Animation-Research

For my animation class I have been looking at what type of animation and ideas I want.I have decided on stop motion animation using collage, i will use an aspect of my final major project that I have already produced and make it come to life.

While researching these are some of my favourites:

Coast to Coast

I didn't produce the final poster to be submitted as part of the initial competition, I wanted to produce the poster to be part of my portfolio and I liked this brief as it required bike illustrations and text.  I didn't include all the required text from the original brief as I felt it would take up to much space and I wanted my figure to be prominent. 

The teacher who originally set the brief saw my image and contacted me to say the she wanted to use it and I would rewarded with print credits (for the printers at uni). She also requested that I illustrate a second, female figure to represent her who will also be taking part in a bike ride. I was really happy to hear this and as the bike ride date as been postponed I have time after graduation to complete it.

I love my image, I enjoyed doing it and I like the style, slightly different technique to how I usually do it but I think it suits it well, the only thing I don't feel 100% on it his eyes, but I feel after so many attempts at them they are the best I could do.

Agata Dudek

I came across Polish illustrator, Agata Dudek while on a trip to Poland. I found a book (pictured below) which in English is called ' The Crows of Pearblossom' by Aldous Huxley. The illustrations use lovely textured and collage elements, all positioned perfectly to create fun and wacky scenes.

When I got back from Poland I research Agata Dudek to find she illustrates in such an inspiring style.

 (above) I love this guys legs! Agata really plays with her elements and makes them fun without being sinister and scaring children readers.

I could upload all of Agata portfolio as each image is as unique and amazing as the last. I think my favourite illustrator of the year goes to Agata Dudek.

Coast to Coast Brief

Also, during this module I have worked on a poster brief set by a Graphics teacher. A poster is aimed to raise support and awareness for an upcoming bike ride for charity. I liked the idea of illustrating bikes and figures so took it on as part of my FMP. 

I found this brief to challenge me at each stage, first was to create a figure shaped like he was riding a bike- not too informed but to my own style. I tried a few sketches, representing different emotions while cycling, the care free stroll, the final sprint and a struggling figure.

For me it is important to do some research before any brief, for this I wanted to know how to represent a bike with as little elements as possible, I want to show a bike with 2 wheels and least lines as possible as I want the figure to be more important than the bike.  I also wanted a way of representing the figure in the correct posture, I don't want it to look like the bike and person have just been layered, I want them to flow as one movement. 

For my brief I get the feeling that the people involved are not professionals and are going to struggle with 140mile cycle. I want to represent them as being fun people that like a challenge but I don't want to show that they can cycle with ease, I want to show that they are pushing themselves for charity.

I took inspiration from:

Blanca Gomez.
Blanca Gomez makes cycling and illustrating look so easy and sleek with hypnotizing wheels.

Nick Stevens

In this landscape piece the cyclist are represented with few information but still clearly resemble cyclists on bikes, their curved backs show determination while the small bend in knee show ease, I don't think they are cycling fast but are just strolling with care.

It has dream-like quality to it with vintage colours, all blend together so well. Making cycling looks so fun or you can take a nice hot air balloon ride and watch from the sky, dreamy.  

Justin Mezzell.

FMP update- Web

I have recently concentrated on my image archive and sketchbook and at the moment this stage is slowing for me. I feel I need to move forward or move to another aspect of this module.

So instead of dwelling on this and to stop myself from panicing, which then makes me less productive, I have turned my attention to the admin side of my illustration brand. I have recently updated my blog page to a more sophisticated layout, simple and professional. I have also worked on my website to make that of a higher standard by changing my account from Cargo Collective to Wordpress so I have more control over the look.

 Updating my facebook page:

I have also been buying many supplies for my crafts :) hoping to have a large range at my final major show to sell. 

FMP Update

There is now 5 weeks left on this project, scary stuff! And so far I have been concentrating on filling a sketchbook with useable and loveable designs to put forward onto 3D crafts.

