Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL603 Extended Practice
Level
06
Credits 60
STUDIO PRACTICE Statement of Intent Name Date
Rebecca Williamson
http://r-‐-‐ williamson1316sp.blogspot.co.uk
14/10/15
Rationale I want to become more direct and selective with my work, allowing me more time to develop the professionalism of my chosen illustration techniques. As a result I hope this will save me time by dismissing certain techniques/ideas promptly and concentrate on ones which I can develop to there full potential. From feedback from existing illustrators who have advised me to make sure I am not confusing potential clients with to many illustrated tones of voice, I want to make sure my practice is recognizable to me, showing a range of skill sets but to remain similar. I plan to develop on mix media using loose watercolour and detail pen/pencil work. I also want to improve on/develop combing analogue work with digital colouring and layering of illustrations. By making my practice more recognizable in style, developing on the techniques mentioned above, I hope this will make potential clients feel more confident in knowing the type of work I could create for them. My aim this year is to produce more practical work, instead of spending a lot of time planning and changing ideas. I want to speed up my illustration making process in general – though I like capturing detail, I hope to still be able to do this but with particular and dedicated focus – not waste time in doing so! Themes / Subjects
Social – • Brief 1-‐Winston Churchill: I plan to illustrate the history of Winston Churchill which will appeal to patriotic people etc. I will be exploring social and historical events to use as reference when designing my illustrations. • Brief 2-‐Bradford: this brief will focus on illustrating social surroundings of the area of Bradford, making the landmarks and areas recognizable for the public living and visiting the area. This is a collaborative brief where I will be creating maps and illustrations to incorporate on to an interactive website. • Brief 3-‐ Children’s book: appreciated by children but also by the older generation who read the book. • Brief 4 -‐ wedding: this brief will challenge me to think in terms of a social celebratory occasions, imagining the mood and theme of the day which I can hopefully depict in the stationary pack that is being asked of me – e.g. RSPV/menu illustrations, table names. • Brief 5 -‐ branding: I plan to illustrate the builder himself, or communicate the skills he has and can offer to people using recognizable and linkable tools to his trade. • brief 7 – D&AD Amnesty International Competition Brief: this surrounds the current social issue of the refugee Crisis in Syria. Emotive • Brief 1-‐Winston Churchill: patriotic, proud • Brief 2-‐bradford map: appreciation • Brief 3-‐childrens book illustration: nostalgia and sentimental value • Brief 4 -‐wedding: joyfulness, touching, memorable • Brief 5-‐branding: trust • Brief 7 – Amnesty International: by expressing the scared, vulnerable emotions the refugees must be feeling I hope to create a piece which makes people empathetic to the subject, motivating a positive reaction to help the cause. Delicate • Brief 1-‐Winston Churchill: I want to show a level of sophistication and pride, therefore making my illustrations delicate will show this attention to detail for such a worthy historic occasion. • Brief 2-‐Bradford map: using a delicate approach when illustrating maps and landmarks will hopefully make the map easy to follow and realistic, therefore people will be able to clearly identify familiar areas and realistically imagine the area of Bradford. • Brief 3 -‐Children’s book: to communicate the sentimental value of this children’s story, I want to make my illustrations delicate, I think this will convey the heartfelt and thoughtfulness of the story which holds a nostalgic memory to the authors grandchildren and children. • Brief 4-‐Wedding: using a delicate approach will show the importance of the wedding and other detailed thought that has gone into other elements of the day. The client has described the flowers, her dresses etc. to me, all are very feminine with small, cute details, so I will aim to show this in my illustrations. • Brief 5-‐Branding: I think by designing a tradesman building card using my tone of voice which is detailed and delicate will make it stand out from another tradesman brand identity, which tend to be quite graphic and simple. However, I plan to make the design simple so it is easily remembered and recognizable, but will use an element to make it different and connote the tradesman’s working personality – perfectionist. • Brief 7: this is a very sensitive subject and therefore I need to handle it tastefully. I feeling creating work that is delicate and detailed will emphasize the reality of the issue. I also want the make my piece striking and bold to draw in the viewers attention to the detail and subject.
Products / Methods of Distribution
Book covers, interior pages: I can produce these as standalone illustrations or upload digitally to distribute online, reprinted for commercial re-‐sale. For one of my briefs I aim to create a number of interior pages for a children’s book. How this method of distribution will explore my themes: • Social: for my children’s book brief the book is a sociable tool as it will be read to the children by parents, grandparents etc. The story I am illustrating will also allow me to explore this theme by depicting different types of people (as well as mystical creatures!). • Emotive: I want to make my illustrations touching with the use of detail, I also hope this adds a sentimental value to the book through my chosen technique. •
Delicate: by making the drawings realistic using fine details, I hope this will make them seem more precious, which will hopefully express and justify the story as best as possible.
