The Work That Made Me: Cat McCarthy

Cat McCarthy, the design lead at Sarofsky, is a creative dynamo fueled by kinetic storytelling. She finds joy in playing with patterns and turning them into design magic. From early days of crafting bedroom door collages to working on mind-bending title sequences like WeCrashed, Goosebumps or The Staircase Cat's journey is a testament to the power of curiosity and the courage to explore. Join Cat on a journey where design isn't just a job—it's a canvas for infinite possibilities. 

The cues in my childhood that my future would be design-related...

Cat> Looking back, I can see the clues that pointed me toward a career in design. As a middle schooler, I would come home, eagerly sift through the mailbox for magazines, then cut out images to collage on my bedroom door. I loved finding visual patterns and bringing disjointed images together in clever ways. I remember finding a cutout of a tennis player swinging her racket overhead in an arc. I then found an image of lipstick tubes arranged in that same curved pattern, so I pasted them together. At the time, I didn’t know I was experimenting with identifying visual parallels and combining disjointed images in an intuitive way. Making these unexpected connections between graphics foreshadowed my current job, where I look for novel visual patterns on a daily basis. 

The creative piece that made me want to get into the industry...

Cat> As a graphic design undergraduate, I had leaned towards design in a static form — until I saw the opening titles for “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (2004). This kinetic sequence showed me for the first time how design could use motion to convey emotion and abstract ideas vividly. That exposure made me think of design as a storytelling device. A lot of my undergrad work was inspired by that piece. I often rewatch it when I need some creative fuel.

The road I travelled to get where I am now...

Cat> My passion for motion design awakened in college, however, my journey led me first to a graphic design studio in Washington, DC, where I worked for six years. While I was primarily a print and web designer, my boss was open to me exploring motion design — a game-changer! 

Back in undergrad, I'd heard about SCAD's Motion Media programme in Savannah, but I wasn't sure about pursuing another degree. Then fate intervened — Erin Sarofsky led a seminar at a graphic design conference I attended. Witnessing their awe-inspiring work was all the motivation I needed. I enrolled at SCAD soon after. 

During my first quarter at SCAD, it felt like a whole new part of my design brain had awakened. In my final year, Sarofsky swung by for interviews, and I jumped at the opportunity. I joined Sarofsky as a junior designer/animator a few months into the pandemic. Fast forward to today, I'm wearing two hats – a designer and a lead. For me, work/life balance gets thrown out the door a bit when I start something new. But, because the world was shut down, it was a perfect excuse to dive head-first into some exciting projects at Sarfosky. So far, it’s been an exciting and fascinating journey that got me to where I am now.

The creative project that changed my career...

Cat> For me, a memorable project at Sarofsky was working on the title sequence for the AppleTV+ series WeCrashed. The client had just chosen our board and we were having an internal call to discuss the next steps. Really, the main points of the call were to figure out how the heck we were going to get a real horse to walk around inside an office space with a unicorn horn strapped to its head. Everyone on the call responded with “How can we make this work?” rather than “That’s impossible.” This showed me that a lot of ideas really are possible in this industry as long as there's a smart, resourceful team behind the idea.

What excites me the most at my job...

Cat> I love the really early stages of any main title project. Specifically, I love taking a couple of hours or even a full day to blast music and just completely go into concepting mode. When I'm in that mode, I intentionally remove all of the barriers of why an idea wouldn't be possible (like budget or capabilities) and I just come up with ideas that excite me. Being in this "ideation bubble"is incredibly freeing and is definitely one of my happy places. I think that having that freedom to explore in the early stages without any limitations allows for new ideas to come. 

Once this ideation phase is over, that's when I put the guard rails back on and mould the idea into something that's possible given the timeline and budget.

The piece of work that still makes me jealous...

Cat> I envy the simplicity of Love Actually's opening. Instead of an elaborate setup, they filmed real people reuniting at Heathrow Airport. With hidden cameras at the arrivals gate, they'd capture touching reunions and later ask people’s permission to include them in the film. I just think the thought process behind that idea is so simple and genius - capturing genuine, irreplicable love in a film called 'Love Actually'.

The piece of work I still would want to make...

Cat> Someday I’d love to work on title sequences for a design conference, combining my past career with my current one. I have ideas ready to go when the right opportunity arises!