Sketchbook scans.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I recently worked on the Little White Lies brief set by D&AD, I thought it would be a challenge to work to a context that is unfamiliar to me-film. I selected the new Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy film from a selection of 2012 top films and set my self a week to complete the magazine cover requirements.

I managed to complete the brief quickly, I really enjoyed it. I did a few rough sketches for my design but straight away I knew what elements I wanted to include, I created a few sketchbook pages for useable elements. The brief required the main character to be large and prominent. The provided layout featured a large logo centered at the top so I didn't have much space.

I took this opportunity to feature my type and to represent a real figure.

I am really pleased with my image, if I could change anything I would spend some time thinking of how to use the space- Although giving myself more time on planning gives me more time to over judge positioning and sometimes takes away the fun.

FMP update- other projects

While doing this project I have tried to work on some smaller and quick briefs as well to stop me from getting bored with this one and to build up my portfolio.

 I have started them by creating sketchbook pages filled with elements related to each project. 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

 

Coast to coast  

London Part 1- Contacts

 

Contacts

I recently came back from a professional practice visit in London. During this visit I arranged to visit a range of businesses including publishing, advertising and design agencies to get feedback on my work and portfolio standard.

  

DDB.

My first contact while in London was with DDB Advertising Agency. We went to see their art buyer Daniel Moorey. He took us through what DDB do and gave us some advice. As an advertising agency they only commission illustrators occasionally and mostly use photography work, in house if possible. They source their illustrators from books, album covers, exhibitions, links of similar websites, D&AD awards and emails. Like many art directors have told me, they get a ton of emails each day that they look through so Daniel Moorey gave us hints on how to structure an email, like most say he prefers: plain, simple, addressed appropriately and easy to navigate. He informed us of a few agencies that they like to refer too, Big Active, Pekka and Breed. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to give us feedback on our portfolio, which was unfortunate as I was looking forward to having my first feedback.

Tiger Print.

The next day I had a meeting I was most excited about, with Tiger Print. Tiger Print supply exclusive cards and wrapping to Marks and Spencer. Their studio was dreamy. Lee Keeper was kind enough to see me and straight away looked through my portfolio. He gave me some positive feedback on both my portfolio and my style of work. He enjoyed the mix of 2D and 3D work in my portfolio and he mentioned that it flowed smoothly between styles, making it exciting view. He seemed pleased with me bringing some of my 3D samples, he left my portfolio open at my last page (Oldham poster) and arranged my objects around, presenting them quite nicely and showing enjoyment playing with them, I think the tactile element added further compliments to my work.

Lee Keeper complimented my collage style, identifying it as being bold and memorable imagery. He told me there is a that there is market for it (which was reassuring to hear) and that my collage technique was at a high standard, mentioning he sees a lot of poor quality collage so was refreshing to see mine (again very flattering!) he was understanding that I am still a student and saw the rest of my portfolio as being filled with my development in style, he suggested that I should blow up some aspects of my images to make further pages, he particularly liked my ‘Gary Oldham’ poster and suggested to zoom into the figure to create a page, resulting in a double page spread for my portfolio and showing texture quality.

Lee Keeper mentioned that work experience is very important, even if it’s unpaid. He also mentioned the importance of emails and ‘leave behinds’. He liked my new magpie image so much he suggested that I should make him part of my logo, so on all my promotional work the magpie would be the first representation of my style that you see. 

Serpents Tail

Towards the end of the week a selected few of us had a meeting with Serpent’s Tail publishing, Niamh Murray, the marketing director, talked us through what they did and what they expect from illustrators. She showed us a lot of examples of books were they have worked with illustrators in the past, she explained in depth the process, showed us examples of developing stages of imagery and explained the judging the images go through before making the cover, quite a few people’s opinion matter, from author the disrupters, i.e. Amazon, who require book cover imagery and title text to be seen on very small scale-thumbnails for their website also high street markets, who limit their books to a selected few so every cover must stand out.

