Website

We received a task from John this week to look at free websites and see how expensive it would be to host the website etc. 

I looked at Wordpress and also foliolink, a paid website design company, that specialises in artist websites. Although I think websites are important for artists and their practice, I don't think I need one.

I don't want to be a freelance artist or illustrator, I want to be a teacher so I don't think it would be necessary for me to have one. I did like some of the designs, especially on folio link, but it was quite pricey at $21 a month for the best plan. This is obviously American so the price would be different once converted but it would be a lot of money for someone who wouldn't be needing it for their profession. I do like wordpress, I think it is really good, i started my own account at the end of last year, but I think when I finish my degree, and if I wanted to post personal work, I would rather use social media if I didn't want to sell anything. Social media is just as good as a website and even more so, depending on what you want out of it. Work could be shared and seen far quicker than a website potentially could, so in my case I think I would stick to Instagram etc.

Article For LinkedIn

Throughout my years of being a student, my favourite subject has always been art. Although I have academic qualities, my creative side always takes over, loving every art class since nursery to my degree. This is what made me want to be an art teacher, a job where I can teach other children to enjoy it just as much as me. As I am looking further into this dream, it's looking like it will be just that.... A dream.

The creative industry is now, collectively, the highest earner for the Uk, bringing billions to the economy every year, but the educational system seems to be overlooking this. Schools all around the country are following an old-aged tradition of focusing on academic studies and overlooking the importance of the arts.

Art has been acknowledged as a huge importance to the development of children from a young age, encouraging confidence, independence, creativity, to think out of the box and challenge constraints. Not only has art helped the development of children as they grow but is a great way to help mental issues, which is an issue growing year by year.

The times have changed so much within the last 100 years, culturally, socially, and technically, although the educational system seems to have stuck in the past in some areas. The creative industries are used for everything we use in our day-to-day lives like, advertising, packaging, newspapers, magazines, books, film , music etc. Without these things, our lives would be drastically different. So why does Britain overlook the importance of this subject in our schools?

I recently went to a class on how to get into teaching after finishing my degree, and it was here where it was more evident to me, the lack of enthusiasm there is for art in secondary education. As we were informed about the ins and outs of getting into the profession, he a produced a bursary list of all the PGCE courses. I knew Maths, Science and English would be at the top of the list, but I was shocked to find that art wasn't even on the list at all. Obviously bursaries do help when thinking about going into further education, but this was not why I was shocked, it was the total disregard of art as a subject.

I have spoke to quite a few people within the educational system, all of whom have given me advice of putting off teaching until the current curriculum has changed, all acknowledging that art courses in secondary education aren't a priority.

This being the subject that I have loved since a small child, it is upsetting to me why it has not been given more credit as important to child's studies. My worry is that my passion to be an art passion to be an art teacher, will in fact be a dream in the current state of education, but only drives me more to want to change this.

"Picasso once said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe passionately that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. We are educated out of it." - Ken Robinson.

LinkedIn - Teaching

After the PPP session we had today, i've been on LinkedIn to have a look at groups that i would like to join, i didn't get very far with paper illustration groups although i requested to join quite a few teaching groups, both secondary and primary.

The Primary school teacher forum has accepted me in their group, this means i have a lot of potential contacts that i can make within the members.

I would like to speak to john about it though, as because i have been accepted in to this group, which looks like it only has primary school teachers and i wouldn't want to annoy them all by asking questions when i'm not even a teacher.

First Response

I have just received my first response from an illustrator. I really liked her work and was surprised when she got back to me only after a few hours of sending her a message on LinkedIn. She is busy to answer any questions of mine for a few weeks as she is busy with work although she will be very happy to speak with me and answer any questions i have, she was also really pleased that i liked her work. 

I'm really excited to speak with her, ive spoke to john, my tutor, and he said to leave it about 3 weeks so in the meantime i am going to go over some questions that i would like to ask her.

Riddle me this

After making a few contacts, i keep thinking my first message i send could be seen as a bit boring when contacting creatives, because i would like to catch someones eye if they're getting loads of messages.

As with creatives you can be a bit more informal i was thinking of sending them a riddle for them to guess as my opening message.

I would like to use a riddle about paper as that is their medium of choice.

Plenty of Sheets
But no bed in sight
It can cut you
But it doesn't bite

What am i?

Paper Illustrators on LinkedIn

Looking on LinkedIn, i started looking for paper cut illustrators, i want to be a teacher and i will be contacting them for information on their experiences and how they got in to their jobs etc. but i want to use paper cut illustration within my practice in my final year so i thought i could contact paper illustrators and ask advice and tips to help gain useful skills.

