Blog

A Work in Progress

Six years of learning, building, and finding direction.

Sometimes the best way to get an opportunity is to create one for yourself.

When I first established this business during the pandemic, I didn't have an elaborate business plan or a clearly defined roadmap. I had an interest in entering the creative industry, a desire to try something different, and a general sense that I needed to make something happen.

At that point, I had spent roughly ten years working in sales. It was a completely different professional environment from the one I was hoping to enter, but I was ready to experiment with something new. With so much uncertainty surrounding the world at the time, it seemed like as good an opportunity as any to take a chance on an idea.

I figured that if I wanted experience in an industry, I needed to find a way to generate that experience myself. Rather than waiting for the perfect opportunity to come along, I decided to start building one.

That decision eventually became the foundation for this business.

Six years later, the original idea has evolved quite a bit.

The company has gone through several iterations, including multiple versions of its website, changing ideas, and plenty of experimentation. Each version represented where I was at that particular point in time. None of them were particularly groundbreaking, and the next iteration probably won't be either. But that's okay. The objective has never been to create the illusion of something bigger than it is. It's been to build something meaningful and continue moving it forward.

The Value of Starting Over

Basketball was a major part of my life growing up. It provided opportunities to compete, earn scholarships, pursue higher education, and ultimately earn a degree. More importantly, it introduced me to the discipline, repetition, and patience required to improve at something.

There's something interesting about dedicating yourself to a particular craft. The more time you put into it, the better you understand your strengths, weaknesses, and the areas where you can make the greatest impact.

Basketball also taught me something about specialization. It's a team sport, after all. Not everyone needs to be exceptional at everything. Some players excel at shooting, others at facilitating, defending, rebounding, or creating opportunities for their teammates. A team's strength comes from bringing those individual abilities together.

In many ways, my experience with creative production has been the opposite.

I've deliberately chosen to explore several disciplines simultaneously: 3D modeling, animation, and game design. Each has its own learning curve, technical demands, and creative possibilities. Just when I begin to feel comfortable with one aspect, there's another technique, workflow, or concept that reminds me how much more there is to learn.

In some ways, I feel like a rookie all over again.

There's always something to improve, another skill to develop, or another challenge to figure out. It's both humbling and exciting. The process has forced me to approach creativity with the same patience and discipline that I once applied to basketball.

But it's also made me recognize something important: there's only so much one person can accomplish alone.

Learning the Craft

One of the biggest challenges of working in creative production is recognizing just how much there is to learn.

3D modeling, animation, and game development are each disciplines in their own right. They require different ways of thinking, different technical abilities, and a willingness to constantly refine your approach.

There's a difference between getting something to work and understanding why it works. I'm increasingly interested in that distinction.

I don't just want to follow a tutorial, recreate an effect, or get a character moving on screen. I want to understand the underlying processes, develop better workflows, and eventually create things independently.

I spend considerable time building models by hand, working through animation processes, and figuring out how individual pieces fit together. There's something particularly rewarding about that level of involvement. When you've spent hours creating an asset or refining an animation, you develop a connection to the work that can be difficult to replicate.

You understand the decisions behind it because you've made them yourself.

Of course, that level of involvement comes with a trade-off. Learning and executing several disciplines individually takes time. Sometimes a lot of it. Progress can feel slow, especially when the ideas and ambitions you have are considerably larger than the resources currently available to execute them.

Still, I wouldn't trade the experience. Understanding the process from the ground up provides a foundation that I hope will be valuable long after these early projects are complete.

A Project of My Own: Project Pressure

One of the projects I'm particularly excited about is The Path: Project Pressure.

This isn't simply another project I'm experimenting with. It's a passion project, and in many ways, the first major creative undertaking I've wanted to see through from beginning to end.

As I've developed more skills and gained a better understanding of the creative process, I wanted to put those abilities toward something I would genuinely be excited to make.

Project Pressure is an original game concept centered around storytelling, character development, interactive environments, and player-driven decisions. At its core, it's an exploration of growing up, navigating difficult circumstances, and making decisions that can influence the direction of your life.

What makes the project particularly special to me is the opportunity to be involved in nearly every aspect of its development. From conceptualizing the world and creating its characters to modeling assets, exploring animation, and bringing everything together in a game environment, I've enjoyed having that level of creative control.

It's a challenging undertaking, particularly when so much of the work is being done independently. But seeing individual pieces gradually come together has been incredibly rewarding.

More than anything, it's given me a reason to keep learning. Every new skill opens another possibility for the project, and every challenge presents an opportunity to become a better creator.

Building Something Bigger

As much as I enjoy the hands-on process of creating things, I also recognize its limitations.

The ambitions I have for this organization extend beyond what one person can reasonably accomplish. I'd love to eventually work alongside other artists, developers, animators, designers, and creative minds who bring their own experiences and specialties to the table.

The goal isn't simply to produce more work. It's to create opportunities for different talents and perspectives to come together and accomplish things that would be difficult, if not impossible, individually.

I'd love to explore projects on a much larger scale, whether that's developing a substantial video game, producing an animated series, or pursuing other creative ventures that combine different forms of storytelling and production.

There's a long way to go before reaching that level, but it's an ambition worth working toward.

In a lot of ways, this brings me back to basketball. You can spend years developing your individual abilities, but there's a different kind of potential when you bring together people who know how to do things you don't.

I want this organization to eventually reflect that philosophy.

Moving Forward

The original motivation behind this business was to create an opportunity for myself. Over time, that motivation has evolved into something more.

I want to have fun creating things, explore ideas, share a creative vision, and build an environment where other people can contribute their talents. I want to develop projects that are enjoyable to make, meaningful to experience, and ambitious enough to challenge what we think we can accomplish.

This website is another step in that direction.

It has gone through several versions over the years, and this latest iteration is simply another stage in its development. It provides a place to share projects, document progress, introduce ideas, and begin establishing a more consistent presence for the organization.

Moving forward, I hope to share more of the work that goes into these projects: the concepts, experiments, challenges, creative decisions, and finished products.

There's still plenty to learn, plenty to improve, and a considerable amount of work ahead.

But six years ago, I decided to create an opportunity for myself. Today, I'm working toward creating something that can provide opportunities for others, too.

It's still developing, still evolving, and still very much a work in progress.

And that's exactly where it should be.