STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PART 1 - My 10 images

I want to show my skills in digital painting and the type of briefs I take on which are commercial. Alongside this my passions lie in what is going on in the world, in the news, subjects like equality and so I want to show how I often translate those across into my work too. Overall, my work is humorous, so I want this to be the pinnacle of my choices, they need to look fun. 

I really struggled at first because there's nothing that I am majorly proud of. At the time I was but now I look back and think they need a lot of work doing to them, or it would be better to show the finished product photographed properly rather than just the design. I've narrowed it down, but these were all briefs I enjoyed doing, and I find it hard to look at them as an outsider and know whether they work or not. If I had to take one out I'd probably take out the watercolour elf because watercolour isn't something I want to progress in doing so I wouldn't want to highlight that I can do that, incase anyone asked me to do it in a commission when it's not one of my strengths anymore, my focus is digital. 

Cushion design

A1 poster design

Card design

Presentation boards for Yorkshire Tea animation

Breaking bad wrapping paper

T-shirt and mobile phone design for Threadless

Propercorn packaging design

Borns Visual artwork

Front cover of a funny zine for Thoughtbubble

Context of practice piece about females in fairytales

A1 watercolour painting of an elf 

STUDIO BRIEF 1 - Victo Ngai Visit

Important things I felt she said.

What is illustration?

• Communication
• creating visual solutions between client and audience
• ideas first, that keeps it exciting
• eye-catching to draw people in
• recognisable

Editorial

• Business sections more literal
• sometimes have to be sensitive - spoke about how she drew cancer cute to show that it is sealable and something you can overcome ( thinking about audience )

Stories & Books

• You're given the outline so you can't just make it up
• concept is already dictated within a story so you have to pick the right moment from it
• good composition is key

Posters

• Not actually a scene from the movie, but she's chose to create her own interpretation of that

Advertisement

• How fun it is depends not he client
• more money means less freedom, lots of people involved
• have something small on the side to fulfil that side
• if you're drawing the product, you need to draw it right
• sends lots of sketches for them to say do this again, do that again
• then send finished sketch
• then coloured version
• the characters have to attract the right audience. Had to chance ethnicity of them often.
• Business side - in editorial they get the first print right and pay you if you use it again, in advertisement they sign a period of time so e.g 3 months and they can do what ever they want within that time. So they put it everywhere, billboards, packaging etc, to make the most of it
• Advertisement on the internet the production cost is much lower so you have more freedom

Making client work personal

• 'Death is melancholy but also beautiful as it makes room for life'
• Seeing shows and exhibitions, getting inspired
• makes up a story from something. got told to draw a frog but she made up a story about the frog and illustrated that
• if it fulfils the commission and is still something someone would want to hang on the wall then that is the most successful she feels

Style

• It is important to be recognised but she struggled with having one style
• she likes a lot of different styles and confused between what she likes to see and what she likes to produce herself. Ended up imitating them
• Line is the skeleton other work and then builds it up with colour. Does colours and textures in a separate layer and puts linework on top. 
• She's a mixture of traditional and digital
• Makes textures for backgrounds
• struggled with colour initially
• doesn't have to be realistic drawing, photos capture realism, illustration is another world interpretation
• its not how good you are its how good you want to be
• good artists borrow great artists steal
• if you can't be wise pretend to be someone who is wise and behave like they would - blag it. Be confident and like yeah I can do that, then panic inside. 

The class asked questions and this is how she responded :

• make a calendar
• email in the morning
• break down your day
• working for yourself can make you slack off
• if you get stuck then go out and chill and come back to it
• first few years need a part time job alongside it. If you work part time in a creative job then you won't want to come home and draw so do a job you hate so that drawing is your escapism and something you enjoy
• steal colours from pieces you like if you aren't good at colour to better understand it. 
• be thick skinned
• go out of your way 
• moved to new york for work cause the big publishers were there
• go in and let them see your face, see you as a human rather than online
• send out promos and emails
• go to social events keep showing up and you start to belong
• having an agent - she got one in the year she graduated cause of visa reasons, but says put it off as long as possible. Better to get one later, more bargaining power when you negotiate terms. Wait a couple of years, promote your own work in the meantime
• Never miss a deadline. Ask for an extension. Be on time and do a good job so that you build up a good reputation or they won't hire you again

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PART 4 - LinkedIn - who could I be connecting with?