Digital print: though I produce my work primarily by hand, scanning the work digitally will allow me to mass produce and digitally enhance work (all briefs) and adding digital text (branding, Amnesty International, wedding merchandise) -‐ ideal for commercial work. I will need to make sure each brief is digitized in order for them to be easily reformatted, printed and distributed as solo pieces or mass produced in industry. However I will also have to consider physically printing digitally printing any of my chosen briefs to become part of my portfolio or for physical submission if the certain briefs needs to be shown in context rather then mocked-‐up. Commercial illustration (Packaging/stationary): – applying illustrations to platforms/medias. i.e. 3d packaging, or 2d print methods such as business cards, invitations. I will need to explore commercial illustration techniques in order to complete 3 of my briefs: Branding brief 5, Wedding brief 4. and Amnesty international brief 7. I will be exploring formats, composition and layout within these briefs, as well as themes and feelings the client wishes to demonstrate. Web-‐based illustration: – illustrations that can exists online i.e. networking sites, online portfolios. I will have to consider how my work will appear on a website when producing illustrations for brief 2: documenting Bradford, as this is where my work will primarily exist as an online interactive illustration.
Practical Skills Media / Formats
• I want to experiment further with mixed media (watercolour and colour pencil). I feel using a combination of both a loose media will make my work look more experimental and creative, yet will still be able to show and focus on detail using colour pencil. This will also allow me create focal points on a certain areas of the illustrations. • I will apply this method when developing work for brief 3: Children’s book, I think the colour and style of watercolour will be ideal for a younger audience as it is expressive and connotes imagination with loose burst of colour, yet the detail will allow the children, and also adults, to appreciate the realism of the illustrations. • Through other briefs, I want to improve and develop on combining analogue work with digital colouring layering of illustrations. I feel this style of illustration shows my precise and graphical ability within my practice. I think this style will suit the target market for brief 1: Winston Churchill, as they are sophisticated, therefore I feel my illustrations need to be pristine and refined. • As I plan to create book covers/pages, I will need to refresh my skills on InDesign so I can create a book layout confidently. • I will be scanning the majority of my work to enhance it, therefore must be confident in knowing correct resolution sizes if I were to reprint at different scales. I will also need to learn about paper stock for certain briefs, e.g. business cards for brief 5. • Throughout this module I will need to develop communication skills with clients so I am clear about what is being asked of me. This will hopefully come from experience. • Generally, I would like my drawing skills to improve over the year, with this improvement I hope it will mean I am able to produce work at a high standard in a shorter amount of time from practice.
Brief 1:
Deadline Competition: Winston Churchill – Pol Roger Design a gift box and label for a magnum of Pol Roger vintage 2006 champagne, which was the style of Pol Roger champagne that Sir Winston Churchill himself enjoyed, thus commemorating the life of one of our greatest leaders.
30th November
Rationale:
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I enjoy research based projects, finding out things I perhaps did not know before to form a deeper understanding of the subject matter, allowing me to produce thorough well informed ideas and final resolutions– research Patriotic –I feel I will enjoy this project as it is looking at any celebrating a historical figure of our/my country therefore I will have a responsibility to produce something that would make me proud of our history. Sophisticated outcome – has to be professional and luxurious which I think suites my precise style of work. Will have to work with constraint formats, ensuring flat designs work when placed on a range of curved/ shaped surfaces. This will require lots of experimentation with size, scale, shape and form.
Brief 2: Responsive: Documenting Bradford – illustrations with 3d element.