Niamh Murray also demonstrated how important covers are for books, showing us examples of book covers that sold 3x more after having their covers reworked, which was a shock to me as I thought it was the story or title that sells a book, personally I am an example of that as I choose books with pretty pictures on cover and images that relate the book to me. We were also told what money to expect in publishing for an illustrator, it was interesting to find out about kill fee’s and learning there is no extra money for any changes that they ask you to make. I also learnt that they really admire illustrators who have their own language of type and can combine that into imagery.

Just as the meeting was finishing the art director, Peter Dyer entered the building and we were lucky enough to each have some of his time to look through our portfolio’s for feedback. During my meeting Peter Dyer looked through my portfolio quite quickly, but I was still appreciative of any time he could spare, he said he liked my style and my hand-made text (which they commission illustrators to do quite a lot), he remarked that my images are positioned well in context because I use a lot of space, I let my images breathe. Peter Dyer commented that my style is suited for a children’s audience and he told me to keep him updated with any images that I produce that I think he might be interested in. From this experience I am now hoping to add more context to my portfolio, hopefully some book covers to demonstrate to prospective agencies how my work could look for them.

St. Luke’s

My final meeting was with Roy Hyndman, Head of Creative Services at St. Luke’s advertising agency. I was recommended to visit by my tutor Gary as he has had experience of St.Luke’s before and felt they could compliment my work. Again it was a short and sweet visit, he mentioned my style would be suited for children’s products and he liked my style of collage.

From my feedback overall, the popular images where Toy Soldier, Zebra, Oldham and Magpie, which are also favorites of mine and now I want to look closer at them compared to my other images and find out what makes them so appealing and work so well. A lot of positive feedback for my 3D objects, especially my set of mug, I think having these in my portfolio helps the viewer see my work in action, giving meaning to my style and helps them imagine how my images can benefit them as a business.

This experience hasn’t made me want to pursue to certain path in design, it has helped me understand the market more, helped with confidence by receiving positive feedback to my style of work and give me a chance to see London.

New approach

Today I have decided to set myself a task, as the photocopier on our floor now charges! 4p! I have decided to invest my time this week into making more of my own textures from a variety of sources. This may change my working method slightly as I usually have a desk full of black and white photocopies that I have collected, recycled and formed into new illustrations, now I may have to restrict myself and tighten up on my free photocopying attitude....

...I will also have to be sneaky and use the free photocopier from the Fountaintion course. :)

Final Major Project-Update

I have been working on my final major project for 7 weeks now, I have spent a lot of time on ideas and outcomes so far and I have decided to divide my remaining time on 'one day' projects, turning out images in a playful and experimental way, and my favourite way.

My images are to the theme of 'scandinavian', giving me an opportunity to use my style well, with shapes and pattern, and 'food', so I can focus on something special to me.

The aim for my images to become surface designs, for ceramics and textiles that I will make by hand.

*** Image update soon ***

Insect Brief

I recently had all my 3D objects photographed by a professional so I thought I would share my dragonfly project with you.

The brief was to create an illustrative response to one of the arthropods, the resulting creations will be used at a Big Saturday event in January 2012 were we would contribute.

I choose the dragonfly and wanted 'capture its beauty', I made dragonflies out of beads and suspended them in their own habitat with a tag that reads "I wish I could hold the moment of you flying by, your just a blur of colour if only I could freeze time" 


I also made a cushion with a beaded dragonfly sewn on.

 

Mandy Trolley/ Mando Manderin

 

Today I went to a talk by Mandy Trolley, I was told about it by the surface design tutor, Hazel Hewitt, as she thought it would help me with putting my designs onto surfaces.

She showed us a full range of textile products and her sketchbooks. Mandy uses a lot of embroidery and mixed fabric. Mandy's style involves mixing and playfully using a range of themes, bears eating fast food, framed dogs, ducks and scented gremlin creatures. She introduced us to Hot Bed Press, in Salford where she teaches workshops and where she learnt about of her techniques and Fab Lab in Manchester, which I have wanted to go for a while, this was really helpful to me as one of my fears during my 3rd year was not having access to the print room, now I know there is space out there. I was really jealous to hear about all the fancy equipment she was able to use as she studies embroidery at MMU and the programme where post-graduates can still use the facilities there up to a year after leaving.

