Where do you see yourself now as an Illustrator? I see myself as an author/ writer/ illustrator /designer. I see my practice driven by autonomy as opposed to client led briefs.
Do people know you are here? Not really, I haven’t made much of an effort to reach out and network, I think I’ve convinced myself that I aren’t self-aware enough yet to contact people because I’m not entirely sure where I want to go or how to get there.
What methods are you using to tell them? I’ve been researching publishers so hopefully going to send out some emails, I just feel that I need at least a website up and running before I contact people so I can direct them somewhere!
You have had 3 years to develop your talent so far, what do you feel you have achieved? A lot! Looking back at first year it feels like the work of an entirely different person. I’ve been able to carve out a tone of voice and style that feels authentic for me and is supported by theory! I’ve also become more confident in being able to actually finish a brief! In first and second year all my work seemed so unfinished and rough, in third year I’ve shown an ability to finish a project and finish it to a high standard.
How do you see this, achievement, slog or useful? Achievement!
What will your Final PPP Presentation (May 21st) contain and why is it important? Be more personalised, a lot of end of year presentations end up sounding and looking so similar, I’m trying to think of it as more of an opportunity to talk about what makes my practice different and show what makes it special! I don’t just want to talk about my experience at university.
Why do you need to present yourself? I think that I have an interesting perspective and I believe that my work should be understood and appreciated by people. I put a lot into my work.
Laura Carlin Talk • •
Michael Driver Talk • • • •
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Curiosity is a good way to fuel creativity Try to get on graduate lists? Don’t work for free Maybe think about posting things to people?? Creative people like to collect things and seeing that someone has spent the time sending something physical is better than an e-mail. Risograph printing is cheap, make use of that when outside of university
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What do you want to say? Don’t pay attention to trends. Omitting what is not important in the picture? What is the most important parts of an image that need to be communicated? What can be discarded? Keep folders of inspiration! Folio society London, maybe go and visit?? See what opportunities they could offer?? Any great writer believes the environment they are creating/ believes what they are writing. This is the same with illustration. Conviction. Find own techniques of keeping enthusiasm and energy up. You have the power to make people see the way that you look at the world. Newspaper club for printing after university?? 2 mediums to work in. It means that if you get bored of one then you have another to keep you making things.
I was recently contacted through my Instagram from a page called 1340ART Magazine. They asked for me to submit to them an image with the chance for it to be featured on their Instagram page. As they had quite a significant amount of followers I thought why not?? After my submission I received an e-mail from them saying that even though my work had been pre-selected, they only post images on their account of a certain quality, so I would be notified if they uploaded mine. Shortly after I received an e-mail from them saying that based on the quality of my Instagram submission I was invited to enter their magazine competition. After having a look at this I saw that it would cost around £20 for me to submit a piece of my work for this. They hadn’t posted my work on their Instagram account despite acknowledging that my work was of a high quality. I did some research online and it seems that a lot of people had received the same e-mails so it became evident that the whole process was a scam. It’s sad that this is a reality and that young creatives could fall for this as they hope it might boost their career! I think that entering free competitions like this for exposure is of no harm but the risk of paying to maybe have work advertised should always be considered carefully!