The Creative Movement

The Creative Movement, is a company that has been formed with the specific aim of matching the right creative talent, to the right creative jobs. I found The Creative Movement through LinkedIn and found that it's based in Nottingham. I'm not entirely sure what they do to be honest, but I think it's all about helping creatives find work. The website states that 'if you want a permanent or freelance role, or you're looking for that one ideal person to add to your team, please get in touch. We'd love to show you how we can help'. 

I thought it wouldn't hurt to register so when I did I sent a message asking if they could tell me know about what they do! I completely forgot to ass my website which is annoying. We'll see if anything happens.

Fairtade Foundation

I've started looking at places where my food illustrations could fit and after speaking to food illustrator Ana Zaja Petard I saw that she has produced work for the Fair-trade foundation. For them she produced some food packaging which is another interest of mine. I thought that Fair-trade would be great to get in touch with as I enjoy tackling societal issues within my work. Both of these areas of illustration are ways I'd like to work with them.

It was difficult to know what email address to send it to as their contact list wasn't that helpful. I emailed the media team and asked hat if they are not the people to contact then could they pass the email on. I sent the email below:

BBC Good Food

I thought about trying to contact BBC Good Food after speaking to food illustrator Ana Zaja Petrak and seeing that they were one of her clients. I sent the email below, which is very similar to what I send to Sainsbury's magazine. I wasn't sure if I've sent it to the right email address but it was the best one there. I'm going to look in to hopefully finding the art director or someone directing. I think that would give me more chance of a reply.

Contacting Paper Rose

I contacted Paper Rose in Nottingham today. There seemed to be two ways of contacting them so I tried both. This would be a really great place to gain some experience within the greeting card industry. What's more perfect is that they're based in Nottingham. I'm moving back home to earn some money so some sort of job here would be amazing. If they don't get back to me I'm going to keep pestering them haha!

Sainsbury's Magazine

I've realised this past year that I really like food illustration and have began to see where my work could exist. Previously, I've been against editorial work as my work isn't very conceptual, however I've started to see that my work would work really well within food and lifestyle magazines. I feel that my food motifs would be really strong within this area of illustration. Why have I been limiting myself? I've started looking at for food magazines and started with Sainsbury's! When I spoke to Clair Rossiter, I saw that Sainsbury's was someone who she's worked with. She gave me some advice and said she just contact them and say I'd love to work with them. So that's what I've done! 

I found these email addresses on the contact info, I didn't know which to email so I chose both!

The magazine

If you have any questions about the printed version of Sainsbury's magazine or would like to get in touch about work experience and internships, please email feedback@sainsburysmagazine.co.uk

Or come and say hello on Twitter @SainsburysMag

Email the editor

Email Helena Lang, editor of Sainsbury's magazine, directly at editor@seven.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @HofLang

This is what I emailed them:

I attached my CV and also made a small PDF of relevant illustrations, mainly being my food work, so they can see straight away what I do.

I got an automatic reply saying that they've received my email:

Muti Studio

MUTI is a creative studio founded in 2011, based in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. They work on a broad range of projects from digital painting to vector icons and custom typography.

I found MUTI on Instagram not realising it was a collective. There's a large mix of work but what stood out to me what their graphic and icons page. Just look at those textures! I've started producing this grainy texture myself within some of my recent work andI'm really loving in. I'd be interested know if they create theirs through a different tool. This could be quite interesting to loom at further for my map brief. Their work is very vector based which makes me think they used illustrator. I must start learning illustrator better!! 

Business Cards

I've just ordered my business cards! Can't wait to see them in person. I went for 4 designs in the end, two coloured versions of two designs. My lovely mother gave me some money towards them and told me to get a larger amount. That along with student discount meant it didn't cost me too much. I'm really happy with the design, though part of me is thinking it's not as interesting as last years design. A lot of people have asked why I've changed it as they liked the older ones. The older design however meant that I didn't have much room left for the actual important bit... my contact info. This new design works really well with my promo pack so now everything works well as a brand identity which I lacked last year. At the end of the day I can change the design any time and I should so I've stopped over thinking it too much.