I tried contacting a few illustrators that i liked the look of, especially one who did paper sculptures. I have yet to ask for permission to use their names on my blog yet so i have scribbled out their name, but these are the messages i sent.

LinkedIn

Ive just created my LinkedIn account so i can start networking with other people in education. I think i am going to add a picture so when i am contacting people there will be a face to a name so it seems a bit more personal.

I have got one issue with some of the accounts, which i am going to bring up with my tutor as it may be an account setting. But as you can see below, you cannot view their profile etc.

But i made my first contact, with no reply as of yet (although that was only a few minutes ago), to a secondary school art teacher. I am going to use this message as a template to take to my tutor to see if the message to her was ok. There is only limited characters allowed to send an initial message, so i tried to explain who i am and why i was contacted whilst being professional. 

My PPP

I found John, one of my tutors, and told him my concerns about making contacts with practitioners and that i would like to be a teacher. We actually ended up chatting for 2 hours, he was really helpful. He told me that i should make an account on LinkedIn and contact people who are art teachers at the level of study i want to teach. He actually showed me on his account how i can search and contact these people, i found this really helpful, especially as it will relate to what i want to do.

He also mentioned that i should start contacting people about doing placements, although a placement would be better after january when my dissertation is due in, making contacts now and speaking to schools about how i would start to apply would be really helpful.

Overall, i am really happy with the advice i got from John, he is involved quite a lot with education within schools and is always trying to get art more recognised as an important topic within schools.

PPP Briefing

In the briefing for PPP we were told what we will be expecting to do for the module throughout the year. It seems pretty straight forward this year, with it having the least number of credits out of the modules. They were saying how important it is this year that we gain contacts within the creative business to help us for when we leave university. 

I have struggled with some of PPP before, not because of the work load etc. but with the fact that i want to be a teacher when i leave the degree and not an illustrator, freelancer etc. So making contacts with practitioners seems quite useless being that it wont help me when i leave.

I am going to speak to John or Patrick about this so i can use PPP as a useful module for what i would like to do when i leave.

Meet & Greet

Our first day back at uni we had to do a meet and greet with the level 4&5's, we did a mega crit, showing what work we did over summer. We were asked to take photos of the piece of work we liked best. It was really difficult to choose one as everyone was so good. But one of the level 5's work caught my eye quite a lot as i actually thought it was the work of someone from level 6. His name was Wilf as I introduced myself when i found out his work, and i told him to talk to Ian from my course as they were doing similar work and thought it would be nice if they met.

I chose this piece of work out of all he had done as it was actually done on glass and i thought it was just really good, i was surprised when it wasnt ian from my course as they had done similar work which i had seen on facebook previously and i was really impressed.

OUIL502 End of Year Presentation

Life's A Pitch Presentation

Creative Presence Boards

Creative CV and business cards

For my business card and CV i decided to create papercut versions as i that is what i would like to do more of from now. I am happy with what i have made but i also think they could be improved. Although i like the business card, i think the typography could be better, maybe reduced in scale, but this is something i would like to practice more of during summer as type is not my strongest point, although i do like the style itself.

The CV took a very long time to cut out, which ended up being quite stressful, i am happy with the results though as it is quite simple but shows what i am interested in. I kept the creative CV quite reduced in information as it is not a business CV, but has the important information on it.

Instagram

I have created an instagram account for my illustrations, its called "alicefranklinillustration", ive posted some of the things i have done so far, but i am keeping the account private until summer. Ive done this because in the AOI lecture, she mentioned that if we were to have instagram accounts, it looks worse if you dont post regularly than if you dont have an account at all. So my plans are to make it public when i start experimenting with different techniques, and take it on a journey whilst i discover different things about the technique.

Website

So i have started to create my website, i havent made it live yet as i am still tweaking things yet and i want to develop my practice more during summer before i start making it live. As i really want to proceed with creating paper cut illustrations, i would like my website to be consistant so it looks professional, so i want to start experimenting with the new technique.


alicefranklinillustration.wordpress.com

AOI

I found the talk from AOI really interesting and helpful, especially thinking about my practice professionally. They went through pricings, contracts and things to look out for which i thought was really helpful and i am really considering signing up as i think it would be smart for the future.

Jayme McGowan

I recently researched paper cut illustrators and came across Jayme McGowan, i really like the style of illustrations. I like the simple shapes and multiple layers of different coloured card to create detail, along with drawing/painting onto the paper.

This style of paper cut illustration is what i would like to achieve. it is simple but really affective and pleasing on the eye.