I'm trying to think outside of the box and connect with people that aren't illustrators because I don't feel that would help me when trying to get a job - other illustrators are my competitors at the end of the day. I am trying to think of companies or lines of work that my work could fit into (commercial). I am targeting the directors, the owners, the design teams.

I also figured that if I am looking at illustrators then I need to be targeting the connections that they have and the people they possibly work for. I have looked at Mr.Bingo's connections (having over 500+) he is great at contacting people for work. Plus our style of work is quite similar so if I am struggling to imagine where my work can be seen and used then I need to be looking at the type of people he uses. So I have done, and connected with some of those!

I have an illustrated drawing of myself as my display picture and a humorous illustrated cover photo just to give an idea of my style of drawing so hopefully they can see that and be drawn to it and notice my strengths in digital painting. They then may wish to contact me, but until then I am going to message them all and just tell them to bare me in mind.

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PART 4 - Update all my social media

Task for this evening off the back of PPP session

• Update instagram with new pictures 

• Update tumblr with new pictures

• Create a new Facebook for illustration work only

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - Final Zine

This could be sold further than just for thought bubble. 

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PART 1 - Portfolio surgery notes

How I prepared for the session

To familiarise myself with what I want to show in my portfolio about who I am and what I like doing, I printed off some of the work that I've been doing lately, things I enjoyed doing in the past and how I have been promoting myself online.

Notes from the session

Types of portfolio

• Printed/physical
• Web

What your website contains :

• Social Media - instagram facebook tumblr
• Male chimp - build up your clients and send out a newsletter all in one go
• Blog - image heavy, punchy single statement conversation (tumblr or wordpress)
• Statement - 3rd person, describing your practice
• Email - a professional one
• Shop - paypal account
• Testimonial from the client next to what you've done; so the others know you are reliable

Start to make a list of potential clients

Find out who commissions and who employs, get names and emails

Keep your email short and simple 'here's some fantastic work i've been doing (link website)'

Maybe put in a small image as a teaser

Email yourself before you send it to make sure it works

Printed physical portfolio :

• Spend some money on it
• Quality prints
• Can be anything not just a black case
• A3 - no bigger
• Portable
• Have 10 core images
• Best one at the beginning and best one at the end 

Preparing for a meeting with a client :

• RESEARCH them
• Look on their website
• What do they do 
• Who they usually use/employ
• In your portfolio you need to have a little bit of similar work to what they have already, and then fresh different work that you can persuade them they need
• Flatter them
• Find out the name of who you're meeting, drop them an email before hand asking them what kind of things you will be discussing in the meeting so that you can prepare accordingly

For 2 weeks time :

• In a group with Sophie, Aaron & Rosie
• AUDIT your work - review, see what you have, the value, does it work still?
• Be objective, look at it as an outsider
• Put your work into different categories: portrait, digital, character, lifework etc. This will become the different galleries for the webrsite. Edit down to the 10 core images 

Develop a style guide : typeface, size, weight all the same for everything so that people know it is you. 

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PART 4 - Linkedin - I got a reply!

I don't know how I'd be an illustrator for ITV, I don't know how I thought I could be, but it's worked..

Happy days

STUDIO BRIEF 1 - Love your work and get paid for it

Notes

How you do it :

• client interest/contact
• take a view of brief
• discuss with client, clarify it so you know exactly what you're producing
• evaluate what they are asking for
• estimate a time frame and expected hourly rate
• add on costs, couriers, materials etc
• itemise and estimate all content and timings
• advise client on email of what they'll get
• once they agree you can start the work

What to say in email :

• Be social, first name basis
• say you are really interested in the project
• itemise what they have asked for specifically
• tell them exactly what they are getting from you
• how long it will take at how much per hour
• total - minus any unforeseen details 
• on agreement of final illustrations I will supply all files for the correct print/digital outcomes in the correct format on a memory stick for your use
• project terms : I always request an initial deposit of 50% of estimated total cost before commencement and the full balance on handover of final files. I prefer bank transfer as a payment method and will hand over details of this on agreement. On full and final payment I will assign copyright of the illustrations to yourselves. 
• Please let me have your agreement before I start this project and I will begin my research on this fantastic project... 

AN EMAIL LIKE THIS IS LEGALLY BINDING, IT WILL STAND UP IN COURT. 

• Send an invoice with the date, their order number, your reference number, your bank details, and reiterate your terms as a base rider. Send it to their ACCOUNTS DEPT. 
• Remember you are supplying a service and a product at the end of the day, keep up this professionalism or it will go downhill from here. 