Tom Woolley Pt.2

Like I said I would in my other post, I've emailed Tom Woolley! I didn't really have any specific questions but he's a working illustrator in West Yorkshire so I asked for some general advice. With me finishing uni in just a couple of months (how scary is that?!), I asked if he had any advice about the first year of leaving uni. I attached my website too. Obviously I've only just made it so any suggestions he has would be a great help!

This was his reply:

He said that my portfolio is quite varied which has been a worry of mine. He really likes my food illustrations and thinks this could be good to take further and could carve out a niche as a 'food illustrator'. He think these they would work well in food / lifestyle magazines. This is great to hear as I'd love to focus of food illustration and have my food in such magazines.

In terms of advice about life after uni, he referred me to a blog post he'd written about 'Getting started as a freelance illustrator'. Here's what he wrote:

To give a bit of background I came to the world of freelance illustration a little late and worked at a museum as a web designer straight after graduation. My degree had the snappy title of ‘Electronic Imaging and Media Communications’ and involved a bit of everything; web design, graphic design, illustration, media theory, photography and film-making. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do when I was 18 (who is?!) so I was attracted to a degree that offered lots of different things to explore. I think I liked art and computers and in the late 1990s this degree ticked a lot of boxes.

After working as a web designer I then worked as a curator for five years but kept doing bits of freelance design and illustration work in my spare time as a creative outlet. I’d always dreamed of doing freelance illustration full time but never thought I could realistically make enough money out of it. Then in December 2012 there was a staff restructure and I took redundancy so I could have a stab at forging a career out of freelance illustration full time.

I pretty much started from scratch in early 2013 with a portfolio that needed a lot of work and a handful of industry contacts. I read a lot of online blogs and books about how to make it in the scary world of freelance and I’ve been plugging away at it for nearly three years now.

Would you say it’s better to get a part time job or focus purely on finding work?

Well I guess you’ve got to pay the bills so I’d only go full-time freelance if you had enough money coming in to keep the lights on for a few months. After leaving the museum I basically spent six months working on my portfolio – a few commissions dribbled in and I think they totalled up to about £2000. I could only dedicate myself to it full time as I had my redundancy. I then got worried about money and worked at a web design agency for a year whilst doing the illustration commissions on the side. I know a lot of illustrators who do work part-time so they’ve got a reliable source of income every month.

How did you go about finding clients? Would you say your website is a big part of getting the word out?

Your website is key. I’ve had a few clients just through Google searches – but my Hire an Illustrator and AOI portfolios also lead to commissions. I’ve sent out postcards in the past to Art Directors which has led to a few jobs. Also just through word of mouth and emailing people with jpegs of my work. You can buy directories of Art Directors through the AOI and you can find people’s email addresses through magazines. I spent a fair bit of time in newsagents leafing through magazines, seeing who was commissioning illustration and taking quick snaps of contact details on my phone. LinkedIn is also a useful tool for finding out if people are still in the same job or if they’ve moved agencies.

I remember listening to this podcast with Rod Hunt and getting really fired up about the need to send out postcards: http://illustrationage.com/2011/02/01/efii-podcast-episode-69-rod-hunt/

Also Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Behance and Facebook have all led to jobs. You’ve basically got to be a one person marketing team – so I try to do a few minutes a day updating different networks.

You’ve got to have a clear website with your work front and centre on the home page. Make sure your work is getting picked up in search engines and is easy to find and browse by busy Art Directors who don’t have time to spare.

Would I be better specialising in one illustration style or offering a wide range of skills?