Su Blackwell

I have come across Su Blackwell's when i studied my foundation diploma. I am in awe of her talent to create these 3D models from books. After reading up on her process i found that she normally reads the book and then creates something inspired from the story. She doesn't like to reveal how she actually creates them as she said it would "ruin the magic", but I'm sure its quite a lengthy process, I'm guessing with wires for support and electrical elements for the lit pieces.

Beatrice Coron

When i saw Beatrice Coron's work in a book from the library, it really stood out for me because of the sheer detail in each piece. I also really liked how she uses silhouette in her pieces.

Sangeeta Sandrasegar

I really like Sangeeta Sandrasegar's work as it is really detailed but different from others. She uses intricate paper cut along with separate bold bits within the work, which really pulls her work apart from others.

Paper Panda

My tutor informed me of Paper Panda whilst i was discussing my topic. She's became really popular, with increasingly popular social media presence. Her paper cut illustrations are lovely, she also includes hand cut typography which is very intricate and professionally done.

I think her style of cutting away the negative space really works nicely and it something i will consider moving forward. I think her silhouette work is niece when there is different amounts of paper left, not just intricate lines like others.

Helen Musselwhite

Helen Musselwhite is my favourite paper cut illustrator i have seen so far. I love her use of simple shapes and colour palettes, along with different layers to create eye-catching 3D illustrations.

I am definitely going to try and achieve something like this when attempting paper cut, i think the different layer add a lot of depth to the illustration and add something you can't get from a painting or drawing.  The only problem being the time it takes to create them.

Elsa Mora

Elsa Mora's work is very eye catching, it seems to me to be very pretty and feminine. She uses a lot of intricate paper cut and does both 2D and 3D pieces. I definitely think that her stele is consistent throughout, which is very nice to see. I also think she bends and folds the paper to create some 3D effects.

Dylan Graham

I really like how Dylan Graham uses lines in the background of some of his work, it adds something extra which i like, although used on maps, it still looks affective on other pieces.

I could experiment with this technique within my work as i really like it.

Maude White

Maude White creates beautiful, intricate paper cuts which i love. I am unsure whether they are done by hand or by laser but either way the outcome is fantastic. A lot of time and effort must go in to each piece, which definitely pays off.

I would like to try some intricate paper put but maybe not as much as this as i think it would be pretty time consuming and would be really good on a big scale, if i enjoy this module, i would consider doing this for a bigger project in the future.

Emma Van Leest

The thing i like the most about Emma Van Leest's work is the use of colour as well as the detailed paper cut. I think the use of two colours in her work, really makes it stand out. It almost looks like lace or wallpaper. I also like how the actual paper cut isn't in a set format and is different shapes.

Marta Chudolinska

I came across Marta Chudolinska online were someone mentioned her work, when i looked on her website i came across this lovely paper cut comic about her grandmother and culture, i think it is really nice, the illustrations are simple but are composed beautifully, i also really like the muted colour palette and the choice of only 3 colours, it really ties it all together.

This is definitely something i would like to try.

Eloise Corr Danch

Other than the really nice paper cut illustrations, the reason Eloise Corr Danch caught my eye was because her skill at folding paper, it's not something i have tried before but i have seen it a little bit whilst researching artists and i think its a really nice technique, it adds a lot of depth and can look quite realistic, i dont know how i would go about this but i think over the summer this will be something else that i want to practice with.

Nikk McClure

I find these illustrations really nice, theyre cut out of one piece of black paper and i think the consistency of style and materials are really nice, they are detailed but not over complicated. I think this is a style of papercut i could really get interested in.

Thomas Witte

Im in awe of Thomas Witte, i cant believe these illustrations are paper cut, they are so detailed and almost look like negative photographs. He actually became drawn to the graffiti scene and now makes paper cut stencils, i think theyre great!

Molly Jey

I really like Molly Jey's work because she uses simple shapes within her work, sticking to limited colours and creates 3D pieces. These are all the reasons why i fell in love with paper cut and are what motivates me to experiment with the method, it just shows how simple shapes and colours can be made into something really nice just by craft and composition.

Shanti Gumbine

The reason why Shanti Gunbine's work stood out to me is that it is very conceptual, she uses the materials she works with to convey her message within her work. She works with how newspapers keep things away from people and dont tell the whole story. I find this really interesting as this is the topic i have been thinking about choosing for COP3.

Benja Harney

I love Benji Harney's work, i think large scale installation paper cuts are amazing, he folds and crafts the paper to create beautiful colourful pieces that look amazing. I really like how his profession is applied to many different aspects of the industry, advertising, window displays, installations etc. It shows how papercut/craft can be applied to many different things that i wasnt really aware of.

