Eric Kassel: Creating something from nothing. Design, music, and beyond.

Eric Kassel wears many hats; figuratively, and literally. Growing up it looked like he was going to be a professional musician.  He played in punk rock bands and he eventually went to the Berklee College of Music… for just one year.  It wasn’t the place for him and he ventured off, creating his own path.  Overtime, Eric found that his love for music and visuals created something beautiful; band posters. In his exploration of creating this synthesis of music and media, it quickly opened the doors to the world of graphic design and his professional path.  

“Making something out of nothing.  I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of… something pops into your head, and then how can you turn that thought into something physical and tangible, or at least as tangible as digital things can get nowadays.” 

The process of making something doesn’t always come easy, even for someone like Eric who has been focused on creating his entire life.  With all of his interests and abilities to express himself, it can be challenging for him to make things into reality.  “I’m always asking, ‘what’s the first small step that I have to do’, and continually trying to break a project down into it’s smallest components and then just decide on what’s one thing I could do right now.  I have more success if I trick myself into doing something by basically telling myself that I just have to this one little tiny thing and make it as small as possible.  Inevitably, you find that three or four hours has passed and suddenly that little thing became BIGGER, and over time it gets done.”

This step-by-step methodology produces amazing results in his motion graphics work, a place where it becomes obvious that his love of music and rhythm fuses with design.  “When I’m working on videos, animations, or motion graphics, I’m highly cognizant of things like rhythm and timing, and how things progress over time which I think comes from music.  For me it began with music.  I was interested in art and music as a kid, but I kinda gravitated more towards music.” 

The fluidity of his art in motion is captivating, and one can only imagine how many little steps it must have taken to get the desired effect and natural flow to it all.  Getting into the details presents it’s own challenge,  Eric says that in his experience you have to “zoom out!” and take a look at it for a while…  “It’s having that ability to step back and see the forest through the trees, and not get really bogged down in the details.”

The essence of what Eric does is create.  He idealistically wants to create something everyday, and although sometimes he doesn’t complete something in a day, he’s ready for the next opportunity to express himself.  When asked what creating is like for him he said, “It’s a trance. It’s that flow moment when you suddenly kind of snap out of it and realize that two or three hours have passed in the blink of an eye.  When you’re really in that zone, it’s a trance.“

Eric Kassel is a designer, motion graphics artist, and musician based in Minneapolis. He is currently starting a virtual agency—Lake & Pine (lakeandpine.io)—with a partner in Seattle. He is also Creative Director at Visual, a company that focuses on virtual reality experiences. Wellness VR, their flagship product, is designed to create natural, anxiety-reducing experiences for the elderly community and senior living facilities.

Thank you to Wistia for the music! 

"Cayuga Summer"
Recorded at Wistia HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Written and arranged by Dan Mills
Performed by Dan Mills
Engineered and mixed by Dan Mills
Mastered by Rob Murray