professionalpractice696

[professionalpractice696]

Self-Promotion

One of the many keys to success is self promotion. As an aspiring artist you have to advertise yourself to potential consumers to gain an audience for your work so you can start to sell it, and make money from your job. So how do you get to this point, first is to understand how to spread your work around. This can be done through the creation of a web portfolio on a chosen website such as your own or a blog. The internet is one of the fastest growing technologies in our current generation and millions of people browse it, so making your art public to the web is a fast way to get your work spread around. You can also join different events such as fairs and competitions if you want to promote towards a more niche market. Other ways can be done through printable, CV to protential employers, emails and cover letters.  However spreading your work is not the only thing if you want to succeed, as you do have competition, so you have to make yourself stand out, by setting a tone of voice to your works.

One of the best ways to make yourself to stand out from the crowd is just that, being yourself. In the art community it is the creativity and the personality of the artist that people want, as this is what we all put into our works. So the best way to get the most out it is to capitalise on it to help make connections, to help us be more recognisable and identifiable. So the first question I asked myself is how I am different to my peers. While this may sound depressing the first thing that comes into my mind is my aspergers. The reason for this is that I believe the way we create art is through the visual elements of our surrounding, and compared to other people I view and comprehend this differently. The way I interpret interactions, emotions and my surrounds gives me different feeling and thoughts compared to most people, so I would use this to my advantage. As I also like to communicate through images more than through words, my Illustrations tend to have a story like quality to them. And through my artistic career I have accumulated different ways to portray my works, such as different perspectives to make my scenes more atmospheric, and colour palettes that effect emotions.

However, we all know how our work is interpreted towards us, how about other people, and peers. So as part of our lecture we were then put into random groups of three and while the other person left the room we had to evaluate what the persons’ works say to us. For me my peers agreed there is a clear visual language with my mark making and character design. They also notice my fondness towards sequential illustration with me being more focussed on story publication. For my target audience they both agree on it being leaned towards a younger demographic- from children to young teens. And that my main source of commission would be through publication and character designs in gaming. Overall, I agree with this as this is what I expected for my works, as I tried to bring in more focus on my work this year.  In the future, I want to head towards the graphic novel publication, so I am already on the right road towards this. However, I also have ambition to push my illustrations outside of the paper boundaries and over the summer before my third year experiment with different ways to produce my works. I would also like to research more into the older demographic to see if I can get some of my work to lean towards them so I can expand with my potential audience. One of the issues I do agree with is the lack of brand ID, as I have been focusing mostly on my work, I have not thought or focused much on the creation of my promotion, although after this lecture I am gaining more ideas in how I can promote myself.

One way is to create an elevator pitch, essentially describing yourself first in 50 words, then working towards 20 and then 10. This is supposed to teach us about how to talk about ourselves without the risk of rambling and boring our intended consumer. So these are my elevator pitches:

50 words

I am a stylized illustrator, whose works are targeted mainly towards children and young adults. My main strength is with character design and graphic novels. My works can also be expanded towards gaming design, gaming, publications, posters and illustrative fashion. I am also passionate about colour and textures, which are utilized in my work.

20 words:

I am a stylize illustrator whose work is strengthen in character designs. My designs are also focused towards the younger audience.

10 words:

I am a stylized audience who works mainly in character design.

So who would be interested with reading these pitches; the consumers of your works. Or more specifically for me writers or potential employers. However digging deeper there are more appropriate places for each pitch, which can help change your success rate. The 50 word pitch would be more useful on your artist website, when people want to learn more about you. This can also be useful in an interview as any potential employers would want to know more about you. The 20 words would be good for CVs and letters as they give out plenty of information, but in a quick succession. The shorter 10 word one would be the one you would use more commonly, as it's the quickest way to describe you, and the quicker you promote yourself, the more inclined your potential employer would be and the more remembered you will be by your consumers. So the best place to put this would be on quick promotions such as business cards, leaflets, and social media.

So how would I advertise myself? One would be through the most obvious and easily hands on means out there- social media. For me when I do promote myself I may focus myself on using Tumblr, Facebook and Etsy. I will also focus on using the postage way as well, as everyone does not have the internet, like the older generation for example. The ways I could do this could be done through letters, leaflets and postcards, which can also have my illustrative work on them. Another way would be to attend more social events, such as art fairs, festivals and cons. These are vital as they can give you vital information about current trends, peers, mastering self promotion and providing more research about your key audience.

How would I go about designing it? First is the logo which is an image of yourself. So I chosen a potato:

The reason for this is due to my nickname spud by several family members, and the bases of my CV I created. I felt this logo would be a quirky yet recognisable logo for myself, as well as being simple so I can implement it inside my work as a little signature, as I have very bad handwriting. I may also look more towards into other vegetables but I felt that it would not feel as personal to me and I need something that is recognisable through the whole promotion. I also thought about making my logo that of an animal, however since all my works don't always include animals, I feel this would make the viewer thinks that my main focus is in animals when it almost more wider spread than this.

I also thought about my colour palette for my promotions, and this is what I got so far:

As I want to expand my audience I thought about using different colour pallets for each audience groups and maybe works such as for this work:

I would choose this colour palette:

However, this may cause too much disruption within my own website, so I may make many more over the creation of my website over the summer, and get more focus within my advertisement. However I know that I want them to have a calming pastel colour tone towards them as that is the emotion I want my viewers to feel.