Heather Clements

I really like Heather Clements' work because of her use of negative space and mostly her monotone work, i think it really works well with all the detail she uses within her pieces. I think this is something i would like to explore but i think it would be quite difficult as i know how much effort goes in to paper cutting.

Emily Hogarth

I like Emily Hogarth because it reminds me of traditional Chinese papercut as it has a lot of symmetry in it. I also like the two colour paper cut she made as i think it almost looks like a screen print. I think this is something i would like to delve in to as i think it has a very contemporary feel to it, especially with the colour palette used.

Emily Brown - Bird Mafia

I really like Emily Brown's work, she makes very simple, but detailed papercuts, but the main thing i like is how she applies them to many different products that she sells online. I think that its a really nice business opportunity, and i think her style suits household products.

Naomi Shiek - Woodland Papercuts

When i stumbled across Naomi Shiek, she had been mentioned on a online chat as a good paper cut illustrator, and i agree i think her work is really good, but i really like how she has applied her illustrations into making an online business, making invitations etc. It seems like she has a really good business as people always like personalised things, especially something hand made and exclusive to you, even more so for big occasions, as they will be kept and treasured. (well thats if people don't get divorced, but if so, paper is easy to destroy, so its a win, win situation)

Elod Beregszazi

I'm blown away by Elod Beregszazi's work, i dont think i could personally do something like this as i think there is a lot of engineering involved within his work but i really like the 3D aspect, espcially with the lighting he has used. Ive already considered experimenting with 3D papercut and lighting as i really like it, Helen Musselwhite uses it within her work and i think it looks really good, so i am setting myself the task at trying to figure out the process of how to achieve it, i think it would take a lot of practice to perfect but it would be really good if i could have some confidence in it before i come back for level 6.

Suzy Taylor

I like Suzy Taylor's work for sheer detail that she puts into each one, she must spend a lot of time creating them. She has a love for folk art and tiny details. She's very well known on etsy as she sells originals and greetings cards. This is something i could think about in the future as i feel like hand made crafts are really popular, especially if you personalised them etc.

Mr. Yen

What I like most about Mr.Yen is reading up about his process and how he got to where he is now, starting his journey into papercut illustration, he practiced and practiced, using different methods and often he would tweak little parts of each piece, which would change it dramatically. He also uses a lot nature within his work, his tagline being "Inspired by nature, cut by hand", i really like this, it's short and snappy and sums up his work in one little sentence. I think this would be quite good for me to think about when thinking about my profession.

Sarah Dennis

Sarah Dennis creates her work a lot around folk tales and poems, which i find quite nice to focus your work around specific themes. But what i like the most is the fact that she uses a circular frame a lot, which i particularly like, especially when the elements within her illustrations frame the overall piece. Also, i like how she has elements coming out of the frame, this is something i would quite like to experiment with, this is definitely a reason in which i like this method as i find the possibilities with paper endless, I sometimes feel like the craft itself is what drives me to want to experiment and create different things with it.

Anne Ten Donkelaar

I really like Anne Ten Donkelaar's work, its different to what i would particularly make, but i find it really nice to look at. She's really interested in nature, which is one reason why i like it so much as she will find things outside and use pressed flowers etc. within her work, along with paper which sit on pins. This creates lovely shadows from her pieces, which is one thing i really like about paper cut illustration.

Once again, i think using different materials within paper cut really make a difference, they add both context but also can give it a sense of individuality, adding elements of things that interest you to inform your practice.

Julene Harrison

I really like Julene Harrison's work, she uses a lot of hand drawn typography within her work which i would really like to do more of. She also sells her work online, both originals and lazer cuts. She also makes invitations etc. for people, which i think is quite nice as a way of earning. She has also done jobs for big companies as her style is quite attractive and could be used a lot for advertising.

This is something i could think about when taking my work further. I like how her work can be applied to different things.

Xin Song

The thing i love most about Xin Song's work is that she borrows pictures from magazine's to use to create her paper cut's. She likes the images to contain issues that people are already thinking about, each image has a meaning behind it, linking to current issues around the world whether it being cultural, social, historical etc.

I think this is definitely something i would like to consider within my work, using the materials i use to add context and meaning.

Kako Ueda

I have come across Kako Uedo before, but only recently have i looked further into her process. She has worked with painting, drawing, photography and folding paper but now works mainly with cutting paper. She likes the historical aspect of the method, it being an old chinese traditional method, but also really likes it as a way of creating images.

