Meet Abdul Hakim Abdul Salam | Creative Director/3d Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abdul Hakim Abdul Salam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abdul Hakim, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Work life balance has always been a hard case for me, I was always the workaholic in the group, never had time to hangout, never had time to go out, never had time for anything except work, I saw hanging out with my friends as distractions, and so I would never show up to any invites. At some point they just stop Inviting. I only learned to rest and relax in the last year, after I had a massive burnout at the end of 2023, After working day and night to finish a project for 3 months. I suddenly woke up and it felt like, I had forgotten all my skills, everything, i couldn’t animate, i didn’t even know it was burnout, Until i took a long break from Animating, and did a bit of research and found out what it was, Since then I kind of eased into it. I still work a lot, but I don’t keep my schedules as packed as i used to, Im a bit more relaxed now, If I work for six seven hours and I feel tired, I go hangout with my friends, call my family, watch a movie or just take a walk, and i feel too tired i scrap everything off my schedule and reschedule, because i want to avoid burnout completely, i didn’t like the feeling when i had it. So i think I have come a long way, I used to find a task for every minute of my day , now i have a more relaxed schedule. Its not perfect but Its works for now. We’ll see how it progresses over the years

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My Art, is a deep reflection of my culture, and my personality. People tell me my art style is nice, but I don’t even know what my art style is, Honestly , I have no idea, But people seem to see it in all my works. I would personally say that my films, Like Nzo is a bold representation of my childhood and my Culture, My fantasies as a child all manifested into that film, and I am so proud of it to this day. I didn’t expect it to win any awards, but it did. I actually never thought anybody else would resonate with that story, But people do, and it surprises me to this day. It took a long Journey to get there though, Took a lot of guidance from my Dad, who saw my talent at a young age ,and decided to direct me into this field, There are moment where I wanted to change my Course of action, but he told me to stick to my decisions, and I’m Glad i did, else I wouldn’t be here today, It wasn’t easy. It was very scary, When I look at how much my art has developed over the years , It baffles me. And those days I try to complain, I get reminded that a two years ago, this is exactly what i was wishing for, and when i look around, i see that its true, When i started my biggest challenge was getting a good Computer for 3d, Today I use a pretty standard Computer, which I bought by doing gigs on my old crappy computer, and that’s thanks to my Dad, because , he wanted me to earn it myself ,not have it handed out to me. And after two long years of saving when i finally got it , it felt so good, and I’m grateful to him for the lesson. I feel like my Culture is misrepresented in western Media, They don’t tell our stories in their true nature, the few that do, don’t had have enough of it. I am looking forward to saturating the art and business world with good Animated African stories that preserves and communicates our Culture and educates the world and the younger generations of their culture, and what value it holds, and why they should hold on tight to it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, The best place to start for me would be The Crocodile Pond , In the Northern Region Of Ghana, once we are done ridding crocodiles we head of course to a Pizza place, Specifically Papa’s Pizza. Im a big fun of pizza and i thing it would be a recuring item on the list, Next would be lake Vola, then from there would would go to see Mountain Afadjato the tallest mountain in Ghana, Mountains fascinate me, i think because where i grew up there were no mountains, From there We would go to the beach, and have some fun, then just take a stroll, walk through Accra, and buy random street food, and Then Wrap everything up at the Independence Square. Also there is the ocean behind the Independence square which looks very scary, I like to look at it from afar.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think the biggest shoutout goes to my Parents, I wouldn’t be here without them, They stood by me every step of the way , through all my hard times, guided me all the way here and I’m really grateful for that. Also Shout out to my Mentor Toby Bertil Svanekiaer, I look up to him for guidance in my career and life in General. Another Shout out Goes to Iddrisu M. Reed, My own northern brother, he is such and inspiration for me , honestly those days i don’t feel like it , or don’t believe i can do it , I look at what he is doing and it serves as inspiration for me, Knowing that he and I are from the same Town , same city , makes me feel like , if he can do something I can do it too. Lastly my friends, Learnt a lot and still learning a lot from them. All my friends over the years contributed to my personality in someway. Im really grateful for my Family and my friends they hold a big place in my heart

Website: https://thetimelinecollaborative.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.keemy

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hakim-salam-749a791b5

Twitter: https://x.com/H123creates

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hamaajstudios1812

Image Credits
Abdul Salam Abdul Hakim