Realization and New Direction

I think the reason for my troubles may be that I am thinking of After Effects as an illustrator's tool which is why my mind is only thinking in characters. But I am a designer so I need to think of this as an additive bonus tool for designers. I will go ahead with what I have so far for project 2 since it is complete, yet I would like to either re-do it or create a whole new project so I can apply more design.