So going further into myself promotion there is one last thing that I want to sort out and that is the products I want to sell. Again with creating my promotional website, I want a larger variation of products for my consumers to buy. I would decide how to do this through creating projects for myself which would help push my works more out of the paper frame. What I want to experiment with so far is creating charms out of shrink plastic to add to jewellery such as earrings and necklaces. I also want to create images to be placed onto t shirts, using heat transfer sheets to learn about designing illustrations in a more restrictive space. So overall, I would be experimenting with my ideas, so that in the end my promotions and products would have a chance to stand out within the art industry.

[professionalpractice696]

Emily Smalley

For this post I'll be writing up an interview with Emily Smalley. Smalley is a textile-based illustrator who works with embroidery, watercolour pencils, fine liners and screen printing on fabrics.

First thing I wanted to talk about is how Smalleys’ journey got to here, and what her experiences were. After completing her A levels and University course, Smalley started volunteering at a falconry, which is when she started having a more focussed interested in animals and nature, or more specifically birds of prey such as owls. Looking at the birds there Smalley started creating more detailed drawings, then later in her career, started incorporating her based experience in textiles into them, such as experimenting with embroidery. It was through this Smalley expanded into doing pet portraits for her consumers, which were also possibly inspired by her own cat Billy.

So after this I asked about Smalley's experience at the studio, as this is what I want to achieve in my freelance career in the future. Smalley explains that it is nice and you get to, 'be your own boss.' This however, does need a lot of self discipline as you need to structure your day and projects, as well as being self-motivated so you don't enter the realm of procrastination. One advantage of being in a studio based building like Bank Mills rather than an independent placement, or home is that you not isolated, as there are other artists surrounding you. Having peers is a good way to test your ideas with others and gain more ideas. There is also the advantage of having the feeling of going to work every day, so you feel like you're not stuck at home all day, and this can have a helping hand in your motivation.

So I then started asking for advice with having a creative career. The first thing Smalley suggested is to keep your illustration true and original. Draw things that interest you rather than what others want you to do, and try to get your interest involved in your current job, as there are many opportunities for your work out there, such as for Smalley it is Pet portraits. Keeping references is a vital thing, however it is important you only acknowledge and take inspiration from them, never copy the artist as this will be limiting for you. For Smalley she explains her inspirations come from the works of Beatrix Potter and John Tiddel. There is a vital need towards keeping your work together, and organised such as for Smalley she make sure that all of her fabrics are all in order by colour, and only brought from charities shops as this makes them more limited and therefore more unique. Another piece of advice is to keep focusing on your projects, and try not to tangent from them, however still try out many experiments and technique, the one example that came to my head, is that if you're doing a project on dogs, and need to do a painting technique, do it on a portrait of a dog, not a human. It is also important to keep your work broad and try experiment with displaying your work, such as for Smalley she tried to experiment with displaying her work inside of vintage suitcases at art fairs. By using her textiles abilities, Smalley also create bags, doorstops and cushions with her illustrative works on them.

Another piece of advice which I found vital was the need to keep yourself motivated by doing work, which Smalley suggested doing by keep coming up with ideas for collections and give yourself projects. And if in need for a push such as giving yourself deadlines, by looking at different open exhibits and competitions, which are also key to giving yourself more exposure. Following that I started asking about how you start spreading you creative work around. One thing that came up as important is the use of social media, such as Facebook and Instagram. It is also key to get yourself to sell your work, which you can do by starting to research different shops and galleries, as well as using networking. It also a good idea to keep in touch with the consumers, especially since you might have an opportunity to meet them again like how Smalley met the owners of two dogs she drew previously. It is also important to explore what surrounds you, such as crafts fairs around the country, and get work in more places. It is also important to have your own personal website, to not only give yourself an internet presence but also allow people to easily find you.

Overall, I learned many things from my visit to Smalley in Banks Mills that have helped me envision what I want in my future career. And through this interview there are many things that I have taken to heart and will use to make myself a stronger artist in the creative industry.

[professionalpractice696]

Masters Degree

For this blog I will be discussing the master’s degree, and whenever I may be interested in looking into it or not. First off, we must look into what a master’s degree is.

A master’s degree at an extra year of study- which may change for different universities- which a student may complete after graduating their BA honours. For myself if I decide to pursue a masters in the current university I am in, then I would have a high guarantee rate, if I pass my course. However, it doesn't matter if I can get in or not but rather what the contents of the course are.

In this masters degree it is stated that the student will require ambitious thinking and be able to challenge original ideas for their final works. For myself I feel that my work is always evolving, and improving with every project I do. For example my work from last year to now:

 So possibly if I feel that I can push my work even further than now or by the end of the third year a master's degree might enable me to push my work even further. One of the ways the master year completes this is by having the students create their own blogs, in which they evaluate their progress, themselves, and their influences and lifestyles- pushing not only your own work but your thinking process. Students are also required to create a concept board, so they are not making work for the sake of making work, and instead research more into the subject- such as news and charities. This is including working towards experiments and practises themselves.

However, before I was introduced to the master’s degree I found out about the internships, which are paid work experiences for post graduates to help them delve deeper into the industry. I learned about this from Hill Langdell, and the CV lecture and it had me thinking into doing it not just for the creative aspects, but also to help me to have a better grasp of the industry. However, researching more into the master’s degree I learned there are many real life experiences incorporated into the course.

