Hello There.

My name is Jon Weiss. I work as a commercial video artist, specializing in motion graphic animation. Operating in the space between traditional animation and visual effects, I work with illustration, photos, video, type and a range of other digitally-generated elements to created mixed-media 2D animation.

My practice spans the entire production cycle of animated work, from conceptualization, writing, and design all the way through illustration, animation, editing, and color and sound. This free-ranging, multi-disciplinary approach is fun for me, providing variety and the ability to craft a project from beginning to end. It also provides tremendous flexibility and efficiency for my clients. I pair these creative skills with an extensive technical skillset, spanning a wide range of illustration, animation, digital compositing, and postproduction visual effects techniques. This allows me a broad stylistic range and the ability to move seamlessly across a diverse mixture of media.     

Do you want to tell a story visually, but don’t have the option of using footage to do it? Do you have a complex or abstract idea to explain, and need visuals to make it click? When paired with good writing and solid design, animation is a powerful tool to solve creative challenges that are common in short-form documentary and journalistic work, video essays, and other “explainer”-type videos. If you’re facing such a creative challenge, give me a shout– let’s see what we can think up.

Curriculum Vitae

I bring over 23 years of experience, robust formal training, and a strong & distinctive graphic design sensibility to my work.

I started in design in 2001, and have been full-time freelance since 2003. My practice has been focused on video since 2007. I transitioned from Flash to Adobe After Effects on version 6.0, and AE has been my trusty steed ever since, through 21 versions of the software…and counting. Suffice it to say, I’ve got that saddle nicely broken in.

I hold a Masters degree in Fine Art from the Design+Technology program at Parsons, where I studied narrative media with a focus on motion graphics. I also hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Gallatin School at New York University. If you’re interested, you can check out more details of my resume on LinkedIn.

I live and work in the great small town of Pawlet, Vermont. When not at my desk, I serve my community as Chief of our volunteer fire department. I am also a passionate educator, and my “side gig” is teaching firefighters as a lead instructor for the Vermont Fire Academy.

So, uh… what the heck is a Surfacist?

Surfacism is a made-up term that started as a joke way back in my MFA thesis studio, but has come to both describe and inform my practice. As a 2D animator I make composite work, layering flat pieces of media atop one another. I am a specialist in working with planes: surfaces. But in a more figurative sense, I see video itself as a surface. When someone watches a time-based work on screen, she might find it to be compelling or boring, graceful or awkward, beautiful or ugly. What is being judged isn’t just one character design, or one color choice, or one transition, it is the piece as a coherent whole. You can’t shift your angle, or run your hands over it, or pick up one small piece and hold it up to the light. Video is peculiar in this way. It goes together like a building, piece by piece, layer by layer. But when finished, it’s not like a building, it’s much more like the reflection of a building in a still pond: a surface.

This is the idea I like to keep in mind as I approach my work.