A Conversation with Olivia Ema
Fall Creative Technologist Series
Olivia Ema is a London-based creative technologist, interdisciplinary designer and digital artist specialising in emerging technologies and motion graphics. Olivia seamlessly blends knowledge from various fields to create immersive visual experiences, exemplifying an interdisciplinary approach in her work. To check-out the full conversation with Olivia, click here.
About
The CCS Creative Technologist series is a quarterly event that invites a working creative technologist to the d.school. Guests share highlights of their work, tips on how to build a communicative and powerful portfolio, and stories around navigating their career in the creative technology space and adjacent industries.
Fall 2024 Guest: Olivia Ema
Over fall quarter, the CCS had a chance to speak with Olivia Ema, a creative technologist and digital artist based in London. Olivia started her career in advertising, working on tv, ads and social. She had a desire to feel more creatively challenged, and transitioned into freelance work to explore designing exhibitions, installations and experiences with a range of emerging technologies. Olivia has pursued a career on her own terms through experimentation and cultivating a strong creative practice.
Our greatest learnings and highlights from our conversation with Olivia:
Cultivate a Practice of Experimentation: Olivia shared how important it is to make time for experimentation, and how it’s become a fundamental part of her creative practice. She called it “getting ready to get ready.” Through constant experimentation, we can gauge our own capabilities, showcase our work no matter how small or large, attract collaborators and clients, and discover new mediums to explore our passions. Olivia gave the example of her work on digital avatars and metahumans, and how she used it as an opportunity to explore her love of dance, using software like Unreal Engine and facial motion capture. Olivia’s public experiments led her to be hired by the Digital Body Festival to make a film about dance, and through this project she was able to explore her personal heritage, by centering the Ekombi dance from Nigeria (inspired heavily by the movements of the ocean). The film also explored digital consciousness, and cultural norms around the body and identity, inspired by the book Glitch Feminism by Legacy Russell.
She also shared how important it is to take others on your journey of experimentation, and even if some ideas aren’t well received, you can keep those ideas for yourself and future endeavors.
Build Networks: In our conversation, Olivia emphasized the importance of networking across, not just up, in social networks. She gave us examples of how she’s worked with friends, people from university, and other creative technologists she’s met at conferences. Working across networks can help you make new connections and hop on new projects. Olivia also shared that collaborating with peers can be less nerve-wracking than approaching higher-ups. She encouraged students to find creative partners and community by attending events.
Create a Dynamic Portfolio: Olivia has an impressive and expressive portfolio. She shared that it’s important to have fun with your portfolio and treat it like a playground. When others visit, they can feel the energy! Use it as an opportunity to show your passion and care for what you’re working on (which can also prevent you from being put in a specific box). Allow your uniqueness to shine.
Olivia’s work around digital avatars and metahumans.
Share Your Work: Olivia consistently shares her work through her website, social media platforms like Instagram, and Substack (where she reflects on each project and outlines her learnings). Sharing her work and experiments has been one way she’s drawn the attention of collaborators and clients who are aligned with her vision and interests. Olivia shared how others have seen her work and asked for similar projects to be commissioned. This is opposed to the dominant route of having to mold and shape herself to existing opportunities.
Sharing your work can also strengthen your self-belief, creative confidence and help you find your voice.
Build Your Resourcefulness: Resources come in all formats. They could be time, networks to other designers, access to free software, etc. Olivia underscored finding ways to creatively construct your career by using the resources you have, and to build them over time.
Make Transitions: It can be difficult to make a full leap into creative and artistic work. Olivia discussed how it can be a balancing act between keeping a full-time stable job, and experimenting on the side. Everyone’s situation is different and finding the right time to completely transition can be challenging. It’s a balancing act, and money management is key.
Ask for Assistance: Olivia shared that it’s Important to communicate what you need. As a creative technologist, sometimes people you work with might see you as a highly creative person, and then leave you on your own to figure everything out. Olivia demonstrated how she makes lots of decks and visual aids to sell ideas and her creative process, incorporating the implementation/execution plan and tools or software needed. Creating these resources can be an effective way to communicate your project needs to others.