The course offers live projects similar to the one I am currently on, and has opportunities to work with employers such as Macmillan Children's books and Penguin Books, which is the experience I wanted from the internship. There are speakers from the industry that would help us to gain more of an idea of what is out there.

The last piece of research I did was look at the success rate of the students, as I felt this would help influence my decision. This course provides the student a more focused specialist knowledge of their discipline, which is highly respected by many employers and thanks to the many opportunities available this course helps establish graduates careers while studying. If we want to go into the more statistical side for Derby University this course is the 15th in the UK for employment, with 96% of graduates within work or further study within 6 months.

So my decision, at this point in time, is I still feel it would be too early to actually send in an application sheet, as I still have to decide whether or not I want to choose this over an internship, however due to the higher success rate it will definitely be taken into consideration. I might in the end decide to do this degree and look into internships afterwards, so that I will be able to stand on my two feet in the end. However, I would like to see how my work ends up going through the first semester of the third year and decide whenever this would be a good and useful step in my career.

[professionalpractice696]

Nobrow

In this Lecture new had a visitor from NoBrow. A children’s book publisher who is known for their stylized printing techniques, which give their creations a more unique feel to them, for the hand created mixed colours are minimalistic yet detailed illustrations. At the moment they produce 38 books a year and employ 350 artists, cartoonists and illustrators, a number that is currently growing.

The main inspiration for NoBrow is the love for print- from what it came from to what it does. They stated that their inspiration comes from many examples all around the globe. One is Japanese artwork – which has an old way of working. One main example was a Godzilla book- which due to constraints, the illustrators had to work out a way to produce print in a cheaper manner. This involved using only two colours - red and black- but using them in a way that highlights the detail in the monsters, while still giving the dread and excitement they bring. There are also other inspirations such as Tin Tin and the smartest kid in the world, taking a liking to the graphic novel style and the way the artist draws the characters in a sequential way. There were also many other inspirations as well such as the ladybird books for their quick and cheap production- as well as a tutorial on printing- and black bob sheep- due to the way the artist loved what he did and found his principle.

This made me think about what I should look for when I look up my own illustrators for my work, mostly can they give me a solution to problems I need to solve.

NoBrow started with the basics - such as screen printing, press books and emboss. Through this they produced 50-100 copies of books that are limited editions.  However they wanted their work to be mainstream. They also created a website to help publicize their name. That way they gave their suggestions on how to get your artistic company up and running more quickly- from setting up an aesthetic, for example opening up your studio as a shop and a gallery, also hosting parties and signing up to art fairs. One member even pasted the wall of chipboard with the work of the company- so there is also the need for imagination, creativeness and maybe madness needed to push your company further.

Currently NoBrow now has a more digital printing process; with ten machines, making the printing process for the book more efficient. However their printing process still heavily connects to the traditional printing techniques, using only the CMYK colour mode and printing only small dots, giving the image a more opaque colour. This allows the artist to have more control over the colours of their works, such as Mark Herald who created the image below:

  Herald create this image by making several copies , and scanning them in to the computer as blocks to be printed again over and over till the final piece is created. To create an image like this without any assistance truly proves how experienced Herald is in the process of printing, knowing which colour not only can be created but also work together, however this time it was done not with the image in front but by knowledge. This grand understanding shows that even in the digital revolution of illustration basic techniques are still welcomed and needed to create precise pieces of work.

There is also the limited colour pallet which is one their trademarks, using only two colours to create more as seen above, and even going further with some of their images using only two colours such as blue and black to create details in their blocks.

   I like to use limited colours in my works to help enhance the atmosphere, and emotions.  So looking at Nobrow's work helped me understand more techniques to utilise this idea.  I even asked the presenter afterwards for advice on picking colours, which involve analysing my surroundings to see what colours would work together.

NoBrow has quite a few illustrators working for them- a number that is quickly growing. All of them are required to create a book with 32 pages of illustrations minimum. This can, while requiring hard work, produce excellent outcomes; for me one of my favourites is the Hilda series by Luke Pearson- a children’s graphic book based on the adventures of a little girl in a world inspired by Scandinavian culture and mythology. This was also the book that help break Flying eye Books- another name from NoBrow for younger audiences- to break even more into the mainstream market. These books show how far the company has come, with more books due to be published into the future and an animated show on Netflix in the following years. And even though these books are aimed for younger people, they still have the professional printing technique with colour and the unique style that NoBrow is known for.

Alongside the previous speaker, this lecture has helped me learn more about the artistic industry, and all the things you have to do to be successful, not only in being independent but also working for others. However, alongside the teachings of changing discipline and hard workmanship, Nobrow teaches us about enhancing our images from experiment with different techniques to allow your work to have a more unique style. Sometimes this involves equipment that you never tried before, so you have to get out of your comfort zone to push yourself further, in order to create more unique illustrative works for your career.

[professionalpractice696]

CV Blog

For this blog I will be talking about on the creation of a CV. At first creating a CV maybe a hard task, however we were given a lecture to prepare us of what has to be included. The first question in mind is what is a CV?