After watching Mandy’s presentation and seeing her images I thought a lot into setting up a photography corner in my studio for photographing my 3D pieces, a simple while corner will do with some good lighting because now a have a professional camera I don’t need to make arrangements for somebody else to photograph my work. 

I also noticed her attention to branding her products, soft labels, packaging and stamping where ever necessary. I think packaging and labeling is things a definitely need to look into fro myself, boxes for my mugs and soft tags for cushions and bags. 

 I was mostly interested in her print workshops, some work that people have produced from these lessons are really inspiring.

Student - Designer.

 

Accountants                                                               

Today we had a visit from two accountants from all the way from across the street. The showed us a useful presentation and gave us advice for after uni and making our brand a business by:
1. Having a business plan
2. Manage cash flow

3. Research potential market

4. Research changes in market

They told us about Tax, NI  (to set aside 25% of income a side to cover all tax costs), VAT and PAYE. Types on accountants we will need as illustrators and their costs.

It was a lot to take in for one morning, lots of numbers and abbreviated words and tax codes, although it was all useful information and made me question whether I would want/need an accountant after uni.

 Student-Designer

That afternoon our tutor Ian had a follow on presentation guiding us for the transition from student to designer.
1. Safety in numbers (virtually/studio space)

2. Work with other artists, galleries and clients.

3. Be adaptable and versatile (new media/skills)

we are 310 blogspot.
”nobody will call you, you call them. Meet as many people as you can networking”

John Ferry – 7 C’s
Concept-Colour-Craftsmanship-Commitement-Contemporary style- Consistent-Confidence.

We were advised on how to work with an art director.
Make sure you are aware of everything before starting a job.
1. Size of image

2. Colour/ B&W

3. Print run- Context

4. Fee

5. Deadline

6. Time scale for roughs/feedback

7. Their contact info (all)

and while undertaking a job.

> Be realistic with deadlines

> Then stick to deadline

> Ask what they have in mind

> Work with them, not against them

> Be flexable, but not a push over

> Think as a team player

> Add notes to roughs

> Expect changed

>  Keep art directors informed (any problems)

Copyright.
*avoid signing all copyright to people, unless the money is right *

Licensing.
*send client notice of copyright after accepting job*

Fee’s.
Base fee on time scale, print run, exposure, profit of client, your want to work with image and going rate. Ian then gave us some rough guidelines for price listing work. Book cover and  advertising sound the best :)

Invoices.

> Send proper invoice 

> Include any job number that the client has gave you and short description

> Commissioners name 

> numbering system and date

> Only send invoice after work (give a few days) 

> Alteration fee?

> Keep all copies

> Keep a record in spreadsheet/book of outstanding balances

> Don't be afraid to call accounts department and chase payments, not client

 *it can take up to 3 months to get paid *

Agents.

We discussed pro's and con's. 

Pros 

1. More effective 

2. Jobs I wouldn't  necessarily get myself

3. Broader range- other countries

4. Secure higher fee

5. Clients may trust more/attract lazy clients

6. Do all leg work - invoice and chasing

7. Negotiate better   

Cons

1. Take 20-33% of commission 

2. Think of the money rather than brand

3. Misunderstanding due to not having direct contact with client

4. Confine you.

*Pros out number cons but I think that cost of handing over 20-33% of commission counts as 3 cons so then I am back to square 1!*

Promo 

Portfolio

- stick to guidelines
- take comments from visits

- make memorable

Create a client/wish list

Make appointments

- compare their commissioned images to your own first

- make 2/3 appointments per day

- be confident  

- don't be late

- samples, cards of leavables

Website

- update regularly

- links to blog etc 

- get listed on illustration sites/portals

Mail outs

- be selective 

- make noticeable/not spam

- mail chimp / PDF

Credit name

- ask for website to be displayed next to image, not just name

- put images on AOI site

- enter as many competitions 

- exhibit 

- agents

 

Poland 2011

Here is some of my trip to Poland...