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NOTES FROM SHOW YOUR WORK! BY AUSTIN KLEON

Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon was suggested to us as recommended reading for this module. The book is meant to act as a short guidebook to help creatives get discovered

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INTRO TO PERSONAL BRANDING

The following document from lecturer Carolina summarizes some of the creatives whose branding we analyzed today, and also includes some questions to answer for today's class with regard to our personal understanding of branding.

EXERCISE 01: WHAT IS A PERSONAL BRAND?

EXERCISE 02: WHAT MAKES YOU REMEMBER A CREATIVE PERSON?

EXERCISE 03: MIND-MAP YOUR INFLUENCES, VALUES, STRENGTHS AND CREATIVE OBSESSIONS.

EXERCISE 04: COLLECT 03 EXAMPLES OF INSPIRING CREATIVES WITH A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND (ACROSS MOTION, ANIMATION AND DESIGN)

Here are a few artists whose work I enjoy and follow here on Tumblr, whose personal branding really sticks out in my memory:

JAMES FENNER (@jmfenner91)

Website: James Fenner Illustration Specialty: Why it works:

2. LOUIE ZONG (@everydaylouie)

Website: Louie Zong Specialty: Why it works:

3. SAMMY SAVOS (@hamotzi)

Website: Home - Sammy's Portfolio Specialty: Why it works:

4. VICKY CHEN (@crowwkui)

Website: About - vickychen Specialty: Why it works:

5. ADRIENNE BAZIR (@insertdisc5)

Website: Specialty: Why it works:

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POTENTIAL TOPICS FOR THE RESEARCH REPORT

In the afternoon session of the first class for the module, we were asked to brainstorm and come up with five potential topics of which we will pick one we'd like to tackle for this submission. These are the requirements, as per the brief:

Write a research report about a part of the animation industry that interests you. It could be about how a specific technique is employed - for example - the use of realtime backgrounds in the production of The Mandalorian. It could be a cultural enquiry - such as exploring the rise of K-Pop aesthetics, or an ethical issue, such as exploring ‘crunch time’ or gender issues in the videogames and/or animation industry. These examples are purely illustrative - you could choose anything within reason, as long as it is related to animation/VFX/games/film/sound/etc.

The PDF will ideally contain primary and secondary research from a range of sources to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry (LO1) and ability to thoroughly research different topics (LO3).

TOPICS

The Sanitization of Modern Media.

2. Capitalism vs Creativity

3. X-men as a Metaphor for Queercoding

4. The Commodification(?) of Creativity

5. Video Game Protagonists as a Stand-in for the Audience (I phrased oddly.)

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SELF EVALUATION - FROM THE BRIEF

QUESTION 01: WHAT MAKES YOU EMPLOYABLE? (BE HONEST.)

To answer as accurately and with as little bias as possible, I will evaluate my positive traits based on what my greatest strengths have been in the various jobs I've held over the last few years.

Unrelated to my technical skills as a creative, I believe my greatest strength as an employee has been my ability to form connections with people, as I have always taken on roles that had me interacting with new people from varying backgrounds: as a journalist, as a salesperson and as a freelance illustrator. I also consider myself a team player who is accustomed to and (fairly) comfortable with taking on leadership roles. Bonus: This is how I described my skills in my CV back in 2021 (my final year of highschool) for a journalism internship:

(I like to think most of the listed skills still hold up?)

QUESTION 01B: WHAT DOESN'T MAKES YOU EMPLOYABLE? (BE HONEST.)

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SHOWREEL INSPIRATION

For the first class of the module, we were asked to create our own Vimeo and LinkedIn accounts if we hadn't already, and start browsing showreels on said platforms for inspiration.

MY LINKEDIN | MY VIMEO

Here are some showreels I personally resonated with on LinkedIn and Vimeo: And here are some university reels I liked on YouTube: Based on the above reels, here are some elements I think make up a good showreel + some things I'd like to implement in mine.

[03/06/2025]

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THE BRIEF

A version of the brief from a previous year:

[03/06/2025]