In its simplest form a CV is a form to be given to employers to try to get a job. But how does one do that? First off is to understand what is needed. One is that a CV should try to gain all information but also be short- to not bore the viewer- so two pages is all that is needed. And you also must try to impress the employer so professionalism is needed, such as checking your spelling and checking with your peer to gain their opinion. There are also many types of CV, for each profession; however for the industry that I am interested in, the CV I would create would be a creative CV.

So what contents are included within a CV? First you have to include the basics such as personal details such as your name, DOB, address and contact details. For the introduction of the creative aspect, you have to include your skills and work experience- as well as a personal profile to quickly describe yourself. The personal profile itself should not be too long however, as 4-6 lines (or 100 words) would be enough, as you must understand your CV will be one of many, and therefore must quickly give a good impression. You should also include your qualifications and references from your past; this is where volunteer work would give you an advantage. It is also good to remember that giving your CV isn’t the end, keep on record the company jobs you apply for to keep in contact or for future use, as your CV may not be successful enough to gain a job but may be kept on file for future opportunities.

For my CV, I wanted to add an Illustrative element to describe myself, and also the inclusion of spuds as that is a nickname of mine. I also included animals to make it more fun for the viewer. However, as usual, I did get kind neurotic about the rambling of my information and therefore did not write enough pre design, so when I created it there was not enough room and information. One example is the experience in which my lectures would have liked more information about the competitions. So what I have learned from this is to allow more room for details and check if I have enough before designing the work.

[professionalpractice696]

Liverpool

On the 24th February, we went to Liverpool to have a look at different art galleries, and gain some inspiration. Overall we went to three galleries within the Tate Liverpool, and a look within the fashion Gallery. One object that caught my attention however, was not inside a gallery but instead was a statue done in the memory of John Lennon. The reason why this caught my eye was the different textures, colours and shape it has. The colours where minimalistic, however I felt it still captured the colours that were about in the 60’s. But, the thing that stand out to me was how the statue represents more about the music of Lennon, rather than a statue of Lennon himself. The shapes around the globe flow together, like how notes would fly across the sheet. And all this ends with the birds flying out, representing the messages of the songs. I felt illustratively that this is not only unique, but more vocal than most memorials, as it doesn’t show who John Lennon, but who he is and what he is trying to portray. For my works, I felt that this can help me challenge how to get the most meaning from my work, through different symbolism and usage of a minimalistic approach. For example for my current project, I could look at different symbols and textures to distend the work I am thinking of from colourful nature to cold man made bricks.

I then went to the Tate Liverpool where I saw two pieces that gave me some more inspiration on my current project. The first was a statue, Venus of the Rags, by Michelangelo Pistoletto. What this piece utilises the most was the opposition of two things-hard/soft, colour/monotone, rich/poor etc. The contrast is what makes the viewer feel compelled by the piece, as their minds try to connect the pieces, ironically allowing the piece to get as much attention. As an illustrator attention is greatly needed, so in my current project due to it being manly about environmental causes, I try to add large differences between man and nature, as possible a means to portray how far we become disconnected to it.  

 Another piece I found was inspirational was Animal Farm- New World Order, By Tim Rollens. This piece was a large illustration of different politicians on different animals placed on top of the pages of Animal Farm. While the piece meaning was mostly about politics, it was this that caught my eye within this work. The use of line, helped guide me towards using heavier line work in my next project. And for my current project, this gave me a couple of new ideas. One was connecting different human elements to animals, to give more strength to the connection between man and animal. But mostly it was an idea of experimenting on different surfaces to help push my ideas along- like a sea turtle swimming on a plastic bag or an orangutan looking towards shredded paper.

Along the trip I took several photos of close up textures throughout my trip.  The reasoning behind this was because I wanted to originally add texture to my previous project- the bookmarks. However, when I was drawing them inside my book, I decided that the look of the line worked well as its own piece rather than just an ordinary texture, so this trip has also tremendously helped with following through with the idea of using mark making with in my work, which I feel is a success.

[professionalpractice696]

Hill Langdell

For today’s blog I will be discussing what I learned in a lecture from Hills Langdell. There are four main points that I have learned: the need to be open minded, allowing influences, not worrying about money and that there are plenty of jobs that are creative, so do not give up.

The first thing to understand about the industry is the blurring of the disciplines, and how for you they can change. You can go from graphic designer to an illustrator if the job fits. The main reason why one must accept this is that you have to gain as many opportunities as you can to gain more experience. Even if you’re in an unhappy job as Hill was, it is best to brave it out and work you are hardest despite your environment as you may gain good networking and more unexpected chances such as in a pub. There is also the fact that most do not care about the type of degree you have and instead more about your creativity, which is why a portfolio is your most important asset.

And while you go through your creative journey you may learn little things from other disciplines, such as for Hill’s, he learned about colour profiling, bleeding, digital proofing, and plate separation. This is really handy to keep on record as most companies want more experienced employees and this knowledge maybe a good key to gaining more opportunities. Sometimes you may go to a discipline that you might never had put any thought into such as animation, like for Hills Langdell they created a £7000 animation, which inspired me to have a quick try in my spare time, which was simple, however I am hoping to do more complicated animations over the summer if possible.