I think it’s important to have a distinctive style but something that is also commercial. I guess I looked at the type of clients I wanted to work for and then adapted my style a little to suit that. I think having a specialism helps too and makes it easier for people to find you. So I purposely pushed illustrated maps as I liked doing them and wanted to do more for other people. The freelance market is crowded so it’s important to stand out.

Jonathan Woodward has a really good article about whether it’s best to specialise in one style or be able to adapt your style to different jobs: http://jonathanwoodwardstudio.com/professional-illustration-101/ (make sure to check out Jonathan and Lea’s other excellent articles about the business of illustration on their blog).

And maybe most importantly – when did you start getting enough work to live reasonably comfortably?

I guess after leaving the museum in December 2012 it wasn’t until earlier in 2015 that I felt confident this freelance lark was a proper thing that I could actually comfortably make a living from. So about two and a half years! (and I’m still always looking at my spreadsheets and working out how many months I’ve got before I’m skint, imagining what would happen if the commissions suddenly dried up). But I noticed a gradual increase in commissions and interest and this kept me going, but I was being very careful with money.

I went to an encouraging panel discussion as part of Leeds Digital Lunch all about going solo and starting your own business. One of the panellists was a web developer who said if you can get enough work to keep you going for your first year then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be confident you can carry on year after year.


First thing I did was to make a budget and work out what was the minimum I needed to pay the bills. This was my monthly target and I thought if I couldn’t make that much I’d apply for a part-time job somewhere. It is scary though and I’ve had several periods were I was really anxious about money – but then the freedom of being your own boss and the satisfaction of carving out a living for yourself more than makes up for it.

It’s still early days though and it’s exciting to not quite know what jobs are going to come next. One really inspiring book is ‘A Life in Illustration‘ which features lots of in-depth interviews with illustrators who have been working freelance all their life.


For further inspiration make sure to check out Alex Mathers’ site Red Lemon Club, and Darrel Rees’ book ‘How to be an Illustrator‘ is something I turn to all the time.

He also invited me to this!

Promo Pack - Development

I felt like last years promo pack didn't communicate me as an illustrator and my practice. I developed a new design based on the patterns I've created for my extended practice module. I'm a lot happier with how this promo pack is developing compared to what I designed last year. It's definitely more 'me'. I also wanted the pack to be simpler that last years design. I feel that if it's something that I want to make a lot of and send out, I should't make it too complicated to cut out and put together. Last year my pack required some measuring, cutting and sticking. It ended it looking fine but there were some gluey finger marks. The new design should simplify things!

Business Card Development

I've decided to get my business cards printed through MOO.com as it was a good prize and quality and had received some great reviews. I downloaded a template from the website as I don't think last business card last year was the right size! I also played around with a portrait format, however because I have a long name, everything had to be scaled down to fit my name in haha. For this reason I decided to go with landscape as the imagery looked and fitted so much better.

Creative CV - Updated

Old:

Today I spend ages re-deisgning my creative CV, I was surprised how long it took. Above is my creative CV from last year and looking at it now I can see it isn't very 'me', nor did it go with the rest of my promotional material. It's a little random really. I also think it looks my graphic and illustrative so could give the wrong impression. This year I also added information to my CV, so all the information wouldn't have been able to fit in my old design anymore. It was time for a change!

What I did like from the old one was the selective use of colour and the 'Weaponry' bit in the bottom left, so I intended to use these ideas in my new design. I also liked that it all fitted on to a single side of A4 paper which was going to be hard to do this year with all my added info. It was really important to me that it all still fitted on to one side of paper again (it took ages!), as I don't want to overwhelm the reader with lots of paper, nor do I want them to accidentally lose a piece. I also thing it just generally looks neater on on side of paper.

So this is mu new design below with all the added info! I made it in to two neat columns with the information clearly separated and titled. I used the same colour scheme as my other promotional material and added imagery (the plant). This is an improvement on last year and it now all works within my branding. I kept the 'weaponry' bit as I think it adds a nice design element. Overall, visually I think it's clear and engaging. It isn't overwhelming but still has a design element to it.