STUDIO BRIEF 2 - PART 4 - Linkedin

I have already joined Linkedin but I was not using it as actively as I should be so I found some people that I wanted to connect with

As I've mentioned previously on my blog that one of my dream jobs would be to work at google as a designer or 'doodler' as they are called, I decided to try connect with some of those and find out more about it.

I added a little note saying that I'd love to know more about being a doodler

I also looked at paperchase designers as I could speak to them about how to get into the card industry as I loved designing greetings cards in one of my previous modules. I am hoping to be able to message someone see if there are any placements going or advice on working for a card company. 

Then I don't know why but I thought i'd try my luck with some itv designers.. dream big and all that.. as I think that this is something away from illustration but still an area I am interested in. I would love to work for TV somehow and in advertising.

After this I got quite carried away and tried to connect with lots of designers from things that I like such as television, fashion, products. Areas that were quite commercial but I also knew a lot about. 

I did manage to get a few back straight away which is positive 

With my interests in mocking politics I decided to try connect with Russel Brand too

I then looked at the jobs available 

People to follow off the back of the seminar : 

Tim Wan

Adam Seal

Henry Moore

LCAAlumni

Guest lecturers we have had

Kevin O'Malley

Some jobs I would be capable of doing :

Digital Designer

I think my profiles looking pretty cool now too I used my illustrated image of myself from last years creative cv and uploaded a cover photo of a piece of work I done for threadless t shirt design so that whoever connects with me gets an idea of my 'style' of drawing 

I've only gone and found Neil Buchanan, I told him he's my hero 

I looked on the BBC page on Linkedin and they have this thing called the soap factory whereby online you can create your own scene using the illustrated characters given and I thought, I could design these characters. BBC obviously already have these, but I could do this for any other broadcasting company for their websites. 

I sent a nice message to Mr.Bingo too 

Extended Practice Statement of intent

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	06
OUIL603 Extended Practice	Credits	60
STUDIO PRACTICE Statement of Intent

Name	A	Blog Address
Date
Rationale
I would like to produce work that is more professionally finished and can be included within my portfolio or on my website. I feel I have not produced work that represents me as often yet; but rather produced work to finish briefs to a deadline. I would like to produce more commercial work and work that can be translated across products. I also would like to get involved in more branding and see how my illustrations can be used to support logos. I am hoping to experiment further with book cover designs and posters as I feel that I am not strong with these, I really battle with them and I want to get my head around it as this would benefit me in the future. It will be interesting to see how my drawing style can translate across a variety of briefs from book covers to cushions to show how flexible I can be as an illustrator. However, to stay true to my passions I will still use humor as much as possible. I feel that my strongest module throughout the two years on the course has been Context of Practice because I am taking real life situations, social groups and occurrences in the news and translating this across within my work; which I would like to explore more outside of the module and in my briefs.
Themes / Subjects
- Book illustrations - Product & Packaging - cushions, t-shirts, album covers - Informative / Educational - Poster designs
Products / Methods of Distribution
- A book cover that will be printed on high stock paper - An educational poster about diversity - A poster advertising a music festival - An album cover representing a band - A cushion design - A t-shirt design - Commercial character design - A 16 page zine to be shown at a comic festival
Practical Skills / Media / Formats
- Technical drawing skill - Digital drawing & painting – Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop - Composition within an image (more for poster designs and album artwork) - Working to a deadline - Developing concepts - Working to a variety of formats from small album cover work to whole book covers