One of things that I am most interested in is going freelance, so it was vital that I learn about the experience of Hills Langdell to gain expectation of what may happen. Due to effective opportunity Hills manage to gain a free studio place for Exit Media. Due to their good quality for less enjoyable jobs they managed to gain old customers- however it is important to let them come to you rather than steal as this can lead to a bad reputation. And during this there have been many highs and lows. Sometimes a freelance may get extremely busy months that come with many opportunities such as for Hills Langdell Wedding photography. And you may come across many companies that have many variations such as books and more famous customers such as Ross insurance. Due to the level of work it may be important to have extra help with things that you may not be good at such as accountants.

However, you have to understand that there are months that would have no success at all. For example the phone won’t ring and there are less opportunities available. Sometimes in the end you would have start again and revise yourself, while using your backup knowledge to push yourself forwards. Sometimes you may have to start chasing projects again, and gain every opportunity and experience as you can, to again gain more clients. So that in the end you would have the phone ringing again and have chance to choose which projects you want to do again.

So how do you start chasing projects, well for Hills Langdell, this can be done through Charity work and Volunteer jobs- which can help with creating a good CV. Sometimes you have to invent your own projects, and try to be recommended. And also try to gain as many interviews as you can, to again gain networking and opportunities. However, there are many things to remember such as to never call a client, instead try to get spread around via word of mouth and through meetings. Try to get along with other people in your industry and try to gain help from fellow peers, get to design shows and network events.

 So exactly how do you get yourself out there? First you need to create a professional CV, which would have to be written well and have good attention to detail and is well presented. Same goes for creating a website, to help advertise yourself. You can try to gain a look into internships, for opportunities and advice. But if you do need to apply to an internship or job you need to go through an interview, in which the more successful you are at this the more successful your networking will be. The first tip would be to expand your audience, don’t be black and white, for example if you look only into illustration jobs there might not be many opportunities however if you start expanding your disciplines and work description you may gain more details of different creative jobs, such as media and character design. Make sure that you are authentic, be who you are, if you put up a facade this would be hard to keep up, and soon your clients will see through it and get disappointed, which can jeopardise the relationship and reputation of yourself. However, you have to be confident, and you have to prove to your employer that your work is good enough to be used by them. And more importantly be honest, and show total interest in what they want, as they would expect a high quality outcome for their payment.

So overall there are many things that I have learned from this viewing. First is to work hard, be flexible and worry less about how you are going to do, but instead taking it as a good opportunity to your creative journey. There is no wrong or right on how you produce your, in the end the only thing you have to get correct is the understanding of the consumer, who will be paying for your work. All time is valuable as well, so it’s vital to use it, as through your high periods work come in quickly so you have to equally get it out.

In the end this was a great opportunity for me as I want to go freelance during my career, so this lecture has given me many tips and advice that would be vital for me to use, which in the end would give me more chance in being successful in this industry.

[professionalpractice696]

Networking

One important thing to understand while trying to get a career is networking. This is a process of trying to make friends and contacts who will help get you work in the long run. For some people this maybe uncomfortable as it does involve blagging and keeping in touch. And while we like to have a preferred career, the influence on our lives change, along with the effects of the economy, technology and the change in the world of view. This is something I however can understand, as I was always interested in art, however I didn’t know what career I would gain from it. It’s only from experimenting with different medias that I have chosen this course, which was also cause by networking as was mostly influence by the universities visit to the collage I studied at.

There are many things to understand to get the most success out of networking. For a start, to find your contacts, it’s a good idea to join clubs and activities in your interest and start talking to people.  It’s also remembering that most of the time there is no such thing as luck and that opportunities are something you aim for. This can be done through maximising your chance opportunity, listening to your instincts and keep expecting good fortune- which is something I do lack from.

One way to start this process is through making a mind map of all the contacts that you made, and working away to keep adding towards it.

There are other points to remember, such as networking is a two-way street- sometimes you must give more to receive back. And often you must support each other. To break this down it’s important to keep being interested in other people- it’s what they know that is important.  remember who they are, so you can exchange work and contacts over time. Which may be helpful towards handing over projects to other illustrators and vice versa.  

There are many ways to gain for networking, first is coming out, but don’t state that you need a job and that maybe too imposing. Instead look for other terms such as, ‘looking for something.’ Also, gain information of who else they know, and gain more contacts. If you are professional looking to go to a meeting, you should dress in the scenario and be prepare and what you want to talk about.

Another way to be successful in the world of networking is knowing what type of communicator you are. There are:

·         The Loner

Someone who’s like to be on their own and do their work that way. They usually wait until they’re in desperate need to gain help from people. Because of this they don’t benefit from networking at all. And maybe on the people who are think that they are down on their luck.

·         The Socializer

They are the people makes friends with everyone without trying. It’s these types of people who everyone thinks has the most opportunity. However, because of the amount of socializing they do they usually and keeping organise with all their contacts and sometimes forgets about them. As well as knowing little substance of what each person they got to know was talking about.

·         The Cat

These are the types of people who would get business cards without connecting to whom passed it. That usually communicate with their contacts through sales and pitches, and when conversing only talk about themselves. They also tend to keep score, only doing favours to gain something back. Unfortunately, these are the type of people who gives networking a bad name, due to their rasher behaviour.

·         The Builder

These are the type of people who benefits from networking the most. They’re the people who tries to gain more opportunity, by giving more to their contacts, knowing that in the long run they would get something back. They also listen to people, so that they gain the most information and always aware to make friends, so that they could gain more contacts.