Very happy indeed!

New:

Paper Rose

Paper Rose is a greeting card and stationary design company in Nottingham. I found out about them through my mum and seeing that Lee Wildish used to work there. I really like the idea of gaining experience in somewhere like this to get an insight in to how this area of the industry works. I'm really interested in illustrated stationary and products, so with this being in Nottingham it would be great to contact them!

Food Illustration

In the last year I've seen a pattern within my practice. I've said it previously, but drawings scenes is something that I struggle with and don't enjoy. I've noticed that drawing objects and motifs is something that I really enjoy. In particular, I love drawing food. I've found an interest in other food illustrations and the platforms in which food illustration can be applied to. I worried that the would limit where my work can be applied and what platforms and products this could include. In fact the range of products is quite large and I shouldn't be put off.

I've found food illustrations within editorial work, which is something I thought my work would never be appropriate for. I've spoken to illustrators who have worked for food organisations such as Fareshare, M&S, Sainsburys etc. Food magazines are something I'd love to have my work showcased in.

I spoke to an illustrator who told me to get in touch with the art directors involved in this area of work. This is something I intend to do.

Lee Wildish

The work of Lee Wildish is brilliant but probably not something I'd usually pick out of something that inspires my practice. His work mostly consists of character design and children's book illustrations, two things I struggle with. However, my mum used to work with Lee at the Nottingham Evening Post I thought he would be good to get in touch with for advice. He's becomes quite successful in the industry and with him being from Nottingham it seemed a good idea to look at his work. 

Although his work looks at character design and publishing, before going freelance and after working at the Nottingham Evening Post, he moved to a greeting card company as a product development manager where he created concepts and illustrations for the greeting card market. The company he worked for was Paper Rose in Nottingham. I'd love to learn more about that area of illustration so I think they would be great to try contact.

I sent Lee an email asking if he has any advice, hopefully him knowing my mum will mean a better chance of a reply!

Signing up to the AOI!

I've signed up to the AOI! I thought it was best to do it while I'm still a student at LCA so it's cheaper.  I think it'll be something that benefits me more after I graduate, but I've had a look through it and there's a lot of great information that will help me. It's something I can look at for information regarding rights, pricing and contracts etc. There's also a list of agents which I'll find helpful as I'd really like to look in to that further. The agency websites just have a general email address, so it's good to have a break down of individual people I can get in touch with.

Invoice Development

Today I worked on my invoice design. I wanted to keep it simple but still include a design element and ensure that it coincides with the rest of my branding. Above is my design idea. After talking to my peers it was decided that it too busy round the sides with the pattern and if it was printed black and white by the client it would look a mess! I also felt unsure about having the hand written version of my name at the top as it was too big.

I took away the pattern and tried something simpler. Above sows my develop process. I quit liked the white text against the dark blue however, if it's printed black and white it'll be too much black and it could blur a little. I went even simpler with the design and made it mostly white with a bit of blue text and a faded plant from the rest of my branding. The bottom right image is my final design. For an invoice, I'm pretty happy with it. It's simple just an invoice isn't supposed to be that exciting. I think it now looks clean, simple and professional.

Evaluating Collaboration with Aggie

This year I have collaborated on a YCN brief with Aggie. I was a little apprehensive at the idea of collaborating with anyone after doing a poor job of it last year. I didn't speak up enough and felt like I was comparing my work to my partners to whole time and started to devalue my work and contribution to the brief. However, I know Aggie is a hard worker and we've becomes good friends and I'd be confident enough to voice my opinions with her. Our work has become similar in some areas because of our digital process and we thought our work would compliment each others. We were both super excited!

Doing this brief has shown me that collaborating can actually be good and some great work can come from it. Aggie has been a great partner. We met up to discuss the project regularly and kept each other on all the developments regarding our separate role. Our strong communication skills helped us to produce a strong submission where we are both confident and proud of the work we produced. This was also important for the key decision making. Although we had separate roles on we worked on practically, both our opinions and suggestions were what made it the project it became.

