About
Hey my name is Desmond Du, and I’m Singaporean NYC-based Motion Designer and Creative Technologist at Diagonal Media. I work at the intersection of design, animation, code, operations, building systems that help creative teams move smarter, navigate unambiguity, and scale meaningful over time. This often involves organizing shared knowledge, building reusable tools and templates, automating repeatable tasks, developing custom workflows, and conducting creative analysis to uncover value and direction.
I previously worked at WarnerMedia Studios in Atlanta. I also run NoSleepCreative, a YouTube channel dedicated to motion designers, and teach the Domestika course Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design, with over 8,000 students enrolled. Occasionally, I teach in person, such as a workshop at UT Dallas and a UX design course at Miami Ad School in New York.
I’m also available for speaking engagements, workshops, and training sessions. Get in touch with me at desmond@duitbetter.com.
Interviews
Video
F9 Collective — Expressions in AE and How Coding Ties Creativity – 2026
Uneasy Ease: The Real Talk about Motion Design — Ep. 02: Design & Business – 2025
Ravie & Co. — Let’s Chat With: Desmond Du (The Daily Motion Show Ep. 31) – 2023
Motion Mondays — Inside The Life of Desmond Du – Episode 1 – 2020
Written
SCAD — SCAD Savannah Excelsus Laureate – 2023
CanvasRebel Magazine — Meet Desmond Du – 2022
Shoutout Atlanta — Local Stories: Meet Desmond Du | Motion Designer & AE Tutorial Maker – 2021
VoyageATL — Meet Desmond Du of Du It Better in Midtown – 2020
Publications
Awards Experts — How to Create a Case Film that Works For Your Team – 2026
Domestika — 3 Cheat Expressions to Save Time in After Effects – 2023
Made by Loop — How to Get Better at Motion Design – 2021
Creative Bloq — The Designer’s Guide to Becoming Adobe Certified – 2018
Press & Feature
Creative Boom — Five Creative Projects We Loved in November, dentsu Media Trend Report, 2025
LBBOnline — United Industry Leaders Propel Young Motion Design Talent with Creative Codex – 2024
Award & Recognition
Telly Award, Silver — 3D Animation, Branded Content, Paxos – 2024
Telly Award, Bronze — Documentary Short, Non-Broadcast, Breaking the Fourth Wall – 2024
Rookies Awards — Rookie of the Year, Highly Commended, Motion Graphics –2023
SCAD — Excelsus Laureate (Top Graduate Student) & Graduation Speaker – 2023
Red Dot Award — Brands & Communication Design, Student Work, Event Title Sequence, CoMotion 2023 – 2023
Communication Arts — Design Annual 64, Student Work, CoMotion 2023 – 2024
Applied Arts Magazine — Student Category Winner, CoMotion 2023 – 2023
MODE Festival — Best Title Sequence, Finalist, CoMotion 2023 – 2023
Motion Awards — Student Title Sequence, CoMotion 2023 – 2023
SCAD — Dean’s Fellow Full Scholarship – 2019
SCAD — Frances McCommon Larkins Full Scholarship – 2016
Speaking Engagements
Conferences & Panels
SCAD CoMotion 2026 — Beyond Borders, invited panelist – 2026
ASIFA-East— Social Media Panel, invited panelist – 2025
SCAD CoMotion 2025 — The Art of Freelance Panel, invited panelist – 2025
ASIFAC 2024 — Beyond Animation Roundtable, invited participant – 2024
SCAD CoMotion 2024 — Alumni Panel: Back to School, invited panelist – 2024
SCAD CoMotion 2022 — CoMotion Branding Behind the Scenes, moderator – 2022
The Creative Folks — Empower Asian America: Asians in the Creative Industry, invited panelist – 2020
SCAD CoMotion 2020 — Alumni Panel, invited panelist – 2020
Teaching
Lectures & Talks
New York is Creative 2025 | NYC Subway Bullet Keychains
Bass School at UT Dallas — Then and Now: The Creative Journey, invited speaker– 2025
Singapore Polytechnic — Beyond Borders: From SP to SCAD to Global Stage, invited speaker – 2024
Teaching
School of Visual Arts (SVA) — Intro to ComfyUI, guest lecturer for faculty development, NYC – 2025
School of Visual Arts (SVA) — Intro to ComfyUI, guest lecturer, NYC – 2025
Bass School at UT Dallas — Coding for Motion Design, workshop instructor – 2025
Miami Ad School — User Experience, course lecturer – 2025
Domestika — Coding for Advanced Motion Design, course instructor, 8,700+ students enrolled – 2022
SCAD — Peer Tutor and Workshop Instructor (20+ workshop) – 2019
Creative Resources
Tutorials
NoSleepCreative YouTube — Motion design tutorials, workflow breakdowns & industry insights, 2019–ongoing
Domestika — Coding for Advanced Motion Design
Wikis
NoSleepCreative YouTube — Motion design tutorials, workflow breakdowns & industry insights, 2019–ongoing
NoSleepCreative Docs — Motion design expressions & best practices, 2019–ongoing
Motion Design Wiki — Best practices for SCAD students, internationals, faculty, alumni, freelancers, 2023–ongoing
Creative Codex — Web-based modular resource library for motion designers, 2024–ongoing
Writings
On Graduate School · Part 2 · Academic Experience — How studying abroad influenced my life, 2024
On Returning to Graduate School — My 6-months experience on doing a MFA in Motion Media Design, 2021
Close Reading 01: Visual Composition — Comparative analysis of title sequences, 2023
On CoMotion, Being an Animation Lead and Tips — 2021
NoSleepCreative: A Year in Retrospect — 2021
Journey to an Art School Full-Ride Again — 2020
Journey to a Full-Ride — 2019


