From a young age, Natalie knew she wanted to be an animator. She loved art and drawing. Her business was started in 2017. Five years later, she reflects on how the Inspiring Enterprise project has helped her.

In 2005 Natalie Priest studied for a degree in animation. After graduating she was out of work for a long time, lost her passion for art and animation and her mental health suffered. Around 2011 she joined a local Art Centre called The Ark and slowly started to relight her passion for animation and digital illustration which led her to enrol for a Masters in animation in 2015. That’s where she began to get a serious interest in pursuing a career in animation.

2 years later in 2017, her university told her about the Inspiring Enterprise project, so Natalie got in touch with Inspiring Enterprise Specialist Susan Reviere.

A blossoming relationship

Susan and Natalie worked together regularly to help Natalie set up her business as a freelance animator.

Susan said:

“Natalie is a very talented illustrator, so it was great being able to provide her with the mentoring and marketing strategy support to establish her animation business.”

In 2017 Natalie graduated with a Masters in animation and Radiant Chameleon was officially born.

Radiant Chameleon focuses on 2D animation and illustration, and Natalie even started holding animation workshops at Camfest in 2018.

Natalie produces family-friendly, bright, colourful animation that tells a story and has appealing character design.  Natalie uses animation to raise awareness of neurodiversity and mental health. Natalie is on the autism spectrum herself, so it is important for her to raise awareness.

Vibrant animation on show

Since working with Inspiring Enterprise Natalie’s work has been screened at several film festivals and she has also won an award at the Oxford International Film Festival for Best Children’s Film.

She is starting to work with clients on animation commissions and has made greeting cards that are sold online.

Susan commented:

“Natalie’s vibrant animation style is very engaging whilst clearly communicating key messages, with all her hard work the business is steadily developing.”

Her client base is growing, and she is getting more and more local interest in her work.

In 2022, Natalie explains more about her animation business,

“My business is called Radiant Chameleon and is a freelance creative business which creates artwork commissions for clients such as paintings, Digital Illustrations and animation work. I like to focus on bright coloured and eye-catching designs that contains a positive message and narrative. My artwork is also appealing for a wide audience.”

She reflects on how Inspiring Enterprise helped her to get started,

“I really enjoyed being part of Inspiring Enterprise. The help I received from Susan Reverie enabled me to understand all that is involved in starting and running a business.  I was completely new to the world of business, but Susan helped me to write a business plan and marketing plan and prepare for being a freelancer. I enjoyed attending the events and workshops too as part of Inspiring Enterprise where I met like-minded people who were also starting up a business.”

You can find out more about what Natalie does by looking at her website or by following her on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.