I can really agree with her about this, I've only recently became interested in this technique and started to practice for the first time but I have already fallen in love with it, it has given me a new excitement for my work, thinking of ways i can produce different types of paper cut illustrations, whether it is 2D, 3D, built with different colours of paper or simply an illustration cut from one piece of paper. I think the simple craft element of it is what is excitement, cutting away pieces of paper to create something really nice is exciting, or what a simple piece of paper could end up being.

Annie Vought

What I like most about Annie Vought's work is that she focuses on emotional piece of writing, in the form of letters that she has been sent, given etc. She uses these letters and experiments with typography and different scales, testing the structure, using the type to hold together the intricate paper cut. 

If you look closely into each piece, you can read the contents of each letter. I really like the concept of her works, how she adds context to her work but it wouldnt be obvious to read.
I think its a really clever way of doing it and also i really like what she makes anyway. I have never been great at hand drawn type, so i think this is something i would like to delve into a bit more, especially now i would like to go further into this method of making as it is quite often involved in this technique.

Karen Bit Vejle

Karen Bit Vejle is one of my favourite paper cut artists i have come across so far, she started fairly recently and she creates large scale intricate paper cuts that have been exhibited in lots of different exhibitions. She also uses scissors to create her illustrations, which still intrigues me. 

I also really feel like we both share the same method of working, she states on her website how she really likes to listen to music whilst she works, which i can relate too as i find it really relaxes me so i can focus solely on the work at hand.

"My heart and soul are at peace when i have the scissors in hand and the paper dances between the blades." - Karen Bit Vejle.

Hina Aoyama

I really like Hina Aoyama's work, she creates super fine lacey paper cut illustrations, using a small pair of scissors. Her work really intrigues me as so far, i have only created paper cut's using a scalpel and im really curious at how she creates these intricate pieces with a pair of scissors. I would like to see if i could potentially see if scissors give a different outcome or are easier.

Also Hina Aoyama has been involved in many exhibitions with her work, which isn't surprising as they are really nice, but shows that this type of illustration can lead to different avenues for a professional career.

Yuko Yamamoto

Ive decided that i would like to go further into paper cut illustration within my practice and i have looked at contemporary paper cut illustrators and came across Yuko Yamamoto. Although, she isn't exclusively just producing paper cut illustrations, her collages are what i really like within her work. I like the colour palette's she uses.

I think her style of paper cut really is what i am drawn too, she uses limited shapes and colours, using fine/small pieces of paper to add detail were needed, normally the face. I quite like this technique and is something i would like to practice, whilst taking this technique further. I think it also looks very contemporary and could be used in various different ways i.e. editorial, book illustration etc.

Summative Evaluation

To be honest my experience with OUIL503 has been somewhat rocky and unsteady. I have enjoyed many parts and picked my briefs to suit what i would enjoy, but some parts have been extremely difficult. The hardest thing i have found about it, was that it is the least structured out of all of the modules and it is really easy to fall behind in it. I understand that the point of the module is managing your own time independently and briefs by yourself but its taught me that i really need some help on these things.

I found that my time organising skills work best when i work on a collaborative brief as i don't want to be the one holding back so i always make sure to be prepared and have my work ready, which is probably why i actually enjoyed the collaborative brief, despite the disagreements. Thats another thing that was really difficult with this module, we had a clash of personalities, style and opinions with our collaborative brief, which at the time was very difficult but looking back, i think i have learnt a lot from the experience. I had the opportunity to speak up, when things hit rock bottom and i became really confident in my work and in directing the group, which i really enjoyed. In the collaborative brief, i also got the chance to practise my photoshop skills, which i have gained so much confidence in since the module started. I have a lot to learn yet but i have purchased the programme now so i can do it at home as this brief motivated me to want to learn more as i saw the outcomes you can make. Overall, i do think our final deliverables to the brief looked very professional and even with all the adversity, i think we did create a really good brand that i am proud of.

My substantial brief has also been an absolute disaster since the beginning, I've been loyal to the author and the brief as i think it has plenty of potential but the whole ordeal since the beginning has been very stressful. I will definitely learn from this situation to not agree to anything until everything is set in stone and not have to rely on people so much. My illustrations i have made so far, although few, do excite me to finish the brief for the deadline as i really like them, but it has now dragged on for such a long time that i am worried that i will get bored before i finish and loose enthusiasm. I would have liked to do colourful children's illustrations but the restriction is beneficial as it gives me more of a challenge that i could face in the professional world.

My illustration brief i am pleased with, well individually i am happy, maybe not so as a set. I really enjoyed doing quick briefs, it kept me excited with the weekly themes, but i think they would look better all together if i had done them similarly. Although, i did enjoying using different mediums and techniques for the different themes.

I quite enjoyed the brief box brief as i thought it was quick and fun to do. with more time and more digital skills, i think i could improve it drastically but i am happy with the initial designs.

