrapping up a job we’ve been working on for one of our entertainment clients for the last few months. It’s been really fun as we’ve been able to push them in a very new direction. At the moment, I’m finalising all our motion kits for delivery and creating motion assets for the digital guidelines. It’s a really fun process to be creating a website for the guidelines, everything from how a button animates on press, to showing off all our AV brand assets, we’re ensuring that the guidelines are completely reflective of the energy we’ve built into the brand.

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“I think good design comes in so many different forms, but at its heart it’s something that enhances whatever it touches.”

Describe your working style in 3 words.
Pragmatic. Chaotic. Oxymoronic. After saying that I realise I have basically just given you the “organised chaos” cliché in a new form…

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Tell us about some of your interests – what are you into?
I have a few to be fair. I love rock music, playing guitar and going to gigs. I’m always up-to-date with what’s going on in the gaming world and I love to cook. Also cats are great.

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Do you think design can change the world? How?
I think design is a great catalyst for change. Whether it’s a really provocative advertisement that gets the right person’s attention, or a new product that reaches millions of people.

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If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
Too many things, but an important one for me is better mental health awareness. I think one of the silver linings from the pandemic is this has definitely improved over the last few years, but there’s still more that could be done.

What’s the last song you listened to?
I’m not 100% sure to be honest, but there’s a good chance it was something from the Tik Tik Boom soundtrack as I’ve pretty much had that on repeat since I watched the film a few weeks ago.

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Why do you do what you do? What motivates you?
I think because I love creativity and self expression, but I equally like technical challenges and solving problems. So the challenge of creating a brand that looks incredible but can also be systemised and meets the many needs of a modern brand fits that combination really well.

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What’s your definition of good design?
I think good design comes in so many different forms, but at its heart it’s something that enhances whatever it touches.