Studio Brief 1 - Final Presentation

Studio Brief 1 - The AOI

Before I graduate I am going to become a member of the AOI. To be able to get professional advice, from contracts to accountancy, will be invaluable, especially when working professionally and outside of the uni setting, without the tutors to ask. 

I will also make the most of the portfolio review opportunities to ensure that my folio is ready to start approaching companies and clients with in the industry.

I am going to wait a few more weeks to order my membership, to ensure that it lasts for as much of my professional life as possible in the year long student discount. 

Studio Brief 1 - Examples of Reportage in the Media

There are not many example of reportage illustration being used in the media alongside journalism as it would have been in the past; it is still mostly photography that is used alongside articles of news. Although there is definitely a gap in the market for reportage illustration and this is something I am hoping to target and fill, as there is a very valid space for it. Targeting small scale magazines is a good place to start, hopefully to then build momentum and get featured in more mainstream news outlets.

Studio Brief 1 - House of Illustration

One of the galleries I visited when down in London for Hanbury was the House of Illustration. They had an excellent exhibition on reportage illustration covering the refugee crisis. To see reportage work getting a lot of press and attention was very refreshing and reassuring. It was lovely to see these drawings in person too and to imagine those very pieces of paper once being in that location with the subjects and the situation playing out before it. It added an extra power to the images, an extra authenticity that photography could not replicate. The illustrations themselves have been in the same space as both the illustrator and the illustrated subjects and that in and of itself is a powerful thing. 

It would be great to cover a similar story with my work in the future. 

Studio Brief 2 - Personal Zines for 57 Event & Further Networking

I made some quick cheap zines to take to Hanbury to hand out to the professionals I talked to as an example of my work. It was in addition to the business cards I made and instead of a portfolio. I can easily send these zines out to any potential clients in the post in future to use as a first point of contact or quick example of my practice.

I chose some of my COP drawing work to give a little taste of my practice. It showcases the immediacy of my drawing style and also the reportage side of my work that is centred around documentation of life and narratives. I feel like these car drawings are a good 'portrait' of my practice as it stands at the moment. They could also exist on a different platform than just the project they were made for - for example they could be used for an editorial piece about congestion, climate change, commuting, urban infrastructure etc.

Studio Brief 1 - Hanbury Talk, Notes

• Get your work in front of people
• You have to reach out, there no other way
• Who do you want to work with, and why? Target specific people
• Be realistic about what you want from people
• Be personal, don't just send out a newsletter
• Follow up physical mail outs with electronic contact
• The most exciting projects are the ones you question whether you can pull them off or not
• Challenge yourself and push the plateau 
• Try to do what nobody else is doing
• Clue up on the market, know who you are targeting
• Forge good relationships first, be proactive and tenacious
• Keep it all up to date and easy to understand
• Consider how you package and present your work, polished, ready, professional 
• Be distinctive and different but genuine
• Make things and share them
• Find a unique voice
• Needs to be more than just a representation of something
• Work on conceptual side of practice 

Studio Brief 1 - Plans for Post-Grad

After graduation I am planning on moving back to Manchester. It is an exciting and vibrant city and I feel very inspired being there. I feel like there is a lot of opportunity there and I would still be close to Leeds and other Northern cities if opportunities arose there. I am going to live at home for the first few months/until the new year to save money, and then move out to the city centre.

I am planning on looking for a job within the creative industries to finance my illustration. I am going to look at opportunities in the museums and galleries in the city, even if it is a hospitality job, it will be valuable to be in a creative environment and around like minded people. I would also like to look for jobs maybe within publishing or printing. On top of this, I will hopefully be completing editorial briefs and trying to professionally establish the reportage side of my work.

A studio to work in would be a nice thing to have, but I don't feel like I would be able to fund that soon after graduation. The likelihood will be working from home, and to find a balance between work and home life. I would also hopefully be working a lot on location, meaning my 'studio' would not be in one fixed place, allowing me to move around freely and likely just work with what I can carry in a backpack. This will not only save on cost but also give me the flexibility to work wherever the story/ subject might be.

This is just a vague plan, and I am open to various opportunities arising wherever they may.

Studio Brief 2 - Online Presence, Instagram

I use my Instagram account as a platform to share my work in a less formal, more immediate way than my website. It is a lot more personal and allows me to connect to potential clients/other practitioners in a social, accessible way. 

I try and keep the look consistent, working mostly in black and white. I want it to be recognisable and distinctive to click on, giving a brief overview of the work that I make. My website is easily accessible in the bio, allowing anybody who wants a deeper look at my practice to find it. My email address is also there, so people can contact me easily. 

It is valuable when people connect with the work that I post through the comments/likes, and can keep the dialogue up between me and any potential clients/my audience. 

Studio Brief 2 - Portfolio

Studio Brief 2 - Creative CV

I wanted to keep my CV as simple and legible as possible. I have kept my bio short and punchy, being a slightly extended version of the one on my website. I thought it was important to put the most relevant and important projects I have completed so far in my practice to show the variety of subjects I can work to, and to also allow a connection to be made between my portfolio and my CV. Hopefully as I start to get some live or commissioned briefs, they can replace some of the less relevant self-directed projects. The little car drawing keeps a coherency between this CV and my promotional zines. It adds a little glimpse into my work without being too intrusive or revealing. 

Studio Brief 1 - Contacting 10 Industry Professionals

I have been contacting industry professionals I deem relevant to the work I want to go into post-graduation. There are a mix of agencies, newspapers, small scale magazines, and other companies commissioning illustration that I believe would suit my work. 