Last year my partner and I failed to allocate separate roles and as a result, my contribution to the project got lost. Aggie and I did a good job at separating our jobs and practical elements, yet managed to bring them together in the end. I think this was a key part to what I believe was a successful collaboration.

For these reasons I feel that I have improved on my collaborative and communication skills a lot this past year. I have a more positive idea about collaborating as until now, all my collaborative projects did't go that well. I'm so happy and proud of the work we produced and the professionalism of the final outcomes. We did good!

Organising Questions ahead of tutorial

Things to mention / questions for Fred: 

OUIL603

1. Aggie and I have just finished our work for the Royal Opera House brief. Just wanted to know if our boards were ok? Should we add board numbers and our names? 
2. There's a few possibilities in terms of scale and medium with my big kahuna? How would painting a wall work? Could I paint one and print another? Or both? How would the larger scale prints work as a concept and with consideration to context?
3. I am so stuck with my space brief and unsure what direction to take next. I'm concerned about time.
4. In regard to my theme a month brief I feel as though I can do more with the work I already have and expand that range rather than continuing with another month? Is this something I can do?
5. Overall, is it looking like a enough work? 

PPP

1. Physical portfolio: is this to be completed for PPP submission or the show? I'm confused on the format and the way it should be presented. 
2. The future - I feel unsure about what to say I'm doing in the near future in my presentation, with me not having a job lined up.
3. blog: is there anything I should be talking about which I haven't already 
4. I have found an internship that I'm interested in applying for. Would you please write me a reference?
5. Any comments/suggestions?

Visiting Lecturer - Andy Singleton

Notes:

- Umbrella Term - Artist
- Fine art and commercial work
- Two sides to his work

Part 1 - Personal work:- Artist/illustrator
- Paper Artist
- Started with 2D
- The past 4-5 yrs he's been working in 3D
- Installations
- Did foundation at Leeds College of Art - thats when he started experimenting with paper cut stencils - he was 19 at the time.

- The went on to do Illustration Animation at Manchester met - where he started moving on from 2D to 3D by layering up his paper cuts

Post graduation:

- work got featured in a show - celebration of talents
- 2008 - went travelling
- 2010 - Got a studio (Westgate studios - run by neon artist Richard Wheater)

- Liam Hopkins - Internship
- Began working with Richard Sweeny - also works with paper and large scale installation.

- got frustrated working at small - then started working at large scale trying to capture movement and energy

- all hand cut.

- small sculptures

- got commissioned by manchester gallery to produce 3D work. Experimented with putting different bits of paper cut pieces together and manipulating them - 50 Individual papers!

- Self initiated and curated exhibition titled 'Nude Not Naked' in Brooklyn New York - used kickstarter to raise money - £6/7000. - if you want to do something, there's ways to do it!!

Part 2 - Commercial Work:

- Began getting more confident working with paper to work.
- Got first job - christmas themed shop window installation
- 2011 - liberty installation - got attention for his paper birds and was commissioned to make more birds.

-Process - start with a rough model in white paper - pick out bits that work well and replicate with better stock.
- Said that photographing work is important!

- He gets most of his jobs from the internet 

- He's recently got an agent in London and started doing more illustration/commercial work.

- Harrords commercial work - window shop installation - animal themed
- Playstation - london landscape
- Burberry shop window installation.

- You often don't get much time to design and put together the work - short deadlines!

I went to the talk after only seeing his personal installation work. In fact I saw his work at an exhibition in Nottingham a few years ago. Although I liked his work and thought it was crazy impressive, it's actually now his commercial work that I love more. I think that's natural with me doing illustration not fine art. I absolutely love his paper birds!! I love drawing birds, so this is just my cup of tea. I want a paper bird for myself!!!