Overall, i have learnt a lot from this module. I have learnt how to work well within a collaboration and that by speaking up helped me a lot and it worked well. I have also learnt that time management and organisation is key and i think if i had done it better my outcomes would have been a lot better, which was proven in the collaborative brief. I am happy with what i have produced so far and with my upcoming deadline in june i think i will be very pleased with my substantial brief.

Project Report

Collaborative Brief - DesignBridge Presentation Boards

Book Illustration Presentation Boards

Illustration Friday Presentation Boards

Brief Box - Coffee & Company Presentation Boards

Book Illustration - First final designs

Ive finally been able to start creating the illustrations for the book design, the author has decided not to publish so i can use the monopoly board within the designs if i want too.

Ive gone for a wuite simplistic approach to these illustrations, i thought that if i couldn't use paints, that line drawings that are detailed could be a bit stiff for children's books. So I've gone for a simplistic style with greys scale artist brush pens to add hints of shadow to create depth, whilst keeping the background to a minimum so it is quite contemporary and not too fussy.

I actually really like these designs and i am enjoying doing them now i have been able to start them, and as the deadline isn't till june, i have plenty of time to get them all done with style.

Illustration Friday - Wisdom

For this entry i tried to keep it simple again, still practising my character design and i really like this illustration, although simple, i have tried to improve my line quality, which i think I've achieved very well. 

Beauty Brand - Final Submission Boards

These our final submission boards for D&AD, the process of putting them all together was really tedious. I think disagreements in the group made it especially difficult and i ended up having to take control over the situation. I am normally quite laid back in group work, not with the work but i am not as confident as others so i don't mind people taking charge, but i found that i had to speak up and get people to work together to get it all finished.

I actually think it was really beneficial to me to speak up, i really enjoyed it, i was choosing the work and ideas from all three of us and organising it so it would look good for our final boards. i feel like i have learnt a lot of design from the graphic designer and i am quite enjoying it. i was also going over what we should say so we were short and precise. I felt like i was in my element and although it took a good few hours, i was really proud with the outcome.

There were disagreements and awkward moments between all of us but i think the experience really taught me how to collaborate with people and give and take in situations like these and i am happy with what we have produced as a group.

I think our work does look professional and like an actual brand, so i think there is potential there. There are things i would do differently if i was doing this by myself but only minor changes and i don't think it would have been as good a brief if there wasn't three of us with ideas.

I wouldn't rush into another collaboration with Graphic Design, its not personal but i found the timetable differences really difficult with having the deadlines and school trips at awkward times. But i have learnt a lot from working with another course.

Illustration Friday - Childhood

This entry to Illustration Friday is quite simplistic, i wanted to work with some inktense pencils so i decided for a simple drawing with bold, bright elements. I quite like how simple this is and the primary colours remind me a lot of being a child.

The only thing I'm not as pleased with is the shadowing, i found it hard to touch up round it in photoshop so it ended up looking unprofessional. I think i need to carry on practising the skills on photoshop, although i have gotten a lot more confident in it since I've started this module, little tricks and tools would help my work drastically.

Illustration Friday - Shelter

Although this was a quick entry to Illustration Friday, this is my favourite so far, even though its really simple, i like the character design.

I think i might go into character development more in my work as i progress, as i am starting to really enjoy it as i have found it quite difficult before. 

I think i could improve on shape and anatomy, i might see about taking some life drawing classes as i haven't done it since my foundation course and i think it would come in handy to practise it again.

Beauty Brand - Advertisements Photoshop

Book Illustration - Character development

Beauty Brand - Advertising

After i finished the packaging, i wanted to have something else to do and thought doing some advertising mock ups to show what the brand would look like in context would be good to add to the boards. So after our meeting i walked into leeds and got a few photos of possible places your could promote the brand.

Book Illustration

I am now really concerned as the makers of monopoly haven't yet got back in touch about the copyright issues so i feel like I'm in a bit of a rut and don't know what i should do whilst I'm waiting. Also the author has ended up doubling the amount of chapters there was supposed to be initially. It was originally 12 chapters and it's now 25. He has said that he is going to postpone the deadline due to the workload and the wait on the copyright matter.

Beauty Brand - Packaging

Once i finalised my designs for the packaging, we printed it onto nets of the boxes and then assembled them so we can show that we have made prototypes.

I then photographed it so we can use it in our boards, i think they look good but its a shame that you can see that they are nets and don't stay closed at the top. But i am really happy with our effort and i hope the judges see that we have put effort into it.