As of yet I have not heard back from any of these practitioners, so am continuing to contact and reach out to the industry.

Sam Summerskill, BA Reps

Ruby Boddington, It's Nice That

Olivier Kugler, Reportage Illustrator

Cops and Robbers, Leeds Based DIY Music Zine 

Drake's Menswear, London

Tom Hislop, Creative Director, Time Out Magazine NYC

The Skinny Magazine 

Flaneur Magazine

Commune Magazine

Oxfam, GB

Studio Brief 1 - The 57 Creative Discussions Event, Project Manager

For the last few months I have been helping organise our networking event at Hanbury Hall in London, along with Imogen. We were both the project managers for the event, a role and experience that has taught me lots, not just about managing and organising, but about other people and also myself.

Our role was varied and fluid. Because only a handful of other students got involved with the preparation and work for the event, we ended up doing more than project managers maybe should do. For example, because nobody stepped up to help make the publication, it was left to us to do, whereas we perhaps should have been more strict and delegated it out to others. There were a few other instances like this, but with that said, there were a few others that really pulled their weight and helped up out a lot. It really taught me that you cant always be democratic when managing people, and there comes a point where you have to be more strict whilst remaining fair, because it seems like as a general rule people are more willing to take a backseat and avoid the work than help out. It never seems like everybody pulls their fair weight. When they assume that somebody else will take care of it, they prefer to turn the other way.

I have also learnt that I am not as organised as I hoped I would be. There were a few situation where I was late, or I forgot to do something I was meant to, and in these cases things were left to Imogen to sort out. This was not fair of me and I realise that if I was to take on another role such as this one, I would need to be extra diligent to ensure I am fulfilling my role and not making other people make up any shortfalls.

Clarity of communication is another aspect of project managing that I have learnt the value of. You cannot assume that people know what you are talking about or that it is as clear to them as it is to you. I learnt that spelling things out to people is not about patronisation, it is about being clear and transparent in what you need doing and what is expected.

Along with endless notebook lists, scribbles, notes and diary dates, we used an online Gantt chart to help plot out our deadlines and to get a clear overview of what needed completing and how much time we had left. In the end we didn't actually use it a lot, but I can see the value of such programs to help keep everything organised in one place in a clear, concise layout. If I was to do another event or similar project, especially if it was a bigger one, then I would definitely use a similar program properly. 

In the end it was a very successful event, with only minor hiccups! I would have liked to have prepared a little more and foreseen more issues in the run up, but I think overall it went very smoothly and everybody seemed to enjoy it on the day. I would probably like to do another role such as this in the future, just maybe not for a while yet. 

Studio Brief 1 - Print Fairs

Over the last few years I have done a few low-key print fairs.

- HPBC, Plant and Print Fair, Leeds
- GK Gallery & Cafe, Mother's Day Print Fair, Manchester
- HPBC, Gross Studio Print Fair, Leeds
- Find & Seek Pop-Up Shop, Leeds Corn Exchange

They were all good experiences getting my work out there and judging how people respond to what I do. They were all mixed results, some selling lots of prints and others barely any. The other thing to note is that the work I sell at print fairs is not the work I would want to get commissioned for. I want to be commissioned for my drawing work and then to do print making on the side for me, and to sell as more fine art work. Doing the print fair circuit will hopefully be a regular part of my professional life, acting as another marketing tactic, as well as a social opportunity and allowing people to actually own some of my work. I think keeping both sides of my practice running simultaneously will be healthy, one acting as a break from the other.

I didn't do much in the way of branding. There were very small scale fairs and it was just nice to go down with a package of prints and see how it goes! We have a table at Print Stuff in May, so I will put more effort and thought into my branding and table layouts.

Studio Brief 2 - Offline Branding, Business Cards

I wanted my business cards to be abstract, and to give a sense of my work, without showing any one piece specifically. I didn't want to pigeon hole myself to one style or image. I chose to linoprint the front, using the blocks from one of my most important projects, about Faslane Peace Camp. By layering two different prints up and cutting them out into business card size abstracts the prints. Letter pressing the back was the fastest and most satisfying way to print en masse with an analogue process - another aspect of my work that is important. By not putting 'illustrator' or any specific job title on the back it keeps it broad as to what I can do, and allows the cards to be specific to the person I give them to - nobody will get my card without a conversation or prior contact first, so that they will already know that I an illustrator, or that I can fulfil whatever role they are considering me for.

Studio Brief 2 - Online Presence, Website

I wanted my website to be clean and simple, so that the work can speak for itself. It needed to be easy to navigate and use, with everything a client would need only a click away always. As soon as the website is opened all of my work is accessible; I believe having a welcome or home page would just be another thing for a client to click through to get to the work. The work is broken down into projects in a clear grid layout.

Having my email at the top of every page, under my name (with a 'home' hyperlink) means that it is always accessible, and they do not have to route around the pages to find it. 

A quick succinct about page gives a little brief insight into my work and the motives behind it. My instagram link is on this page as well as the contact page, again meaning it is accessible without having to click through the whole website. A self portrait in the style of my work I thought was a nice little extra touch.

I have only included work I want to get commissioned for in the future. Each page has a short description of the project with a bit of background information to give it context. I am planning on writing a bit more on these sections to give a bit more detail about the projects.

Sketchbooks are a really important part of my practice and evidence the immediacy of my drawings. showing the more honest and 'rough' side to my work. This is important for authenticity, and to also show some more experimentation and looser image making abilities. 

Studio Brief 1 - Life as a Freelancer