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Disney Character Designer answers your questions about Concept Art, Character Design for Animation, Digital Painting & Illustration.

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[WIP] OA Toolbox

As freelancers/working professionals, there are a lot of necessary needs and challenges that can drain us of precious time an energy. Here at OA, we are passionate about improving our productivity & efficiency, and we’re excited to help you do the same.In this toolbox you’ll find an assortment of tools that have made ours lives immeasurably easier over the years. If you’re as excited as we are about maximizing the use of your time and energy, we highly recommend adding these tools to your professional arsenal.

Disclaimer: Some products linked here are affiliate products. That means that if you purchase a product using our links, The Oatley Academy gets a small commission. We will never recommend a product that we don’t believe in. If we don’t use and love it, it won’t be on this list.

Essentials

Vital tools to help get your business up and running smoothly.

DropBox

Dropbox makes it easy to store, organize and share files with your clients & collaborators.

Buffer

It’s hard enough keeping track of everything on our plates, without adding the whirlwind of social media into the mix! Buffer takes care of the minutiae of maintaining multiple social media accounts, and lets you get back to what matters: connection. (kinda mixed message here)

Basecamp

It’s easy to get lost in all the projects, tasks and signals fighting for our attention. With Basecamp you can easily organize your to-do lists into focused ??? and clear the clutter from your mind.

Airbnb

As artists who travel, finding good, safe and affordable accommodation is a frequent concern. Airbnb dissolves the stress finding the right place for you.

FreshBooks

One of the best accounting solutions for small business owners, Freshbooks helps streamline what is usually a tedious, time-consuming endeavour.

Mint

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LegalZoom

Legal matters are the last places we want to cut corners with our businesses/careers, but hiring the right lawyer to handle every little detail is a daunting task. From creating various legal documents, to incorporating your company, LegalZoom provides vital legal help for small businesses.

CrashPlan

There’s nothing more harrowing than losing all your carefully stored data in one fell swoop. With Crashplan, you can rest assured that your irreplaceable information is safe and secure. (pls halp chrees)

StudioPress

We love Genesis & all Genesis-related themes – as evidenced by every website we’ve ever built. If you’re looking for sophisticated and professional themes for your website(s), as well as reliable and secure hosting, StudioPress has perfected the formula.

DreamHost

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MailChimp

You need a mailing list, and MailChimp’s here to help! Their intuitive(??) and affordable solutions make it easy to get started right away.

Zoom

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Productivity

Whether alone or in a team, personal projects are an almost indispensable aspect of breaking into the industry, here are our recommended tools for optimizing your process:

Audible

With thousands of audio books at you fingertips, Audible allows you to enjoy your favorite media with more ease than ever before. PLUS you get a free book of your choice when you sign up for their 30-day trial.

SaneBox

Struggling to maintain a grip on the never-ending flow of emails overwhelming your inbox? SaneBox helps you filter and prioritize your inbox, and take back control of your time. Chris Copy: My Email Inbox was a post-apocalyptic horrorscape until I found SaneBox. Now it saves me hundreds of hours a year. If you use my link to join, we both get $5.

RescueTime

If you find yourself at the end of your day wondering ‘where did all my time go!?’ RescueTime might be a game-changer for you. A time-management app that tracks exactly where your attention is spent, we highly recommend adding RescueTime to your arsenal.

TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit Logo

Blerb – TaskRabbit offers same-day help with chores and errands. Which means you’ll have more free time to do things you enjoy – like hang out with me! Use our link to get $20 off your first task!

Workspace

Highly recommended solutions for a more ergonomic and efficient working area.

Standing Workstation

It’s no secret that sitting all day is wreaking havoc on our bodies. Standing desks allow you give your body a break, while stay productive, and they’re super easy to set up!

Ergotron Arms

Add flexibility (and space) to your working area with these desk-mounts. Ergotron Arms make it easy to rearrange your working layout, allowing you to raise, lower and extend your monitors into a wide range of configurations.

Anti-Fatigue Mat

While working vertically has major benefits, standing all day on a hard floor comes with it’s own problems. Anti-fatigue mats are great for reducing leg strain, and Crown Comfort has proven to be a good choice. (save me)

MABEF Easel

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