The photography i did at home with my DSLR but the lighting wasn't good at all so we've had to edit them on photoshop, but i think they still look quite good, if we had more time i would definitely go to the photography department with the correct equipment and lighting to make them look more professional.

Beauty Brand - Packaging Illustrations Development

Beauty Brand - Bottle Designs

Vedika has now finished the new bottle designs with Sol's illustrations on them.

I am really happy with how they look, i think they look like a more contemporary version of apothecary bottles and the illustrations look really good, especially being opaque as they don't look garish, but blend in nicely with the bottle.

We also decided to use colourful tops to distinguish each flavour. There was discussion on the colours as some thought it wasn't gender neutral, which i can see why they would think that but the point of the brief is that we should break gender stereotypes, so my opinion is why should colour be stereotypes to a specific gender? can boys not like orange?

I really like the design and i have asked for feedback from family and friends and they think the different colours are really good as you would be able to easily spot your favourite product when going in to the shop.

Beauty Brand - My new role

After speaking to the girls about my concern of not doing as much work as i would like since changing our idea, we decided that i should do some illustrations for the packaging.

We want to keep the style minimalistic to go with the design of the brand so far, so i am going to do simple line drawings, that will go with Sol's illustrations but will be totally different.

I definitely feel a lot happier now i have a good role to do so far in the brief.

Illustration Friday - Smart

I have finished my next illustration Friday entry, the theme being 'smart'. I struggled at first to think of anything to do with the topic. So as a last resort and something fun for me to do, i did an illustration of a pug wearing a tie. 

I seem to see pugs everywhere at the moment so it just came to me and i thought it could be quite funny. I also wanted to try a stippling affect. It ended up taking a lot longer than i had expected but i thought it looked alright. When i uploaded it into photoshop and after touching up, i thought it definitely looked better on paper than it did on screen, but for the amount of time it had taken, i wasn't as happy with it as i had expected.

I think if i tried to do this again i would maybe try and do it even more detailed, it would probably give a better effect to it.

Beauty Brand - New ideas

Our group has had another meeting and after going away to think on what we should do, we have come up with some new ideas for the brand.

Firstly, we had to think of a new name for the brand, i really like Sol's idea of 'Me' still, but i think in english it just sounds too literal. So i came up with 'moi' instead, which everyone agreed was a better solution. It still means the same but its short and simple but in french, people might understand the meaning a bit more than 'jeg'.

Vedika is looking at new bottle designs she thinks would work better instead of apothecary bottles.

Sol did start some illustrations of herbs and natural ingredients for the products which we are still going to use in the new ideas.

For now i am pretty stuck on what i should be doing as it seems to be going down a more graphic design route, being very simplistic and as we are using Sol's illustrations for the bottles, i don't know where i could be of use at the moment, which is worrying to me as we all get marked individually.

Im going to speak to the girls about it as i would like to take on a bit more work load as i feel like it isn't been spread out evenly.

Book Brief - Copyright issues

The author of the Children's book i am doing has just got in touch with me and told me that he is now going to try and publish the book.

The main storyline of the book is that Hannah and Alistair (brother and sister) get knocked out at a rugby match and whilst unconscious they fall into a monopoly board, were they have to travel round the board so they can go home.

This means that he is going to have to get in touch with the makers of monopoly and ask for copyright privilages.

This means at the moment i will only be able to develop the characters for now as there could be a chance that the monopoly factor won't be allowed in the illustrations.

At the moment this isn't much of a set back as i can still develop the characters and do that until i hear more.

Briefbox - Coffee & Company

Today i did my brief box brief for Coffee & Company. I chose this brief instead of the others on brief box as it seems fun and it would be quick to do.

I only spent a day on doing this brief as it is only small and i was trying to fit it around other work. 

I am quite happy with what i achieved, i created everyday characters that i think would go and buy the coffee. I have incorporated bits to link each one together.

I used watercolours before i put them into photoshop to touch up and then put them onto some mock up takeaway cups i found on the internet.

I think my overall look is good, i would definitely change parts if i did it again or had more time to spend on it. My work on photoshop isn't very good which makes them look less professional. I think if i learnt some more skills i.e. painting digitally, then it would help it to look a lot more polished.

Illustration Friday - Moon

I have done my first Illustration Friday entry for this module, the theme this week was 'Moon'. I really didn't want to just draw a moon, so the first thing i thought about was the old jaffa cake advert, which inspired me to illustrate that. I wanted to use colic markers as i havnt use them in a long time. 

It only took an hour or two to complete and although its really simple, i really like it.

I had a practise with the pens first, to see how i could blend them and if i could get the right look before i started.

Im very happy with the outcome, it reminds me of when i was younger and i had a lot of fun doing it.