Brief 1: Ohh Deer Cushion Designs	Deadline 6th November 2015
Rationale: Completely open brief, designs to fit in with the brand and be added to the shop. It leaves me the scope to be experimental and perhaps work with pattern design, which I would like expand on from last year. This is the type of work I see myself doing more of in the future.
Brief 2: Talenthouse - Borns album cover design	Deadline November 17th 2015
Rationale: Create visual artwork for the band. I want to get involved more in album covers because I would like to experiment more with interpreting sound into image and this would show more versatility within my work.
Brief 3: House of Illustration - War Horse	Deadline January 18th 2016
Rationale: Illustrating the new edition of the book War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. I think this is going to be one of my big briefs because I am not familiar or confident with book illustrations and so this will be a challenge but a rewarding one when finished. I think this will be portfolio worthy if executed well and if I win it would be a great achievement and push me to explore book illustration further.
Brief 4: Graphic Competitions - Chicago Latino Film Festival (Poster Design)	Deadline January 8th 2016
Rationale: Create a poster to become the face of the festival o n the cover of newsprints, programme books, electronic ads and more. I chose this brief because I want to explore composition more and I feel posters will allow me to do this. It also means I can be experimental with colour, as well as image and type. These are all my focuses for the year and I feel this would be a fun brief to run alongside other big briefs to keep being experimental and play.
Brief 5: Graphic Competitions - Embracing Our Differences	Deadline January 4th 2016
Rationale: A pretty open brief of art of any medium or size promoting social change through communities towards prejudice, exploring diversity and embracing individuality. I chose this brief because I think it grasps my interests outside of being an illustrator in equality and moving on from Context of Practice it is a great opportunity for me to show how I can further my passion of equality within my illustrations now and in the future Brief 6: Penguin Book Awards – How to be a woman              Deadline: March 9th 2016 Rationale: Non-fiction book cover based on ‘How to be a woman’ by Caitlin Moran. Timeless and classic and displaying the books funny context, it must be accessible and easy to pick up and exist within popular culture. I think this brief would suit me very well because I have a keen interest in what is current and popular culture and I think I am able to translate this well throughout my illustrations with use of humour. The only challenge I will face with this is the typography as it must be extremely well executed, and that is where my weakness lies. I will be exploring this with digital drawing and painting using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and then translating that across onto InDesign.
Additional Project Proposals These will be my main briefs but on top of this I wish to explore Threadless t-shirt designs, secret 7 album covers, YCN when their briefs are released, and take on individual commissions from small businesses that want rebranding. To do that I may need to collaborate with a graphic designer and use my illustrations alongside their logos. I think all of the briefs I have chosen give a sense of versatility with my illustration 'style' and explore a range of medium. This will benefit me with my portfolio; and I have chosen briefs that are a mixture of big 'kahuna' briefs that will be a challenge for me such as book illustration, and small fun briefs that I enjoy doing most such as cushion covers.

Contextual References

RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Research pattern designs and the cushions	Deadline
Details Look into the cushion/soft furnishings market see what is trending. Look at seasonal patterns that would fit into a November theme, perhaps Autumn/Winter shapes and colours.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Read War horse and research war imagery	Deadline
Details I need to read extracts of War Horse to get a feel for the book and start to explore war imagery; which would stand out the most on a cover. Explore compositions for this, and colours to suit the book’s mood.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY Research past Latino festival posters and the festival itself	Deadline
Details I want to look at previous posters to get an idea of what worked and were successful in advertising the event. I also want to look at the festival, the vibe it has to inspire colours and shapes for the poster. I want to listen to some of the music that is included at the festival; which may trigger some ideas.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY Look at past equality posters	Deadline
Details I want to produce an equality poster for the ‘embrace our differences’ piece so I need to explore perhaps symbolically how to illustrate equality. I will look at character design more for this and colour, stereotypes of people.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY Listen to Borne, research past album covers, past secret 7 pieces too	Deadline
Details I need to listen to the music as I have never heard of Borne, and get a feel of the vibe to translate as an illustration with use of colour and shape and composition. I have not worked on many album covers thus far so need to look back at old submissions of this on Talenthouse; as well as past Secret 7 submissions, I think that would be a good platform to start. RESEARCH ACTIVITY Read extracts of ‘How to be a woman’ and look at the covers of contemporary books within popular culture that fall into the same category, see what is successful. I will need to produce a questionnaire of what people perceive as a ‘pickupable’ book, what makes people want to read it? I also need to explore humorous book covers to get an idea of different types of humour that I can translate across in the book. I need to consider the audience for this in terms of the imagery used and colour.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS / TEXTS  - (Harvard Referenced)

MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / ARTICLES – (include publication date and details)

ON LINE REFERENCES  / WEBSITES / ARTICLES (include specific urls)

OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL (Films, events, exhibitions, conferences)

ACTION PLAN – use this section to identify specific tasks that you need to complete in order to resolve the brief.
Brief	What do you need to do?	Deadline
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BA (Hons) Illustration - Level 06

OUIL603 Extended Practice

STUDIO PRACTICE

Project Proposals

10 steps to producing persuasive project proposals

1.    Set clear aims and objectives

2.             Be SMART

(Specific , Measurable , Achievable , Realistic , Time Conscious)

3.             Use words from your brief

4.             Justify the need for your proposal

5.             Describe your audience

6.             Describe your motivations

7.             Consider the reader

8.             Eliminate vagueness

9.             Visualise the ending  

10.          Assume nothing