
Available for
Keynote, Fireside Chat, Panel, Emcee, Workshop and TrainingFee Ranges
US East: $5,000 – $10,000*
US West: $5,000 – $10,000*
Europe: $10,000 – $20,000*
Asia: $10,000 – $20,000*
Other: Please inquire
* Ranges are presented as a guideline only. Speaker fees vary by engagement type and are subject to change without notice. For an exact quote, please contact Gravity Speakers.
Traveling From
Illinois, USAAbout
Sarofsky Founder and Executive Creative Director, Erin Sarofsky, got up the nerve to launch her own design-driven production studio in 2009, and she hasn’t looked back since. In fact, the experiences keep getting sweeter. Her work with a Who’s Who list of top-level marketing and entertainment industry executives is based on deep relationships forged over time. For example, her experiences with directors Joe and Anthony Russo, with whom she collaborated on main titles for Community and Happy Endings, led to her studio’s selection to create the main titles for the Marvel blockbuster Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That relationship with Marvel Studios continued on to include six additional films: Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Her wealth of industry connections also draws from past experiences as a Creative Director for Superfad in New York and for Digital Kitchen in Chicago. So far in her career, she has led commercial projects for Absolut, Apple, Aleve, Capital One, CenturyLink, Cisco, General Motors, Jeep, Kimberly Clark, Netflix, Conagra, McDonald’s, The CFA Institute, and Facebook, among many others.
Erin earned her BFA in graphic design and an MFA in computer graphics from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Main Title Design in 2006, over the past several years she has spoken at numerous universities, Toronto International Film Festival, AIGA’s National Design Conference, Canada’s DesignThinkers National Design Conference, the Lake FX Summit, OFFF Creative Festivals in both Barcelona and Mexico City, Motion Plus Design in Paris, the Motion Conference in Santa Fe, and FITC events in Canada and the U.S.A., to name but a few. 2017 highlights include breaking new ground with Netflix and YouTube Red to create main titles for their popular new original series, winning Animation Effects Award Festival Gold and ArtoftheTitle.com “Top 10 of 2017” honors, an in-depth feature story in the illustrious international Communication Arts Magazine… and being named among Newcity Magazine’s Film 50 spotlighting the leaders of Chicago’s movie and TV culture. A past Women in Film Chicago Focus Award winner and a 2017 Graphic Design USA Person to Watch, Erin is also the Honorary Chair for Women’s Global Education Project’s Annual Ndajee Fundraiser.
Looking to the future, Erin and her talented crew of artists, designers, and producers at Sarofsky are excited to continue to bring new levels of conceptual design to major brands across the advertising and entertainment industries.
Topics
Design In Motion
Motion design isn’t just After Effects animation – and it certainly isn’t just animating supers on commercials anymore. The medium has evolved into what Erin lovingly calls “mixed media” – everything from 2d animation to cel, 3d, VFX, compositing, color correction, design-driven editorial… and yes, even live action production. In her presentation, Erin will share a variety of work, driven by concept and executed with passion. The projects range from big Marvel Studios main-on-end sequences to comedy-driven main titles… and from traditional commercials to short social media pieces. She will even break down a project from pitch to delivery, sharing its key milestones and some of the decision-making process. The common thread to Sarofsky’s work is that it is design-driven; that guiding principle will guide the discussion.
Objectives:
- To give attendees a broad overview of the skills and tools necessary to be a top-notch motion designer, from basic working tips, to how concept plays a role in fuelling design.
- To share fun, inside stories from behind-the-scenes that make or break projects.
Target Audience:
- Motion designers at all levels: People looking to be inspired.
- Designers and creative thinkers who are interested in production, but aren’t sure where to begin.
- Anyone looking to become intimately familiar with the production process.
Key Takeaways:
- How general design principles are the foundation of even the most high-profile projects.
- How concept is also the backbone to a successful job.
- An overview of all the skillsets involved in motion graphics.
- The complexities and “gotchas” of design, live action and motion graphics processes.
- Details of the pitch process all the way through job delivery.
The Dos and Don’ts of Motion Design Domination
Depending on who you talk to, either God or “the devil” may “in the details.” At Sarofsky, they use animation, visual effects, computer graphics, and live-action to collaborate with clients, from concept to delivery, producing work that aims to be visceral, innovative and diverse. That work crosses all platforms, including commercials, TV, and film main title sequences and web efforts. In each and every studio collaboration, they must be the masters of details – but as they’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), those thoughtful realms that span from the tedious to the sublime are opportunities for awesomeness. In this presentation, this one-of-a-kind professional will highlight some of the more dramatic instances where attention-to-detail made her projects, her company and their collective work absolutely spectacular. Naturally, the keys include creative vision – and highly collaborative work environments.
Target Audience
Graphic design industry professionals, principals of graphic design, animation, VFX and production companies, creative industry professionals.
Six Things Audience Members Will Learn
- To a creative director and designer, what are the types of project details that really warrant personal attention?
- How do you optimize project planning to ensure that the important “broad strokes” work gets done and that the details get attention at the right times?
- What is the difference between A and A+ work, and how do you get clients and collaborators onboard to go the extra mile?
- What should you look for in key project collaborators (producers, VFX supervisors, editors, interns) to help them embrace detail management?
- What are some instances where attention-to-detail might very well land you the job (or project) of your dreams?
- As a company owner or freelancer, how can you leverage an understanding of your simplest goals to make good, effective decisions?
Sarofsky's Top 10 Design Philosophies
Sarofsky Corp. has a reputation for thoughtful use of animation, visual effects, computer graphics and live-action to produce innovative work across many platforms, including commercials, TV and film main title sequences and branded content. To a creative director and designer, what project details really warrant personal attention? What should you look for in key project collaborators to help them embrace detail management? What are some instances where attention-to-detail can help you land the project of your dreams? As a company owner or freelancer, how can you leverage an understanding of key design philosophies to make effective decisions? What’s the difference between A and A+ work, and how do you get clients and collaborators to go with you the extra mile?
Join Erin Sarofsky as she answers these questions and more and explains the design philosophies that make her company’s work spectacular.
The Truth about Clients
The one thing that connects all designers, no matter what medium or style, is that we all have clients. Clients play a significant role in the creative process and ultimately, have to be happy with the final product. Because of the collaborative nature of the relationship, designers need to manage the experience in ways that allow us to produce artful work and make the client feel heard. In this talk, Erin explores the not so subtle nuances of this vital relationship.
How to Build and Manage your In-House Creative Agency
There is a major trend that is massively impacting the brand marketing world. Increasingly, brands are forming their own internal creative agencies. Without proper evaluation and planning, creating an ill-conceived and ill-supported in-house creative agency can create a drain on the company’s resources, time, and energy. Erin will address this trend by providing guidance on pitfalls and best practices before your company takes the leap.