John Conway

Associate Professor, Graphic Design

John Conway

Professional profile

John Conway started his career as an animator specializing in 3D animation and later branched into motion graphics. He has been a freelance animator for over 10 years and works mostly in advertising. His passion is music videos and has worked with Grammy-winning artist Ziggy Marley as well as local musicians. His other clients include Nissan, Dell, Kellogg's, Hershey's, Sesame Workshop, Houston Space Center, etc.

For the last 17 years, he has taught in many areas of computer animation and graphic design with a specialty in motion graphics and photography.

Education

  • Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • M.F.A., Computer Art, December 2004
  • Savannah College of Art and Design (Atlanta Campus), Atlanta, GA
  • B.F.A., Computer Animation & Digital Video, December 2001

Teaching philosophy

I’m interested in preparing my students for the jobs of the future since this is an ever-changing industry. Visual communication and technology are always changing and adapting to society's needs.

This starts by teaching foundational skills in visual communication. The skills that are

often related to traditional art and design and don’t rely on technology. These

skills can be adapted to new and emerging forms of media. After we establish the

foundation we get into more specific techniques using the software through hands-on class projects. These give the students an opportunity to use what they’ve been learning and turn that into something appealing for their target audience. Learning how to adapt and becoming creative thinkers will help them excel in their careers long after college.

There are many ways to approach a creative project and I find myself learning a lot from

my students after seeing the variety of interpretations of the same project. In the end, it is their creative approach and ability to translate their ideas into a visual form that will take them places in their future careers.

Teaching specialties

  • Motion Graphics, Character Animation, and Photography

Awards and honors

Chair of judges for the BEA Student Film Festival Animation/Experimental/Mixed Category, 2020-2021

American Advertising Awards, March 2019

Silver Addy for “Beauty Meets Beast” commercial.

BEA Broadcast Education Association,

4 Awards of Excellence won in the Faculty Film Festival from 2018 - 2020.

American Advertising Awards, March 2015

Best in Digital for “Onli Beverage” commercial.