Motion Designer Desk Setup in the UK

Name: Dan Silvestone

Location: Wolverhampton, UK

Occupation: Motion Designer/Director

Room size: 2.2×2.6 m or 6 m² (65 ft²)

Cost of setup: ~£8K ($10K)

Social media: Instagram, X

Website: Pica

Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m Dan Silverstone.

I’m a freelance motion designer and director operating under the superhero pseudonym ‘Pica’, specialising in mixed media 2D and faux 3D motion graphics.

I create, make, render, encode, and upload projects with influences taken from video games, physics-based simulations, and everything in between.

I worked for Birmingham City Council for far too many years until I joined a design agency (GRIN) in Birmingham, where I levelled up, became an Art Director, and then bid farewell during the lockdown years!

I’ve since pursued my passion for motion design through my freelance career, collaborating with a variety of design studios and a range of renowned brands.

Take us through your setup

When I moved house, I bagged one of the rooms (my now mini-studio) before my kids could!

They still have their own rooms, I’m not that selfish!

The room was the right size for me and what I wanted — which was basically to surround myself with good things for good vibes :)

The bespoke floating desk was created and fitted by MJBespoke Furniture during lockdown and allows for freedom of movement around the room, providing ample space for legroom and space for my base unit.

Also, there are plenty of holes for cables to disappear and a section for cables to hide entirely on the back underside of the desk.

From there, I built out the room, purchasing a Tylko bookshelf which matches the finish of the desk.

I’m a bit of a gamer.

Always have been, and now I have a nine and six-year-old, I’m getting them into games too.

The Fallout bobbleheads were collected way back during Fallout 3 but I’ve been playing Fallout since its inception way back in 1997.

Fallout 1 and 2 are still the best versions of this game.

That’s a hill I’m prepared to die on.

The Amazon Prime series does a good job of capturing this world and pays homage to the earlier games too. If you know, you know.

Atlas and P-Body are playable characters in Portal 2 (2011), one of the greatest puzzle adventures ever created.

I played this with my stepson, whom I still play games with (Helldivers 2) today.

The assortment of Super Mario figures are from Super Mario World 3D, which again, is another multiplayer game that is great to play with the fam.

I have these dotted around me to remind myself of the screaming and laughing that goes on when we’re playing together.

My kids and I also have a world on Minecraft, which we play on from time to time, but I surprisingly don’t have anything from Minecraft in my studio!

My monitor setup has since seen a few upgrades too, now settling on a 32″ for my main driver (to be upgraded to OLED very soon), which is great for colour accuracy and prioritising retail space for After Effects, whilst the two satellite 27″ monitors provide easy access to other applications and exporting/drag-and-drop functions from one app to another.

Soft lighting hues from Govee illuminate prints and shelving units adorned with design ephemera and creative books, providing inspiration, whilst cascading Devil’s Ivy plants create a sense of calm and grounding for those chaotic periods of work!

I’ve been upgrading bits and pieces since I moved in here (coming up to four years), the main being my PC base unit, which is on its fifth build (I build them myself).

Other notable upgrades would be my monitors, Steam Deck OLED and Xbox Elite Controller dock, and Stealth Deck on the underside of the desk.

Gaming sessions are important for a happy mind!

What’s your favourite item on your desk?

Too hard to pick one!

I love my Xbox Elite Controller, and I’m really happy with its placement.

The under-desk charger and dock is brilliant for me to pick up, play and put back without having to think about battery life.

Video games are a big part of my life.

Minecraft with my kids is great, and sessions with my wife on random indies with a fat glass of wine are the best!

Video games feature heavily in my work, both with clients and as inspiration, and they’re a great way for me to switch off.

Whilst not on my desk, I love my retro gaming console and computer poster from Read-Only Memory.

It was bought by the people I used to work with for my birthday one year. You can’t get it anymore, and that makes me happy!

The other thing which needs a mention is my (official) Fidget Cube.

Bought it ages ago, and it’s always with me during meetings and times when I get creative block. It’s a bit battered now!

I bought it a while ago when I used to work in a studio. My mate and I would mess about with them for hours.

We were pretty obsessed with them for a time. No idea why!

What apps or tools do you use to get things done?

Adobe After Effects is my daily driver.

I can’t get much work done without it!

Illustrator features high on the list too as you can’t really have one without the other.

Vector-based artwork is created or edited in Illustrator and imported into After Effects where I animate the hell out of it :)

Figma is used to import storyboards into Illustrator and I’ve recently been dabbling in Blender to add more 3D and depth to my work.

What books, blogs, or podcasts recently caught your attention?

I’m a proud owner of a signed copy of the Love, Death + Robots artbook.

The programme is a massive source of inspiration alongside other programmes such as Arcane, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Rick & Morty, Solar Opposites and Invincible to name a few.

Video games also provide loads of inspiration (Cyberpunk 2077, Cocoon, Planet of Lana, Sea of Stars, Control — can’t list them all, we’d be here all day).

There are scenes from these games and programmes that just stick with me.

The Noclip Podcast/CrewCast is great if you love video games.

Off Menu is good for a laugh too.

Any books from the good people at Read-Only Memory and my retro gaming art books from Bitmap Books are great to flick through for a hit of inspiration or nostalgia.

Any tips for other makers who want to improve their workspaces?

Buy neon strip lights.

Don’t be scared of colour.

What does your typical day look like?

• 7 am: Wake up, feed cats, and make the kids porridge with banana and honey.
• 8 am: Send stupid reels to mates.
• 8:30 am: School run.
• 8:55 am: Start work/Turn PC on (lights on a timer, so already on), check emails, Slack channels, and start work.
• 9 am — 12 pm: Graft with a couple of coffees in-between + synthwave on loud or Noclip podcast throughout.
• 12 pm — 1 pm: Lunch, which usually involves going to the shops to get food for dinner later on.

• 1 pm — 4:30 pm: Graft.
• 4:30 pm: Get kids from school club.
• 5 pm: Make dinner and eat with fam.
• 6 pm: Check back with work.
• 7 pm: Stop working (sometimes work till 9, 10, 11 pm depending on deadlines/requirements).
• 8 pm: Put kids to bed.
• 8:30 pm: Chill out with my wife or play on the Steam Deck if she’s watching something rubbish :) OR jump back on the PC to play the heavier games (Starting Alan Wake 2 soon…).

Even though I’ve been at my desk for a large portion of the day, I’m very good at switching off from work and going into game mode.

I’ve started to hot-desk at a place near me to get out a bit more as cabin fever can creep in from time to time.

Not often at all, but it happens, so it’s good to get out sometimes.

I love my setup and house though, so I’m pretty cosy where I am!

Your tips for working from home?

Make sure you’ve got a Spotify account loaded up with bangers.

Buy plants, they’re good for the soul.

Get up and move around a bit throughout the day.

It’s easy to sit and graft for the entire day but not good for your head or body.

Walk around in the garden (one of my fav places) or get out of your working space for a bit.

I use Google Calendar to set up my working day, week, and months.

Make sure you have a clear working plan each day and don’t include your weekends in that plan.

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