Premiere Pro and After Effects

Motion Graphics & Video Editing

While my core focus has always been illustration, I’ve truly enjoyed exploring what’s possible with Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro. These programs open up a whole new world for bringing artwork to life. There’s something especially exciting about taking vector art from Illustrator into After Effects and watching it move, transition, and tell a bigger story. Premiere Pro then helps carry that video across the finish line into a polished, professional piece.

I don’t position myself as a full-time motion graphics specialist, but this skillset has become a really valuable addition to my creative toolbox. It allows me to offer clients more than just static visuals when a project calls for animation or light video editing.

Augmented Reality Experiments

For a while, I also experimented with augmented reality as a way to push my two‑dimensional vector art into an even broader experience. The best part was that I didn’t need to plan for AR in advance. Because After Effects is so flexible, I was able to take artwork I had already created and use it as a resource to build something new. That kind of adaptability is what makes motion design feel so optimistic and full of possibility.

A Growing Skillset

Most of the pieces you see here started as personal experiments or self‑promotion. At this stage, I’m not competing with full‑time motion designers, and I’m upfront about that. But what I can offer is a genuine creative eye, solid illustration skills, and the ability to handle light motion work and video editing as a supportive part of a larger project. If you already love my illustration style, this adds another way we can work together.

NOTE: My previous videos (which you can see here) were not all edited using Premiere Pro.

WHAT IS ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS?:

Adobe After Effects is a professional software application used for motion graphics, visual effects, and compositing. Developed by Adobe, it plays a key role in post production for film, television, and online media. After Effects is commonly used alongside Adobe Premiere Pro, a timeline based video editing program, to add animated elements, titles, and visual enhancements to finished video projects.

In practical terms, After Effects is the tool behind many of the animated graphics seen every day. Television news packages, streaming content, and commercial advertising often rely on After Effects to display moving text, colour treatments, transitions, and clean visual accents. It is also widely used for animation and modest visual effects work. Professionals who work in this software are typically known as motion designers or motion graphics designers.

At Escape Key Graphics, After Effects allows illustrated artwork to move beyond static presentation. Vector illustrations can be animated to add depth, clarity, and visual interest, making them especially effective for websites, social media, and digital marketing. As illustration continues to shift from print toward online platforms, animation provides a natural extension that supports both printed materials and digital experiences, giving clients an engaging way to bring their visual stories to life.

Much of the motion design done in Adobe After Effects is created using vector art from Adobe Illustrator. To learn more about that please see my Adobe Illustrator Portfolio.

WHAT IS ADOBE PREMIERE PRO?:

Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional, timeline based video editing application developed by Adobe. It is widely recognised as an industry standard for editing video content for film, television, and online platforms. Premiere Pro has been used on major broadcast productions as well as feature films, including titles such as Deadpool, demonstrating its flexibility and professional credibility.

The software supports the full range of modern video editing needs, from straightforward cuts to complex, broadcast quality productions in high definition and beyond. It replaces traditional cut and splice editing with a powerful digital workflow that allows editors to organise footage, refine timing, adjust colour, mix audio, and prepare content for a wide variety of delivery formats. While it is especially common in television and web production, it is equally capable of handling cinematic projects.

At Escape Key Graphics, Adobe Premiere Pro is used to edit and assemble video content that supports illustration, motion graphics, and visual storytelling. Earlier projects were edited using CyberLink PowerDirector, which remains a capable and user friendly option. The transition to Premiere Pro in 2017 expanded creative flexibility and integration with other Adobe tools, allowing for a more efficient workflow and a higher level of polish across video based projects.

AFTER EFFECTS ANIMATIONS / MOTION DESIGN / ANIMATED ILLUSTRATIONS: