Summative Position Statement

This year has taught me a lot about my own practice and how I'm able to work as a professional illustrator. Completing over 12 live briefs since October, and with 6 events/briefs already lined up between now and the start of August, I feel fairly confident that my self-promotion ability is one I've really honed in on this year. This has come through a mixture of face-to-face networking, and full utalisation of my social media and website as a professional.

While the live briefs have taught me so much in regards to dealing with clients, communication, business conduct, finance etc, what they have given me most is a grounding in where my work can sit outside of the education system. I still have an avid interest in music illustration, however live briefs have shown that my reportage work can also be used in a commercial setting.

Leaving this course I'd love to really take the time to get back to making some work for myself. I'd also like to write some of my own briefs so my work can be shown in contexts other than those I've already ventured into (e.g. some packaging work for food is something I've never done). This could aid in showing my work in a way that looks immediately commercial, in turn attracting more clients, so I am able to continue to do the work that really drives my practice.

Overall this year has been primarily about growth and maturing as a professional through simply cracking on and doing the job. I'm eternally grateful for all the live work I've undertaken this year, and for the clients belief in my ability. Moving forward though, I'm excited to carry on this profession as an individual free of academia, and allow myself the time to enjoy drawing for myself again.

Module Evaluation

Final Presentation

Creative Presence

Portfolio

Sending Emails and Contacting People

List of sent emails

Today I sent off some emails to inquire about work, advice and general feedback. I was really nervous about doing this for a long time, and in a way I felt a little worried that it may be a little late in my PPP module to complete this task. However after taking a step back last night I knew this was something more important than my PPP grade. This was something I should be doing for the progression of my career, and with that in mind I plucked up the courage to send out some emails.

As I said previously, I felt a lot more confident sending out these emails now that I've collated a PDF portfolio. I felt I had something I could attach other than my website that laid out effectively who I am as an illustrator. 

I contacted the following people via email

-SoYoung Magazine

- DIY mag 

- The Skinny

- Under the Radar

- Big Active

- Vice

- i-D

And the following people via their 'contact me' section on their website (didn't provide email contacts);

- The Wire

I got an automated response from The Skinny about how they were unable to give back individual feedback during this time, but if you had a direct interest to contact the emails on their site. I found two relevant email addresses and sent them both the email I had originally addressed to their job email; I am determined to get through to them!!

When composing each email I tried to give an interesting subject title if I was addressing a person and not a job@whatever email. I wanted to give them a sense of personality so it didn't just read as another illustration student taking up their time. I also edited the text of each email to specifically address whoever I was emailing; to again give it more of a personal touch.

I'm unsure who I'll hear back from, but just sending out this first batch of emails has given me a huge boost in confidence to send out some more. I'm also thinking of organising some physical mailers to send out to places like Rough Trade (hard to reach via email) and SoYoung, to grab their attention a little more than just a plain old email.

Who to Contact

I've decided to spend this morning sending out emails to contact people. I understand it feels a little late within the module to do this (which is probbaly why I've felt so bad about sending them off) but after taking a step back I realise that I'm not really doing this for PPP. This is something that is going to benefit me, and something I'll kind of be doing my whole life. I also feel a lot more confident emailing now I have my portfolio sorted out. It makes me feel like my work does actually have a kinda strong tone of voice, and it's heading in the direction that I want it to. So today I'm taking the big ol' leap into the real world!!!

What work am I interested in?

Passion
- Music Illustration
- Editorial
- Reportage
- Independent Publishing

Make me some Moolah
- Packaging
- Advertising

Why do these areas suit my practice?

- Have an active interest in music, DIY and subcultures
- Interest in telling stories, human element of things, reportage
- Tone of voice conveys a lot of attitude (helps when relating to human emotion)
- Have made publications and zines in the past, enjoy it as a medium for communication; would love to do more self-researched publications such as Fem.
- Enjoy seeing my work applied to things. Tangible things especially excite me and allow me to see my work in different ways (packaging). Nice to be able to hold something that you've made rather than just look at it on screen
- Also advertising isn't something I think of as particularly exciting, my 'style' is transferable to a lot of commercial jobs ("You could make pasta look great" - Ben Cox) Don't feel I have very many examples of commercial advertising or packaging products on my website. This is something I'd like to expand over Summer so I could attract more 'commercial' jobs (hello bigger bucks) that would allow me to carry on with my passion projects

My existing contacts

- Alan Clough; Illustrator for Welly Club, Fruit, Polar Bear and Hull Box Office. Founder of Something Entirely Different and Hub-A
- Stewart Baxter; Manager of Warren Records
- Lewis Young; Founder of Adult Teeth Recording Company
- Mark Page; Founder of The Sesh and Humber Street Sesh
- David Laycock; Co-Founder at Independent Leeds
- Joe Cox; Co-Founder of Form print shop
- Kate West; Gallery Manager at Artlink Gallery
- Andy and Becky; Owners of CMV

Who to contact?

- So Young
- DIY mag
- Rough Trade
- The Wire
- The Skinny
- Under the Radar
- Big Active
- Vice
- i-D
- The Guardian (?) Maybe when I have more examples of editorial work on my website and in my portfolio

Final Portfolio

Invoice

Invoice

Death of Invoice

I just finished my invoice on photoshop and I clicked save and it stop responding so I have to make it all again technology is a horrible thing

Creative CV

Creative CV

Web Presence

Website presence

jazzharbord.com

Mobile Social Media Presence

Mobile social media presence 

Shown Here (all linked below)

- Facebook

- Website

- Instagram

- Twitter

Business Cards Mock-Up

Up to date business cards

Live Briefs To-Date

I feel like this is a good time to reflect on how many LIVE briefs I've done this academic year. These are including ONLY briefs in which I have worked directly with a client outside of uni

1. FISHEYE - Hull Box Office Flyer (April 2017)
2. TEDx Hull - Live Drawing (March 2017)
3. Independent Leeds - Female Zine Scene Feature (February 2017)
4. Hull 52 - Playing Card (February 2017)
5. La Bete Blooms - Tshirt Design (February 2017)
6. La Bete Blooms 'Low Hummer' Single Cover (January 2017)
7. Adelphi Gig Poster - Warren Records (January 2017)
8. Virgin Media Communications Box - Live Painting (November 2016 - January 2017)
9. La Bete Blooms 'Low Hummer' Storyboard (December 2017)
10. Pop Up Print Shop - Artlink Exhibition (November - December 2016)
11. La Bete Blooms 'Breaking In' Video Visuals (November 2016)
12. La Bete Blooms 'I know It's Nothing' EP (November 2016)

Leaving uni I also have these following briefs already lined up, I've had to leave a few details out due to non-disclosure reasons

1. Boss Kitty & Pizza Eaters Creator Fair (May 8th 2017 - Hull)
2. Live Painting Event - National Television Commissioner (May 2017)
3. A5 Risograph Illustration for Theatre Production (May 2017 - Hull Based)
4. Music EP - Print and Digital (2017 - Hull Based)
5. Music LP - Print and Digital (2017 - America Based)
6. Live Painting - Humber Street Sesh

It makes me feel a little better about my practice knowing that I've actually completed a lot of work this year. These are briefs outside of uni obligations such as COP, PPP, Colours May Vary Show, and our Final Major Project. No wonder I want some time for my own practice again haha!

Teagan White; Profesh Ambitions !!!

http://www.teaganwhite.com/

http://teaganwhite.tumblr.com/

Teagan White

I've been a fan of Teagan White's work for a while now, however I only recently re-visited her website and blog, and what struck me about this was how cohesive her entire online presence is!!

Throughout her website, blogs and stores, there is a strong tone of voice that is not only consistent but reflective of her work and practice as a whole. I really like how active she is on her blogs too, using them almost in an instagram style way (short and punchy). I think leaving this course I'd like to start a tumblr to ensure I keep my visual practice work going consistently. My instagram is definitely more refined now and I don't like throwing up any unedited work there willy nilly. A tumblr blog may give me the space to just get sketches and ideas up somewhere I can instantly access them. 

I'd love to eventually have a visual identity as refined and appropriate as Teagan's. I feel like I need the time to make work reflective of where I want to be now, I am DEFINITELY going to leaving this course as an opportunity to get back to my own artistic practice.

New Business Cards

New business card designs

This week I wanted to design some more up to date business cards from the ones I used at CMV. My website is now fully up and running so I wanted to add that to the cards. I also wanted some full colour illustrations on there too - my last batch were black ink on coloured paper to save with time and money. If I'm to get some professionally printed however I'd like them to be a little more eye-catching. 

I picked out a few of my favorite pieces this year that I feel best describe my work and where it's heading. I haven't been able to share the middle image in full yet (release date is May) so I'm excited to finally get it out there as it's one I'm really proud of. I also feel the piece as a whole describes where I want my practice to go (nice linework with bold colours / mixture of traditional and digital). 

I've already found somewhere I'd like to have the cards printed for end of year show (once I've got the funds haha). Luckily my boyfriend works in marketing so he has been able to recommend somewhere industry standard and get me a discount too, whoopie! 

Professional Update; Where am I going?

As I near the end of PPP I find I'm asking myself a lot a questions I perhaps should have been addressing throughout the year. A lot of questions about where my work is going, or more importantly, where I want it to go. I feel as though I've spent so much time this year working on live briefs, I've had little time to practice the things that I wanted to practice, or do the sort of work that I wanted to do. This is in ways frustrating, as I wish I'd had more time for personal and self initiated briefs, but what I've learnt from working on live briefs with clients has been invaluable. A lot of where I want my work to go from here wouldn't have happened without the live work I've been completing. 

I still feel really interested in the music industry and illustration. It combines a love of my two fave things, but I'm unsure how much this alone would sustain me. I'm aware a lot of the music briefs I enjoy are for smaller, independent records or artists, that don't typically have thousands of pounds to throw around. What Ben Cox said about doing the perhaps more mundane jobs to fuel my passion projects really stuck with me. With this in mind I think I maybe need to push some of my work into a more commercial context. This includes doing briefs I perhaps wouldn't usually do, or tackling subject matter (architecture, food, etc) that doesn't usually occur in my work at the moment.

Leaving this course, I think I'd also like to really get my online store up and running. It was something I initially wanted to focus a lot of time on this year, but it's fallen to the way-side with my live briefs taking up most of my time. I actually quite like the idea of taking the time after this course to really sort my professional practice out. Though I have refined it a lot this year compared with my second year, I still feel there's a way to go with it. At the moment it feels very 'just leaving university'. I'd like to have a stronger sense of who I am as a practitioner come across through the design elements of my website and blog which still feel a little 'clinical'(?). 

Re; Ben Cox

Email to Ben Cox

I sent a follow up email today to Ben Cox about the talk and one-on-one work reviews he gave us at LCA. This is my first time contacting someone industry standard via email which is a little daunting. I really liked speaking to Ben in person and the feedback he gave was incredibly useful. I think I feel a little nervous about sending this because I'm not sure if I've sent it to the right email address? There was only one on the C.I.A. site, and though Ben was written down as one of the people attached to this email, I have got an automated response back from a woman unnamed on the contact page of the site.

I think if I don't hear back in a few weeks I might try linking with him on LinkedIn and send him a message that way. I will not give in!!

Pizza Eaters & Boss Kitty Creator Fair

A few weeks ago I was contacted via my artist facebook page about whether I'd be interested in taking part in a 'creators fair' at Fruit in Hull. At first glance I wasn't so sure given how my last comic fair event went at Park Plaza Hotel, however this event seems so much more suited to my practice. As well as other art-y stall holders at the event, there will be live music from a couple of local punk bands. The vibe of this event seems much more suited to my work than the comic fair so I've agreed to go down. The stall is also free, and it gives me an opportunity to do some networking too which can only be a positive thing!

I'd like to have some art 'holders' this time for some of my work. Plastic stands etc to put my zines in rather than laying them flat on the table. I'd love to have a stall similar to Kristyna's one day that's full to the brim with work that fits well together! At the minute I think my stall looks a little boring; that's something I'd like to work on post-uni too!

Kristyna's Stall set up at Northern Craft at Northern Monk Brewery

I don't feel like I have enough work to justify this yet, but moving forward I've also thought about investing in a Paypal Here Chip and Pin. They're very similar to regular chip and pin devices (also contactless) that allow people to pay with their card at events such as these, with the money going straight into your paypal account. Paypal take a cut (around 3%) per transaction, but I think this more than fair seeing as the machine itself is only around £50 and then you just pay the cut per transaction. Most commercial card readers have a monthly fee, so I think this offers a great alternative and makes your work a lot easier to buy!!

Details of the event

Hub-A

What is it?

Over the past couple of months I've been helping a friend of mine from Hull in promoting this crowdfunder 'Hub-A'. It's been a dream of his for a while now, and after finding the perfect location he chose to launch a kickstarter to try and raise enough funds to secure the location for a year and get started on the manual work needed to do the place up. 

Hub-A was a proposed rentable creative studio space for artists (similar to the likes of Duke Studios). As well as an open studio with desk space to rent, there would also be individual offices for local businesses, a screen-printing facility, access to printers, scanners etc as well as a permanent work experience desk (in collaboration with local schools, colleges etc).

What have I done?

I've acted as a confidant in this whole process, as well as linking him up with other potential funding opportunities and contacts. I put him in touch with a few other places to apply for funding as well as the crowdfunder and The Arts Council, and also passed his email onto Patrick's business partner who writes art council bids as part of his day to day job. I've also helped in promoting the idea on social media, all the way from the beginning to end. Though I haven't been directly involved in any of the business side of things (and I don't think I'd want to either, haha) I'd like to think I've been a little helpful throughout the process of this venture.

How has this / will this benefit my practice?

In exchange for my help I was told once the building was secured and decked out I'd be given studio desk space for free, rather than having to pay rent (yay!). This is great for me as I've been looking for studio space in Hull and there's not really anything available. I've never had a real problem working from home, but I think it's nice to have a separation between your work life and home life. My plan from this point is to move home after uni and initially work from a home studio (my brother is also moving out this year which will give me a spare room to use as a 'studio' away from my bedroom). And once Hub-A is ready (aiming for autumn-time this year? I think it'll definitely be more towards the end of this year if this year at all with the work that needs doing haha) I'll move into my studio space there. Whoopie!

TedxHull Live Drawing Event

Cover and insert from TEDxHull event

Before the Event

A couple of months ago, local graphic artist and co-owner of Form print shop, Joe Cox, got in touch with me about doing some live art during the TEDxHull event at the end of March at Hull Truck Theatre. We exchanged emails to discuss the formalities and I agreed to do the event, it's nice to be asked to do local gigs such as this as I love my home city to pieces. 

TEDtalks of course are also well established events, so I felt secure in the level of professionalism of the event. I was also just mega excited in general to get back to doing some live art. It's something I've kind of gotten into by accident, but something I really enjoy doing. I think it also forces me to keep my practice accessible, and makes sure I still have those good old fashioned drawing abilities to hand!!

Before the event Joe also asked me to send over a very brief (about 50 words) summary of my practice. I've been playing around with words for a while to describe my practice short and sweetly and still don't feel as though I'm quite there yet. I sent in;

"Jazz Harbord is a Hull-born artist currently studying in her final year of illustration at Leeds College of Art. She hopes that her work evokes a sense of authenticity, mixed with a DIY approach to image making." 

TEDxHull

The event itself was fantastic! I love live art events as they gives you the chance to interact with the public. Given that I based my work on my teenage years growing up in Hull, it was also nice to see people recognizing the places as I developed the piece.

Whilst there I also met Joe Cox and James Fenwick (other live artist at the event; LINK TO HIS WORK HERE). It was great to speak to James as he's done a few pieces of illustrative work in the music industry. He was really open in discussing how he got the work that he got and where from. He gave me some really great advice on sourcing this kind of work and linked me to a website that could really help with that kind of stuff. Mega props to James!!!

Meeting Joe was also great, being the co-owner of Form (LINK HERE) if I ever thought about selling printed works through another store, Form is one I could consider.

After Thoughts

Really great meeting James, Joe and all the lovely folk at Hull Truck. Would definitely draw at a TEDxHull again (they've done they for quite a few years now I never knew about it??)

This experience also reaffirmed that I really do enjoy meeting people face to face and having a discussion. My networking through Hull got me this job in the first place, and I actually quite enjoy meeting new people outside of my own creative space

Always and forever love Hull xo 

Starting sketch and final image after 6 hours

Take Down of Out of Order

Me take down team working hard

Out of Order

For our Out of Order exhibition, I was made head of take-down team and clean up. I haven't done take down before as I was co-head of PR last year, so I thought it would be a way to try something more practical with the whole exhibition process. 

I have to admit, my role as leader was made a lot easier because of Georgie's super leadership skills during the entire exhibition; information was passed easily through CMV to myself as a team leader. This allowed me to organise my team effectively so everything ran smoothly! 

The only hurdle in the whole process came when CMV realised they had a meeting the day of take-down, so we had to move the whole process forward three hours or so on the day! I was a little worried that my team wouldn't read my messages in time, however they all pulled through and got there in time!!

Becky and Andy were lovely and helpful as ever, and Joe pitched in to help with the loading and transportation of all the prints. I think overall the team worked well as a unit and we got the full space taken down in around half an hour! Go team!!

This experience was helpful in understanding how take down happens in an exhibition. It was really straight forward and I feel all the hard work had been down by the hanging team already. It was handy to know how to take down vinyl from the windows though; something I'll remember for future events! 

Ben Cox Portfolio Review

Ben Cox's talk and one on one work review session was extremely useful. He spoke honestly and professionally about my work and gave me a lot of reassurance about how my work would fit into a commercial context.

Notes

• Work sits together well as a collective (minus digital collage, removed this from review)
• Tone of voice can come from an 'attitude' or personality rather than a very systematic way of image-making (don't worry about slight difference in image-making).
• I draw very well just be conscious of the details in each image; make sure it all fits together. Work that sometimes has a 'naive' or loose feel to them can easily miss the mark and make the image look ill constructed. Clients will be conscious of that. Apply same level of image-making to the entirety of the piece.
• Line work (independent leeds in particular) is very transferable. The work is well made and could fit into a range of commercial practices. 
• Broaden my range of subject matter to appeal to more clients "You could make pasta look fucking great."
• Hand-rendered work has appeal value. Textures are very nice too.
• Agrees with Ben. J that La Bete Blooms gig poster should be first page of portfolio.
• Remember that doing commercial work allows pursuit of passion projects. Sometimes will do briefs that don't excite / massively interest you. Find enjoyment through trying to make a dull brief exciting. Making money from big commercial briefs will allow to do the smaller briefs I enjoy. 
• Fact I have an interest in music illustration but am open to tackle a range of briefs is v. good and opens practice up to more work.

Ben Cox Talk; Notes

Notes

After Thoughts

- VERY useful talk

- It cleared up a lot of questions I had about agencies and what they do

- I feel quite comforted about ownership of licenses and copyright

- Though the fee is 30% I can see the positives of signing with an agency (all their contacts and networking opportunities are very tempting to someone walking straight out into the wild real world of illustration)

- Would I consider signing with an agencey now I know the positives and negatives? I think I would if the right agency asked me

Ben Cox Prep

Possible Questions

- What separates CIA from other illustration agencies?

- What do you look for in illustrators before taking them on // signing them with CIA?

- Do you have any tips for a strong portfolio? 

Gig Posters: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century v. 1

Notes

Gig Posters Research

- I recently took the book 'Gig Posters: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century v. 1' out of LCA library. I've found this year, through both research and live briefs, that music illustration is something I've really become interested in. It combines my love of both visual art and music together, and I think the format of gig posters can really push illustrators to make some insanely good work.
- Though I got this book out mainly for a bit of artistic inspo, I found a few practitioners within the book that I decided to make a note of to see how their overall illustration practice works, and where their work sits (in contexts outside of just music illustration).
- Quite a few of the illustrators I looked at worked as part of specific print / poster collectives as well as working on their own. Perhaps this is something I should look into myself? (Prints of Thieves, Black Dragon Press etc?)
- The use of line and colour in a lot of these prints really stuck out to me, I feel as though I've made a bit of a break through this year in how I like to work, and line-work has become a big part of that. Though I initially got the inspiration for line through tattooists that I followed on instagram, a lot of these gig poster artists show a way of using that line-work in a more commercial field.
- I'd love to push my work in this direction a little more. Something I'm very conscious of this year is that I've had very little time to work on self initiated briefs. So while I've completed a lot of projects this year, I'm unsure how much of it I'd happily stick into my portfolio. I guess this is something to consider moving forward.

Out of Order @ CMV

Bit-luv

We recently had our opening night of 'Out of Order' at the lovely gallery Colours May Vary. The night was a huge success and it was so great seeings everyone's displayed professionally.

I'm not too confident about selling any work at this exhibition (though that may sound a little pessimistic) as I'm not sure my work fits with Colours May Vary's aesthetic. My work isn't very shapey or minimal like a lot of the design work that is shown there. However it is a wonderful venue and one I love exhibiting in, and I did sell one print last year so I guess you never know!

Either way I love being a part of an exhibition, and the opening nights are so often the best. It's great to have a chat with people about the work and generally just enjoy a job well done.

Me being happy AND responsible cleaning up empty cups as leader of clean up and take down team

Website; It's Finished!!

Screenshots from website

Which site to use

- Decided not to go with cargo collective to use as my final site. I wanted more custom-ability for the price and I just could't find a 'theme' that presented my work in the way I wanted it to

- Played around with Format for a while, a lot more user friendly and enjoyed the themes on there a lot more, however still felt very limited in terms of what I could change. The space limits also put me off, I didn't want to pay for a website and then have to pay again halfway through the year for more space. Seeings as my site was to be primarily image based, space was an important factor

-Finally found squarespace. Heard good reviews from other creatives and the two weeks free trial allowed me to start building my site and see how I liked it. I really like the ease of access with sqaurespace, it's easy to customise and the loading times are fast. The fact you get '20 pages' as a space allowance rather than X-amount of GB was also a huge plus!

Prep and pages

- Decided to stick to a fairly simple layout as with my other sites, main pages include; Work, About, Experience and Contact. I thought the experience page would act as a nice filler until I get my creative CV properly made it. It allows people to see my past jobs and clients at a glance.

- As soon as I bought a subscription to squarespace I got to automatically register a domain name with them for free (1st year) which saved a lot of time waiting for domains to swap over, and saved me some pennies this year.

Choosing work

- I've found this to be the most difficult task to date. It's pretty much an online portfolio so I want to be selective about the work I put up there. I chose to go with my La Bete Blooms piece as the first image as it's got the best response so far and also feels indicative of where I want my work to move towards. 

- There are a couple of projects I can't put on my site yet which I'm looking forward to getting on there. I still sometimes worry that my work is a little too varied or broad; would clients look at this site an understand what they want? I definitely agree with Ben that I'm much more of an image-maker than an illustrator but I still want my work to be cohesive, does it sit that way to outsiders? I hope my website looks like it has a tone of voice to it and not too mumbled all over.

Moving forward

I'd like to have the time to complete some self initiated tasks so I can get some more commercially viable work onto my site. I think putting my illustration into context is vital, and maybe what my site is lacking a little at the moment?

WEBSITE HERE

Tweet to promote website

Business Cards for CMV Show

Business cards with print for Out of Order show at CMV

The Business of Business Cards

- For upcoming show at CMV knew I wanted to have some business cards on display

- Went with La Bete Blooms image as it seems to have had the best reception from tutorials etc and feel it is an accurate representation of my practice

- Photocopied them onto coloured card (saved money and time from print dungeon) but more importantly fit with DIY aesthetic I like some of my work to have

- Considered what details to put on the back, in the process of making a website; will have these added onto more professional finished business cards

** UPDATE; All my business cards had gone by the following Saturday! Had to go place more during the week and these too had all gone by the end of the show!

Front and back of cards for printing 

Joining A.O.I.

After hearing Lou Bones talk about the A.O.I. I know it's something that I'm really interested in joining. The benifits of having an institution behind your work also gives a lot of confidence too I feel, to make sure you're being treated as a professional and a business. I don't currently have the funds to join but I will make an application after Easter!

Virgin Media Box Exhibition

Smiley Happy Me

Ruth, who has organised the majority of the Headingley Residents Association's Virgin Media box work, invited me and the other artists to a one night exhibition to celebrate the work we'd all done. This project, although long, was super fun and a fantastic experience. I learnt so much from the process about live-painting in general, and about myself as a practitioner. Even on those cold, bitter, rainy winter days I was resilient in my box painting! Being able to meet Ruth and some of the others involved in the boxes has also been a great experience, and it's just genuinely been a lovely community project.