 For me I see myself as mostly a Loner, and a socializer- however I do have elements of a Builder in me. I am a very introverted person so talking to new people is scary for myself, however over the years I have tried to socialize with other people and going friendship. When I get to know a person, I tend to be the socializer as I always trying to talk into a conversation with them. However, the builder element within me, makes me more of a listener when it comes to opportunities and professional scenarios. However, I think to improve myself, I could try to be a builder in more situations.

 As I explained I am a very introverted person- mostly cause by my Asperger’s. This means I’m not good at small talk. However, that does not mean that I cannot benefit from the world of networking. Rather than talk to random people, try to get to know someone positive, so that you feel you can get yourself out of your shell. And, prepare your points beforehand, as knowing what I am going to say, as that helps with the small talk issues. And, understand while you may think the rest of the world is extroverted, in fact more people are introverted just like you, so it’s important to know that most people would have empathy with what you are going through.

 However, if meeting someone in face is too stressful for you, you can have a discussion with you contact with social media, as this can help you get opportunities form across the globe. However, for your more long-term contacts, it’s important to get to know them in person, to help build up your relationship more, and get you more comfortable with talking to other people.

 But going through this process, while it seems stressful, does have a good success out rate. 90% of creative graduates get their first opportunities through a personal contact and over 80% of all creative opportunities are never advertised, so through networking you can get inside the hidden job market- providing yourself with more contracts for your career.

[professionalpractice696]

Skills Workshop

The main worries a university student may come across is the idea of getting a job. Unfortunately, there is a stereotypical aura that people who enter art courses usually end up unsuccessful, but that is simply untrue. As long as the student understands the industry, they can achieve.

First thing to do is realise the potential of our degree, one way of which is knowing yourself. What are your skills, knowledge and experience, and further more how you can apply this to your work and applications. Finding many options is a big key to gaining work, get as many ideas and applications you can, as the famous saying goes, don’t put all your eggs into one basket.

Second is to know your surroundings, which you can do by reading relevant trade’s presses and publications. Also looking at fashion can influence illustration, as to what colours, shapes and styles are in trend. However, as always in fashion things go in and out quickly, do be aware of movers and shakers, get ahead of the game by going into the lead. The way I would do this is by going into different fashion stores and gain ideas for my main audience. If I want to do a child book, I may look in the child section of the store. If I want to draw characters at the beach, I would look at swim and summer wear. One way to keep on top of things is to keep a collection for you to remind yourself of what is going on now and before.

Thirdly, you have to work out how you are going to pay rent and balance your work life. One example is doing part time jobs to pay the rent for the lower months, and then during April you get more opportunities, so you can get a more professional job for your industry. However the only thing that I worry about is the part time as due to my anxiety this may make things difficult for me to cope- I find drawing quite therapeutic you see. However, I may work in the family business or investigate a job that is appropriate for me.

However while doing this you have to keep looking after yourself, you have to learn how to quickly produce quality work without putting on too much pressure on yourself and lose energy. Try planning all your work roles so you can wrap your head around what is needed to be done- which can be done in a diary or calendar. If you want to do a more freelance job, you have to be good at organising yourself, such as balancing you workload as well as your financials. The key point is to not struggle with you art value, as there is more freedom on both parties part of how much your customer shall pay for your work, while on a more secure role there are salaries to be given out- however, don’t get underpaid by that as well.

If advice is needed there are many places that can help you set up what you need, like for myself there is the Be The Boss program, which is a series of workshops that teaches students to be independent and move forward to self-employment. This is a workshop that I am planning to do next year.

So how successful are students are after finishing the course in derby, well the lecture we learned more about the statistics of the students after 6 months:

51% have a creative studio

72% chose to do further study

28 % do post graduate study

13% are doing masters

10 % are training and developing skills.

So overall over 70-80% of people are in creative occupations. And while many of them aren’t highly paid, many are satisfied with the career they chosen. 45% of these people are in fact self employed, so there is an almost even chance of where I may end up. Part time work is key to success in the beginning particular, however you should include some unpaid work for experience, just don’t allow anyone to take advantage of you workload.

One good piece of advice I was given is to not restrict myself to one discipline, and extend to other- such as animation and graphic design, to gain more opportunities for your work. Social media is also available to spread your work around, which is helpful for overseas customers.

Defining skill is also important, knowing what you can or cannot do. This can be an ability to do something either naturally or acquired through hard work. However, this does not mean you should give up if you hit a challenge, for example if you need to learn how to use Photoshop there are many tutorials online for your service to give you the basic grasp of knowledge.

So what opportunities have I found for myself? One is a character designer for a game company, which is something which I am strongly interested in. Even though I have no knowledge of coding, my knowledge of shapes and colour can help create the look of the characters and bring them to life. There is also a lighting designer, again with my knowledge and love for films, I could use quick illustrations as a guide to create thematic looks for my employer. The third is a junior Graphic design, as I had an experience with the hospital designing illustrations for the children’s x-ray department so I may have acquired some knowledge on how to keep them in mind, while learning knowledge for the design works.

However, this is just one of many, there are many jobs that you can apply for such as marketing assistance, digital designer, apprentice tattooist, creative assistant, and media developer. So with many opportunities out there, all one needs to do is take advantage of everything to be successful.

