Meet Dom Ridley, our Junior Motion Designer. Originally joining Affari on a three week internship back in January 2017, Dom is now a fully fledged Affarian! Dom has been a key asset in developing Affari’s Virtual Reality capabilities, bringing with him a wealth of expertise from the gaming industry!
How did you find your way to Affari?
Before Affari, I studied Digital Media Technologies at Nottingham Trent University. After I graduated, I got myself onto NTU’s Employability Workshop that supports you in finding a role that fits around your skill sets. They put me forward for the role advertised at Affari for a motion design intern, and after successfully completing the interview process it all went from there!
What are the three best things about yourself?
I’ve played drums in live bands for 10 years now. I’ve been very involved with the local music scene as I’ve played many gigs, including events for charity like the Macmillan festival.
The second would be of course, my skills in designing and developing! VR experiences are also up there and is my big thing here at Affari! I see a great future in Virtual Reality and I’m always keen to pass my knowledge on.
Finally, I’m well-known here for being a dedicated and loyal customer to our local Breakfast Van that visits the Affari HQ every morning!
What’s one of your best experiences?
One of my best experiences is when my band, called Wasteland, entered the European Battle of the Bands and we managed to get into the semi-final, amazing considering we were up against bands from across Europe! For the semi-final we travelled to Birmingham to play at the Asylum, a huge music venue.
The night before, Trivium, a heavy metal band, had played at the same venue so their gear and broken drumsticks were about and the realisation hit us that we were getting far in this competition and making a name for ourselves. We had gained a big following and managed to bring a crowd of 100 fans to attend the event. We didn’t win but it was definitely a great experience!
What other interests do you have other than Affari?
Other than music and VR, I’m a big fan of the Netflix series ‘Black Mirror’ because of it’s dystopian future themes. Normally when you see programmes based around future predictions, it’s portrayed in a positive way, but this series strips that aspect away and really shakes things up a bit. I’d definitely recommend as it’s a very interesting series!
What’s your favourite quote and why?
My favourite quote would be “Life doesn’t owe you anything, so you have to go out there and grab what you can”. I consider it my favourite because I’ve experienced people sit and moan about what they haven’t got, simply because they expect it to be handed to them.
The quote may not resonate with everyone but it definitely does with me. I believe that if I don’t go out there and make it happen, it’s not going to happen by itself.
What’s #1 on your bucket list?
Number one on my bucket list is to go over to America with a bunch of friends, hire out a Winnebago and travel across the states. I’d love to experience their music culture because the unsigned music scene in the UK isn’t viewed in the highest regard, but America really hype over it!
What is your guilty pleasure?
My guilty pleasure has to be my dedicated order from our Breakfast Van which is a bacon, sausage, egg and beans cob (aka Bap, Roll, Muffin, Breadcake…depending on which side of the great bread debate you sit on) with some brown sauce!
What is your pet hate?
My pet hate is when you’re having a conversation with someone who say they understand what you’re explaining, constantly repeating “yeah” and then the realisation hits you that they have no clue whatsoever and you’ve wasted 5-10 minutes rambling on.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to take the same career path as you?
Learn C++, that’s one thing I really wish I had done!