Photographs of our boxes were taken by a volunteer student, and printed out for the exhibition. We got to keep these after the show which I thought was a lovely gesture. It was nice to see everyone's smiley faces (and the photographer from Leeds unipol who took this photo told me mine was her favourite). All in all a super great night looking at a job well done.

Lou Bones from A.O.I.

Notes

After Thoughts

- Very useful as it was last year; Lou Bones gives me hope that I can make money from this!!!
- Inspirational to hear tales about other illustrators being paid fairly and how they went about this
- Need to treat my art as a business!! Be serious about my own worth!
- Points about licensing, copyright etc was all VERY useful!!
- Do I want an agent or not? Both Lou and Gerry have said that an agent isn't necessary to do well in illustration. Don't really know much about what an agent does? Will they take my copyright/ a right over my licensing? Hoping that talk with Ben Cox will clarify a lot of these questions!
- I like the idea of going out as a freelance artist on my own, but unsure where to start with getting big clients who will pay me good money? Could an agent help or hinder this? How much of a cut would they take?

Independent Leeds

Independent Leeds

In December David from Independent Leeds contacted me through my instagram after I tagged their page in a photo of my Virgin Media Communications Box. He asked if I would be interested in meeting up for a coffee and discussing whether or not I'd be interested in illustrating something for one of their upcoming issues. I replied promptly and we actually met up the next day to discuss the possibilities! I really enjoy meeting people face to face rather than over email / phone.

Meeting David was great, the more we spoke the more we realised we had in common, and I felt confident going forward with the project. He gave me pretty free reign on the entire thing, I told him about my dissertation topic of female zine culture and he seemed more than happy to let me write and illustrate a piece on that (but Leeds focused).

This brief was great as it taught me a lot of things;

- Communication between commissioner / client and myself

- Self initiated research and direction (reportage)

- To work to specifications

- Alter work in regards to feedback (though this was actually only applicable to adding a few things into the writing)

Seeing it in the flesh

I got a hold of the copy from David himself when we were both attending a one night exhibition of the Virgin Media communication boxes in Headingley. Both him and John were over the moon with the piece as a whole, and I've already received some great feedback via instagram from collectives and studios that read the piece. It was really great to see the piece in print too, and I feel rather accomplished. It's good to know that I can still do work that I'm passionate about, even in the commercial realm of illustration. It also got me thinking about doing more reportage / editorial pieces going forward? Reportage is something that I really enjoy, but feel I haven't really had the time to do this year. I'd love to do more going forward.

New Statesman Notes

Notes from Gerry Brakus Talk

- Comission 3 to 4 illustrations a month
- Slightly left wing magazine
- Illustration to draw people in
- People who find a different way (not email) to contact get a better response
- Small throwaway things don't work
- Editorial work is very fast paced
- Send in work that is relevant
- Check the names, job titles, spelling etc in emails or post before sending
- Art directors talk to each other; name can be passed on, they've always got their eye out
- Have a focus and strength in one genre
- Be aware of the content and context of where you're sending your work
- Be open to collaborate and change images
- Kill fee; if work doesn't fit
- Templated magazine; dimensions stay very similar
- Cover stays very similar too; needs to attract new readers and establish brand identity
- Small budget; no backups
- Build up repore with commissioner; keep badgering people
- Keep practice open
- Make use of social media to get your work out there
- Don't have to get an agent
- Be aware of audience, genre etc. Do your research before reaching out
- Big money jobs to pay for passion projects
- Consider illustrations can be re-bought
- Whole process is communicative
- Keep passion going, if not passionate then don't do it
- Remain independent in your view, keep personal standpoints seperate from work

After Thought Notes

- Brakus talk was very informative about the business side of commissioning an editorial piece.
- Made me think about my work in an editorial format
- Don't have an interest in political illustration but other editorial work may be of interest?
- Can work relatively quickly so perhaps a possible option for my work?
- When she discussed researching where you're sending your work and emails made me think about WHERE AM I SENDING MY WORK? I enjoy music illustration but I'm unsure where to send my illustrations in order to get this kind of work?? I need to do some more research!!