[professionalpractice696]

Current Events 2

Going back towards looking at current events, there has been more events in the news. One of the most talked about is the new policy from President Trump, which ban access from 7 Muslim countries to the US- this included holders of Green cards and Visa. 

This is then followed through with many protests:

Again there are many examples of visual communication, for example the sign that states no, has the image of Trump as the O, quickly giving a communication of what the man himself id saying no to. There also an image next to this sign of Trump painted in the famous style of the Marilyn Monroe portrait by Andy Warhol, possibly displaying how Trump only cares about the rich and abandon the poor.

This event also effects Great Britain, due to his state visit. Many British people are sickened by his new policy, so there are now protest in this country to stop this event.

There is one protesting against Trump’s visit to the Queen, as one protesters use the famous line of the anthem, as way to feel sadness and fear for the Queen meeting. Another one was a Protester who was raised in America and is currently residing in the UK, using the famous status of the Lady of Liberty, as a means of communicating how much Trump’s ideas are destroying what the statue stand for. 

Another event that I found interesting was the visual communication of the way Article 50 is being processed. This image is a good way to help easily display how Article 50 would be triggered, possible a way to help calm the nerves of the British population. However, while I find this effective for the communication side of things, there’s also the controversial idea that this graphic is simplifying a complicated objective too much. It a mind psyche is that when something is more understandable that it is less dangerous, however this can cause major issue if the process being is being dumb down too much, that the people would then forget the consequences. So while I thinks that this illustration works, the political side of it is a bit too simple and therefore allows other people to ask more questions that remain unanswered and scare others in how quickly this process maybe.

One of the most important news during this week is the inauguration of Donald Trump, which has come across many contraversities, and protest from across the country.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/23/trump-names-his-inauguration-day-a-national-day-of-patriotic-devotion/?utm_term=.31b600d38588

along side with this was the Woman’s March:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/22/my-womens-march-on-washington-what-comes-next

through the crowd, there were many examples of the use of illustration and iconic imagery to help push their point of view:

One of the things that maybe noticeable is the simplicity of the designs- using a very direct image and simple shapes so that passersby would take interest and quickly learn what the deigns wanted to say. One other example would be the use of strong colours, to allow the designs to stand out, and allow certain areas to stand out- for example the red and white on the jumper.

Another piece of news that would be current to the country of Great Britain, is the movement of Brexit.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2017/jan/24/supreme-court-article-50-judgement-announces-its-article-50-judgment-politics-live

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38720320

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-38723261

The current news this week, would be the introduction towards Article 50- which would be following years of negotiating with the other countries for trades.

While there isn’t much here to discuss the artistry in illustrations as of current, it still has many impacts in the career. There is a chance of companies coming out the UK, which would provide less of the consumers for illustrations- for example advertising and editorials. There would also be the fall of the pound, so many consumers would be more cautious of their money, so maybe in the future, illustrators, would have to negotiate harder to get the money they believe they should gain for their work.

There is however more juice for the more politically lead illustrators to work with, some for the vote and some against it. 

 Many of these images, are different in every way- some are more traditional while others are completely digital. However there are still many similar things within them- the use of colour are still towards the primary colours- blue, reds and yellows. While some used them in a heavily tinted way, there prominence is still there- as the colours are there to reminds us of the British and EU flag. 

So when I get into more editorial works, which I do need to improve on, I need to think more about the colour scheme and how it relates to the main subject matter, and think of a more simple idea to get the communication through. 

I will also need to think about the shape and composition of the piece as well, so it can be read through by other viewers, and maybe think of a way to have the illustration communicate quickly- like the protester’s signs-  so that people who only glance at an image for a few second could quickly comprehend what is being portrayed through the image.

[professionalpractice696]

Scorned

On Friday, everyone in the lecture room was place into a group of 4 with people we don’t know about. The reason for this being is that when an Illustrator, Graphic Designer and an Animator goes onto doing collaboration, we usually don’t get placed alongside with people we know. So, gaining confidence and learning to get along with each other is key to gaining success.

For someone with social issues this was a big challenge, however talking your thoughts out without hesitation is a good way to build confidence and get your ideas across. Even starting with a little joke that others find funny, which worked for myself for this project, is a good start to building your self-esteem and not shy away from the group and the project.

The start of the project was an hour-long exercise that involves the group into talking about the pros and cons of 2017, which would get all of us discussing with each other. Some of the outcomes were serious such as Donald Trump and Nigel Farage. While other were more humorous- like having smashed phone, and hating Gherkins.

When we got to the actual page, we all decided on going against what most magazines would do- being toned down and writing by journalist who probably went to public school. And have a more of an emotional reaction to the what we hate. So, we decided on making the cover look like a file with photos scatter, with the illustration doodled on them in broad red marker. We felt that with the limited time that this would be the quickest and most effective method to get our page done.

Overall, the page was successful. The doodle brings out the humour, but also have some controversial stuff inside of them- the use of swearing and the inappropriate use of symbols. Looking back, I felt that the doodles could’ve been more simplified, and maybe use a lighter tone of grey or red would help the doodles come out more. But in review of the actual group process, it was easier than expected. Everyone was in the same situation, so each of us know how the other is feeling. The mini project at the beginning was also a huge help as it allows all the team members to put their ideas down, whatever way they want and have a visual piece to communicate about. This helped build confidence and getting different ideas across in an efficient manner- helping the second part of the project be simpler.

