Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash
Lars Hoekstra
Motion Designer
Lars Hoekstra brings static brands to life through motion, crafting animations and video content that capture attention and communicate with immediacy. With a background in film and a deep fascination with the physics of movement, he creates work that feels organic and purposeful. He joined Fireflies Collective to push the boundaries of what a design studio can do with time-based media.
About Lars
Lars Hoekstra originally studied film production at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he developed a keen sense of pacing, narrative rhythm, and visual storytelling. During his time there, he discovered motion graphics through a late-night experiment with After Effects and never looked back. The ability to merge cinematic thinking with graphic design felt like a language he had been searching for without knowing it.
After graduating, Lars freelanced for three years, producing animated brand spots, social media content, and title sequences for independent films and documentaries. His work caught the attention of several Brooklyn-based studios, and he collaborated on campaigns for streetwear labels, music festivals, and cultural nonprofits. A chance project with Maya and Eliot on a brand launch film for a Williamsburg gallery turned into a permanent seat at Fireflies Collective.
At the studio, Lars is responsible for all time-based work — logo animations, explainer videos, event visuals, and social content that moves. He approaches every project by first studying the rhythm of the brand itself. He asks questions like: is this brand fast or slow, sharp or fluid, loud or understated? Those answers become the kinetic vocabulary for everything he creates.
Lars is also an amateur skateboarder and says the sport fundamentally shaped how he understands momentum, weight, and gravity in animation. On weekends, he shoots 16mm film around the city, building a personal archive of textures and light that often finds its way into his professional work. He believes motion design is most powerful when it feels inevitable rather than decorative.
