Meet Thea Koutas: Sports Promos Motion Designer at Sky Creative

Have you ever wondered who designs and creates those exciting and engaging Football promo ads? The build up to the games is what gets fans constantly buzzing and on edge! It's our amazing motion designers in Sky Creative that put the efforts into audiences anticipating to watch all these games.

Thea Koutas, aged 28, is one of these designers that has the opportunity to work on these amazing promos. I sat down with her to discuss her creative input and what she loves most about working on them!

Hi Thea! How long have you been a motion designer and what made you get into this industry? 

I’ve officially been a Motion Designer for the last three years. I’ve always been very creative and loved trying everything and anything. I was introduced to Graphic Design on my foundation course, in between school and uni, and the rest is history!

What do you love the most about working on Sports Promos?

There is a lot of playfulness to Sports promos which I love! The team are really collaborative and fun to work with which is super inspiring.

Thea recently created the North London Derby Tottenham vs Arsenal promo reel!

What can be the most challenging thing about your job?

Sports promos have very quick turn arounds so from the moment you get briefed you’re designing at 100mph. Luckily I have a background in broadcast so I am used to tight deadlines.

What sports promo are you most proud of and why?

I recently did a Premier League promo with Raj Karia which had illuminating stadium lights. I really enjoyed playing around with lighting and how this can create impact throughout a promo.

Do you support a football team? If not, which team would you support if you had to choose?

A mean question! I support whoever is around me – so Arsenal Lauren?

Have you learned anything new since doing the sports promos?

The Sports promo team really push their ideas, it’s encouraged me to be bolder and pitch for bigger ideas!

What skills do you think you need to hone to be a great motion designer for sports promos?

The boring answer….an organised Ae project. But otherwise I’d say to be open to trying things out, some stuff sticks and some doesn’t. You have to work to a tight deadline so it’s about squeezing as much out of the time as possible.

What work can we expect to see from you in the new year?

Well well well, I’ve got a few things going on in the background. But for now, I’d love to continue working on all sorts of sports promos – I’ve started on Premier League but keen to explore more.

We look forward to seeing more enticing sports promos from Thea 🙌