[professionalpractice696]

Current Fashion Trends

To extend my Research I also looked at current events in the consumers world. This was done through looking at recent designer magazines.

one magazine that caught my attention was wallpaper- with the sketch of the Dyson hairdryer by Tom Sachs. If one want to know what this hairdryer is about, you can follow through with the review by Grav3yardgirl down below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwLkdLw14A

The reason why this cover was intriguing to me was the simplisty of it- while most art covers have complex pieces on them, this one has a very simplified sketch, with many mistakes in them- some areas as one can are covered in Tip Ex. This is a very minimalist portrayal of a very expensive and detailed product, however compared to other other covers, the white background shun out of the lot, and the lines shaped out what the product is mean to be in a quick way. 

Even with this minimal look this piece still has what I liked about the previous artists- the use of mark making and the sketchiness of the lines. The illustrations looks almost like a planning rather than a proper cover- however, this adds on the feeling of the running mind behind the creator. 

As the investigation of this magazine went further, one may start to notice the repeated uses of minimalism:

Each of these pieces have a very similar set up- the product done in a simplistic style, while being set up behind a white background. The products also have that streak as well. The fashion dresses are basically one material draped over the model, the furnishing advertisement are just that of a simple silver chair and hanging shapes. Even the most complex of these images- that of the kitchen design- still have element of what been seen before. The stairs are simplified to just steps, the benches are squared of and neatly tiled, as well the lights being the same simple hanging shapes.

All these have the advantage of standing out towards the audience, as the simpleness helps them stand out to the viewer, as the simple background helps the product stand out and the product design helps make the viewer see it in quick succession. 

There is also evidence of how this would be done in modern illustration today:

The top cover is of the Batman cover, published on September 1973; while the one below is done in April 2016. There are many differences between these two covers, for example the 1973 cover had a load of detail put into it with the line work of the city and the Joker. there also a need to fill the whole page up with colour and have many things blaring out into the viewers eyes- such as the batman on the card. There also a bright red sign stating what the cover is about. 

Underneath the current cover uses the minimal style of the products we seen above more. Harley Quinn while drawn in a very detailed style, is still being portrayed in front of a light coloured background. While there are a tone of characters behind her legs, the main viewpoint would be that of her face, as it stand out due to being on it’s own. The text to announce this character is more subtle as well, instead of being in front the text is behind the character head, and the information of the story is now being portrayed on a newspaper in the characters hands. 

These two covers could also be showing us the two different fashion tastes between the two different eras. The 1970′s were mostly fashioned around bright colours and outlandish looks. While in today’s world, there is much more competitiveness to grab the audience attention due to our attractiveness to technology, so the more simplistic the work is, the more chance it would catch our audience’s eye.

So as an illustrator one has to learn how to balance making well crafted pieces, while also using the advantage of simplistic minimalism to allow the piece to catch our consumers eyes.  Using this will allow our works to stand out the most, and while we may allow ourselves more detail in the insides of our works, when it comes to promoting ourselves, it important to gain the attention of the consumer, to get the higher chance of them remember what the image is and who created it. 

[professionalpractice696]

The Start

To learn more about the experience of illustration, this blog would investigate the different artist that have reflected on my own work, the current fashion trends of the week, as well as the most major news in the world. 

The first artist we would be looking at would be Tim Burton, who is most famous for being the director of Edward Scissorshands and the producer of Nightmare before Christmas. 

What these works make the most use of is the mark-making with the lines and textures within the trees and the chracters. the lines were also very losely drawn, giving more life to the drawings and giving them the sketchy feel, which is quite unique amongst illustration that are usually clean and fresh.

Another artist that has the similar eerie style to Burton would be Jhonen Vasquez. His work, while slightly more polished than Burton’s, still has the marks and sketch line work that help the characters lift off the paper. However, in Vasquez’s work, there is a heighten amount of obscured perspectives in his works, making the viewer look at the placement in a unique yet terrifying way. Even in his recent concept work for Bioshock 2 TM, The use of perspective gives of a feel of the daddy coming on the viewer- while the fish eye lens look, makes the already disfigured face of the little sister, more distorted, and therefore more freakish. Also though this piece is more clean cut than the sketching feel of the comic’s, there is still the many marking making on the ripping walls, and the broken windows, as well as the ill portioned characters- that help this piece come to life.

The final Artist that we will be looking into is Judith Kerr. While her work is definitely more child friendly, Kerr still utilised what is used within the last two images- The sketching style and the mark making. The materials used here are coloured pencils, however unlike other artist who used this medium with careful blending, Judith used the rough feeling of the lead to be pronounced on paper. like the previous two examples, this allows the characters to feel more alive. But even with the same elements, the childishness of these characters comes from the more brighter colours, and the use of more friendly imagery- as in there is no gore. One may also compare these works to drawing of a child themselves- giving a connection towards to the target audience who reads them. 

These are techniques which I myself would like to involve in my works, as I like using textures and patterns. I also want to use very dramatic line work and perspectives in my work as well. However, what I want to get into is looking at doing projects for both Children and adults, so as not to minimise the audience I provide for. I feel this would allow me to have as many chances at contracts, rather minimising what I could do. These artists helped me understand how to use very similar techniques, but how to utilise them into doing it for different viewers, which for my future of freelance work, is something I really need to understand.