Richard Hawley & Nick Rhodes Notes

Notes about illustrating music

- Listen to the music as a whole
- Sum it up as an album / vibes
- Starts with writing things down as opposed to drawing straight away
- Got to believe in what you do!

Look up: Hatchprint (Nashville), Bruno Record Coves

- Two or three colours, two or three icons
- To be a designer for music you have to be a FAN of music
- Your limitations become your assets
- Struggles to make a living being solely an illustrator in this country (teaches also)
- Hawley lets Rhodes chose the image "I'm not a designer, I chose to work with people who's design I admire."
- Relationship is built on trust

After Thoughts

- Good to know that well established musician trusts illustrator to make the work without being too constricting (similar to my personal experience working with musicians)
- Very helpful to hear how Rhodes goes about making imagery for the music; writing first then illustrating; treating the album as a whole / atmosphere
- Music illustration still something I'm very interested in, little worrying about what Rhodes said about not being able to make enough money being a full time illustrator in this country (???) Just his experience however?

Joining the Dots

My 'The Dots' Account Page

Today I joined The Dots, as suggested by Patrick. Although my profile is very basic as the moment, I'm enjoying The Dots a lot more than sites such as LinkedIn. I love how easy to navigate it is, and how easily you can find companies and jobs on here. It's something I'd definitely like to get into the habit of using regularly. I need to take some time and put some projects onto my profile too, as it's looking a little bare at the moment. At first glance though, I really like The Dots, and can definitely see the benifits a site such as this could have on my career.

Tutorial with Ben

Yesterday I had a tutorial with Ben about my practice and where I see it evolving into. I always get a little worried when I think about where my practice sits because I don't feel like my work fits into one specific box. I definitely have an interest in music illustration but I'm not sure if that's what I'd want to do forever. This tutorial with Ben was EXTREMELY helpful to me. And it put to rest a lot of the worries I'd been carrying around with me about my practice.

POINTS COVERED IN TUTORIAL

- Ben asked if I see myself as an illustrator or an image maker; I told him I felt like an image maker. He agreed and discussed this with me in further detail
- Image maker allows the content and context of the brief to drive the process of image making and practice, rather than a specific process being integral to my practice (hopefully that makes sense)
- I enjoy working in a variety of ways and get bored of using one process repetitively. I always thought this was a negative to my practice as I felt my work never glued together as a cohesive body of work. We spoke about how my tone of voice is driven through attitude and content rather than media.
- Showing me practitioners who's work is varied AND successful gave me a huge boost. I've felt down in the past about having to pick one thing and stick to it; knowing I have the freedom to still experience within my practice and have a varied career is super exciting!!!

MOVING FORWARD

- Look into practitioners similar to those Ben noted down for me; still have a cohesive body of work and strong tone of voice but have work that is varied in format, media etc
- Where does this kind of work sit? How far can I push it? What parts of it really interest me??
- Art collectives, agencies, businesses that do this kind of thing? DO MORE RESEARCH !!

Comic and Film Fair (Plaza Hotel)

My trusty mate sitting at the table with me / My Table display

This weekend I took part in my first 'comic fair' to date. I haven't taken part in such fairs before as I'm not sure my work fits in the context of these sorts of events? I think tailoring my online presence and online store would be a more efficient way of finding people who want to buy my work and BOYO WAS I RIGHT

I'm not saying these kind of fairs are useless to my practice, and the experience as a whole did teach me a few things as well as push me to sort out some of my works to sell. But I think if I were to take part in a fair such as this in the future, it would have to be something more tailored to my work. I don't have any fanart / traditional comic work for sale. Though I had a few zines, people didn't really want to touch anything or get close enough to engage in conversation. Two shy girls took my free contact cards, but that was all. I spent a large part of the day putting smiley face stickers on my table cloth with my pal Amy; watching people flock to the more fan-art focused stalls.

As said though, this event forced me to consider how I package my prints and present them. I'd like to do another stall type event, but perhaps in different context. Something more focused on femininity or music illustration would appeal to me; have to keep my eyes out in the future!