Mistakes I made learning motion design (so you don't have to) + March update

👋 Welcome to the latest edition of my monthly motion design newsletter, where I bring you fresh tutorials, a sneak peak of what’s coming soon, a handy tip, and a random recommendation!

🥳 New

Teaching yourself motion design is absolutely possible — I did it. But looking back, I can see that I made some mistakes along the way and I certainly didn’t take the most efficient route to becoming a motion designer. In this new YouTube video, I talk about 6 things I wish I knew when I was first starting out.

I also created a free checklist that maps out the skills and concepts you should focus on learning first, so you don't have to figure that out the hard way.

Download The Motion Designer's Starter Checklist

You can learn many of the fundamental After Effects skills on this checklist through my free YouTube series. It's a solid place to start.

🤫 Sneak Peak

Speaking of how to most efficiency learn motion design… After 7 years teaching in-person and online, the clearest pattern I've seen is this: students who follow a structured path get good significantly faster. Not because they're more talented, but because they build the right habits from the beginning instead of spending months correcting the wrong ones.

If you want to take a more direct route, I’m so excited to be launching my new, beginner After Effects course soon! It covers the fundamentals of animation and how to actually think like a motion designer. It’s what I needed when I was first starting.

Join the waitlist

Waitlist members will get early access, plus a special launch discount. 🎉

⚡ Quick Tip

This new feature in the 2026 After Effects update hasn’t gotten much attention, but it could have saved me hours on a project a few months ago!

To easily resize a composition to the size of the selected layer or layers:

Select the layer or layers you want to crop to
Go to Composition → Crop Comp to Selected Layer(s) Bounds

So useful!

👉 Random Recommendation

This one is reallllly random. 😊 In high school I went to South Africa (I was competing in the World Rope Skipping Championships). We went on a safari and they had these granola bar-like snacks called “crunchies” that were so good, I’ve remembered them years later. I’ve tried to make them before (they weren't as good), but recently tried a new, slightly healthier recipe made with almond flour. And they were so good!! Unlike some almond flour baked goods, they didn’t get soggy. I didn’t make this recipe, but it’s worth sharing. 😋