Beauty Brief - Changes from feedback

In our meeting Vedika (graphic design), informed us that in a tutorial with her tutor, she received some negative feedback about our concept.

Her tutor said that the idea of apothecary bottles isn't really gender neutral. I would strongly disagree, both my mam and dad own apothecary bottles, i think it is the way you design the labels which would make it gender neutral, not the actual bottles themselves.
She also told us that people have said they don't like the name 'Jeg'.

This is all quite disheartening as i thought we were getting somewhere with the brief but now we will have to literally start from the beginning.

I guess we should take feedback seriously though, as it would be stupid not to take it into consideration, but it does feel like we have hit a wall.

Children's Book - Substantial Brief

I have now received the brief from the Author who is writing the children's book that i am going to illustrate for this module.

I am really excited to start this project, it has been a while since i have done children's illustrations, which i quite enjoy doing.

Although i am excited to start this brief, i think it would be better if the illustrations could be in colour as it would appeal to children a lot more, but i think this would be a really good challenge for me as these are the types of restrictions that you could face as a professional illustrator.

Collaboration Brief - More Research

Ive started doing some research based on what we spoke about in our last meeting together. 

Ive looked at a labelling companies, which seem to do labels for a lot of different things, skincare products being one of them. They are also environmentally aware and can make 'green' labels, which fits in well with the ethics of our business proposal. This labelling company also sends free samples of labels which we could apply for. On the website it also had customer feedback, and one was from a graphic designer, who had a lot of deadlines and said the company works very well on tight deadlines. This has got me thinking that we could possibly design our logo and get at least one printed, or more, and make a prototype with apothecary bottles.

I Started looking into the ingredients for making organic, vegan products, when i stumbled on recipes on how to make homemade products. This made me feel like we should possibly make our own products for the brief, along with the labels and bottles and actually send them products. Although its not what they have asked for specifically, it just shows that we have thought it out thoroughly and they can see what we are trying to portray.

Life's A Pitch - Reflecting On Our Presentation

We have done our presentations and i think it went well, everyones presentations looked great and it was really nice to hear everybody's pitches. I was happy with ours, i think i was a bit nervous and it could have come across to viewers, so i think my public speaking is something i might need to work on.

I think it went well, although, after seeing other groups presentations, i think we could have been a bit more creative with it. It's not that the presentation wasn't good, i really liked it and to be honest, we wanted something that looks professional and minimalistic as we didn't want to portray one style when we are promoting a business inclusive to all styles and backgrounds. But maybe we could have put some more creativity in it as well, i think it would have been a bit more memorable to viewers if there was added extra. For example, one group had a lovely animation in theirs, another group wore all yellow, Some had pizza in their slides, all of these are things that have stuck with me, and maybe ours wasn't so exciting now i think on it. 

I also feel like, especially me, presented our pitch quite stiffly, I'm not such a great speaker, so even after a lot of practicing, as soon as i spoke i wouldn't remember anything, this lead to using queue cards. The queue cards were good, but i ended up reading it like a script, which didn't sound natural to me, especially when i liked the presentations the most when people were confidently speaking.

The last thing to add, was what Patrick brought up at the end as feedback, we hadn't got our finances down right. We did try very hard, especially Naomi and Georgie to figure out our finances, but a lot of pricing for things we needed, we would have to directly call printers etc. It got very confusing to us and we ended up missing out wages all together. I think next time, I would definitely try to gain a better understanding into the financing of a business as it would be very helpful. Although, in the business we proposed, i don't think it would actually work out, as we are near enough being a charity for artists. The whole point of our business was to create a platform for aspiring creatives to share their work with a chance to win, without ripping them off and giving both artist and buyer a fair deal. But with doing this, on our plan, we have left out giving ourselves a fair deal as well. This might sound selfish, but otherwise we wouldn't be running a business for a long time before we would have to use our exit strategy, which we might have planned too well, subconsciously.

Now to reflect on the actual collaboration part of this brief, I actually really enjoyed working with our group. I thought we all worked quite well together, we kept ourselves informed through Facebook and i feel like we all worked equally. There were obviously times when it was a little harder i.e. i missed the first session of this brief, so they had to come up with business proposals without me, but we all caught each other up and i think it went very well. It is the first time i have enjoyed collaborating with other people, we all seemed to get on well and there were no disagreements. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this studio brief, after reflecting, there might be parts of our presentation that i would change but I still think it was good and we worked well together as a team and i have gained more understanding on what it takes to run a business etc. So although there are things i might change, i wouldn't expect any different as it's the first time i have done something like this, and now i know what it entails.