Deadline
TBC
Rationale:
I have chosen this brief as it gives me a chance to collaborate with a fellow creative at Leeds College of Art (Will Kneewshaw -‐ Photography), and will be a great opportunity for my work to be seen by other people/creative as it will be part of his end of year show. This involved us reaching an agreement to ensure my work is acknowledged clearly in his final show. The illustrations required of me will exist as an interactive element on a website, something I have not done before, so this will be a challenge as I will have to consider the resolutions of my images etc. The style of the photography I will be collaborating with I feel will work well with my own visual style and aesthetic – delicate, thoughtful and emotive, focusing on social surroundings and spontaneous portraits. Brief 3:
Responsive: Children’s book Illustrations
Deadline
TBC
Rationale:
I have been asked to produce 10 illustrations for a children’s book the client has decided to publish after the death of his Granddad as a way of commemorating the story he made up and told him and his siblings as children. I agreed to this brief as I feel its sentimental value will make me more dedicated and passionate about producing work to justify the memories they have from the story. Because it is a delicate and sentimental story I feel my style of work will adapt well and express emotion through my drawings. I am mindful that the client will have his own strong visual images in mind which represent the story as he remembers and sees it, therefore by producing small scenes and elements of the story, this will still allow for imagination to play a part in the reader visualization. I have been sent the manuscript of the book with image/illustrations suggestions relating to certain parts of the book which helped me decide on the final style to adopt to keep the tone of the book. The number of ideas the client had initially (28) had to be honed down to the required 10 illustrations, seeing the text and discussing the clients requirements enabled me to make firm choices about which element to illustrate. Brief 4:
Responsive: Wedding invitations, menu emblem and table names. Rationale:
Deadline
March
I chose this brief because it will allow me to develop and take note from last years 505 module ‘applied illustration’. I will have to consider format and composition of my illustrations as well as a themed aesthetic required from the wedding day. Because this is for my sisters wedding. I have an emotional attachment to this brief so I am driven to making these illustrations perfect. I think it will benefit my work as it is separate from other briefs I am working on in that the illustration development is very limited and lacks complexity. I will have to consider simplifying designs, designing motifs, which exists as something nice to look at without a complex narrative or specific meaning behind them. I think it will be a nice brief to just get on with without over complicating it with extensive research. This design, though personal to my sisters requirements, would prove to be a viable option to develop further in to other commercially available wedding items such as save the date, RSVP cards, table names and numbers, paper table cloths, bunting etc.
Brief 5:
Authorial process / responsive: Design a personal branding body for local plastering and tilling tradesman Mark Casson.
Deadline
Rationale:
I choose this brief as it will force me to think in terms of branding/promoting, something I will need to consider within my own practice. It will challenge me to work with specific guidelines /measurements. It is also design focused which means I will have to consider text as well as imagery. Because it is for branding, the design I come up with needs to be simple and recognizable. This in itself is a challenge for my skill set, as I will need to simplify my work ethic, making sure I do not over complicate illustrations, allowing it to be easily immersed and remembered. Application of the design needs to be considered throughout my design process, making sure it is just as effective on the required platforms as it appears on paper/digitally/work vehicles.
Brief 7: competiton/responsive Launch Taking Injustice Personally with a strategy, a big idea and creative executions.
Deadline: March 2016
It is an opportunity for my work to be seen by a charity that is looking for a creative campaign.
If I did get recognition it could be a step into the industry i feel my practice fits into. If I don’t get anywhere in the competition, at least it is a piece to put in my portfolio to show i can work to competition guideline briefs, and it shows i can produce work with a charity/social awareness issue. As I enjoy research based project, this brief will allow me to inform myself on the current social issue which I will hopefully be able to interpret through my illustrations, informing more people. I also find my practice is driven by the potential to make a difference, and raise awareness to issues that people need to pay attention to. Quick turn around brief (started late February): this will challenge me to produce work with a short deadline – something that I have struggled with in the past as my process is time consuming.
Additional Project Proposals
Authorial/process: Business advertising article: Create work to accompany an article about the history and livelihood of Woodlands Garden Centre in ‘Country’ magazine.
Authorial process: campaign-‐-‐ ‘the bitter story behind the UK’s national drink’ campaign:-‐-‐ Brief: Create an editorial piece of illustration that can sit alongside and visually communicate the issues raised in an article regarding the degrading and dangerous working and living conditions for tea pickers. OR Create a campaign that can bring awareness to tea drinkers of the labour tea pickers go through on a daily basis just for our national drink, visually communicate the issues raised in The Guardian article regarding the degrading and dangerous working and living conditions for tea pickers. As this is a current issue I will be able to gain a substantial about of research and imagery on this topic and it will therefore allow me to produce a strong piece of visually truthful illustrations. I enjoy the challenge of conveying a deeper meaning through imagery. I feel this brief will also allow me to explore with figure drawing, as it is a social and cultural issue. Working to the format of an editorial piece I will have to work to the required dimensions so will have to consider the effectiveness of my design with these restrictions. -‐ -‐ -‐ Spotify -‐ -‐ Kenco advertise how they are training people to get them out of gangs Authorial process: Campaign (poster/article): Child tooth removal 'at crisis point', doctors warn. Create a campaign that will be used to inform and warn people about the current dental crisis regarding the welfare of children dental care.
The campaign needs to target children yet still put across the severity of the message to parents. The campaign would exist in dental practices and health environments. You should also think about how it can be applied into the shop environment, which sells dental products. Why I have chosen this brief: I have only taken part in one brief that is aimed at children (Alice in wonderland brief) as I prefer producing work with a more serious/delicate tone, however I really enjoyed the brief as it allowed me to have more fun with colour and childlike, fun composition. However, as this is a serious matter that needs to be aimed at children, I think it will be a completely new challenge. Competition/live: War horse book cover and 3 interior pages deadline: 18th January