Chasing Work: The Story Behind “Available for Work”
“Available for Work” began with a feeling that will be familiar to many creatives right now: finding work can feel like chasing something that is always moving just beyond your reach.
Instead of writing another serious announcement about being available, I wanted to turn that frustration into a playful visual story. The result became the first piece in a short experimental series—a humorous reflection on the current creative market and the strange emotional experience of looking for your next opportunity.
The Idea
The story is deliberately simple.
A character notices the enormous word WORK and immediately becomes focused on reaching it. Just as she gets close, a cursor appears and begins interfering with her world. It distracts her, controls the environment and ultimately triggers an explosion that makes her disappear.
The character is the protagonist, endlessly pursuing work. The cursor represents an invisible designer—or perhaps the unpredictable forces controlling the job market. It is playful, slightly cruel and always one step ahead.
This relationship created the central joke: the character is “available for work,” but the work itself remains frustratingly elusive.
The animation loops back to the beginning, suggesting that the chase never really ends. Apply, wait, follow up, start again.
Developing the visual language
I wanted the piece to feel contemporary, graphic and slightly surreal. Oversized typography became part of the environment rather than simply a title. The word WORK feels physical—something the character can look at, approach and almost catch.
The cursor and interface-inspired graphics introduced another layer to the story. They belong to the digital world of the designer, while the character appears to be trapped inside it. This created a tension between two creative forces: the visible protagonist and the invisible person orchestrating everything around her.
The bright editorial colours, stylised character and playful movement help keep the piece humorous, even though it comes from a very real frustration.
A hybrid animation process
The project combines traditional motion-design techniques in After Effects with AI-generated character performance.
I first developed the composition, typography, cursor movement and overall timing. These elements became the structure of the animation and established where the character needed to look, react and move.
I then used AI animation to explore the character performance, focusing on subtle acting details such as eye direction, head movement, expression and physical reactions. The challenge was to preserve the original design and timing while allowing the character to feel alive.
The generated character animation was brought back into After Effects, where I refined the keying, compositing, transitions, typography and final explosion. Sound design and a fast techno soundtrack helped connect the character’s movements to the cursor and gave the short piece its final energy.
AI was not the source of the idea. It became one material within a broader design and animation process—another way to experiment with performance while keeping the concept, art direction and storytelling carefully controlled.
“Available for Work” is ultimately a small visual joke about a difficult moment. But it is also a genuine announcement: I am available for motion-design opportunities, and I am still chasing the next good piece of work.
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