Entering Competitions

Competitions are a good way of promoting yourself. They are a fun thing to do, you can create your own ideas and they are either for charity or you could end up winning something for yourself. All of this, and you get your name and your work out there for people to see and talk about.

I've previously entered a competition called Secret-7's. This is a charity based competition. You are provided with seven different songs to choose from and you can enter as many times as you want, so you could do more than one piece of artwork for one song or you can enter work for more than one song.
Basically you can create anything you like, inspired by one of the songs and designed to be an album cover, you just can't say what song it is or the title. No-one knows who has created the work, but selected submissions go on display and people can go in and buy the cover for £50 and the proceeds go to a charity. After the exhibition of the covers, the organisers make it known of all the artists who have taken part (this is where the good promotional part comes in!)
So I decided to enter the competition again and chose to do an illustration to go with the song 'Clearest Blue' by Chvrches. I'm a fan of the band anyway so this seemed perfect for me. I listened to the song a few times and jotted down a few ideas that came to my head.
I then took these ideas and refined them to create something that was eye catching and powerful so that it would stand out when put on display.


 
 
 
 

 

I went with this design because it stands out and grabs the attention it needs. I wanted the main focus to be the iris and for it to reflect the title of the song 'Clearest Blue'. This is why I have done a mixed media piece of work and I have kept the rest of the eye black and white. I painted the iris using acrylic paint as this is thick and holds the colour really well. I then used ink for the black and white because I wanted some areas to be softer and very diluted and then other parts to be extremely black and I knew I could get this contrast with these two mediums. I also used Photoshop to tidy up a few areas and to make sure all of the colouring was correct. The song itself has quite a long build up and is very powerful throughout so I also wanted to reflect this in the poignant image. 

Conclusion of Module

I was required to do a presentation of my promotional items and my portfolio. I feel that this went very well, and the work that I have done was well received. There are a few pieces of work in my portfolio that I will have to take out as they don't compliment my other pieces very well, and there is a little bit of moving around of images that I need to do, and a few more pieces need to be added to 'bulk' out some aspects of it. Also once I have completed my Final Major Project there will be more Children's illustrations that I can include.

Overall, I have found this module very interesting and insightful. I have learnt a lot about where I want to go in my Illustration career and how I will go about getting there.
I have thoroughly enjoyed carefully selecting the artwork to include in my portfolio and creating my promotional items, which I'm sure will become very useful in the not so distant future. I particularly enjoyed making my gift wrap and gift tags as these were handmade and I worked hard making them to a high standard.
This module has been a fantastic way of kick starting my Illustration career online; with my portfolio website, Facebook page and Instagram account which are growing, slowly but surely.
I now feel prepared for leaving university and I'm ready to take on becoming an Illustrator.

Research into the Industry

When creating a career as an illustrator it's important to manage your time wisely. I have learnt over the last three years of University that there will be times when working on more than one project at a time will be very common. With this in mind it's important to keep organised and prepared for different deadlines and to be aware of how long different projects will take (some may be a one day project, some may be a few weeks).
Fortunately for me, I am a very organised person. I have lists coming out of my ears and calendars stuck on my walls so that I am aware of deadlines that are approaching. I have always been organised, but since coming to University and having to work on a handful of modules at one time, I have trained myself to keep up to date and to always be aware of the work I have to do.

Keeping a professional outlook on your career as an illustrator is very important as professionalism is what will bring back Client's to work with you again. Darrel Rees suggests "going to social events where you can meet clients or practising illustrators, or both, in a relaxed atmosphere is also helpful in building up contacts" (1). This is a good way of creating professional contacts without having to send out promotional items or continuously send emails. Getting to know someone face to face and getting a feel for their character and work ethics in person can be much more poignant and potential Clients are more likely to remember who you are.

Although creating respective contacts and clients is very important in the professional world of an Illustrator, it's also necessary to have a good understanding or legalities and finances.
Being aware of the average rate of pay for an illustration is important so that you are not undercharging or being under paid for your services. "An average fee for a quarter-page illustration is £250 in the UK" (2) with this knowledge you can then work out how much you should be paid for larger or smaller illustrations as "fees are not calculated on the basis of how long it takes to create an artwork, but are usually decided on the basis of the size at which it will be reproduced in publication" (3). Along with knowing these details, it is also favourable to know about 'kill fees', this is where "50 per cent of the full payment when work is turned down on or after delivery of rough artwork, and 100 percent if rejection happens on delivery of final artwork." (4). This is handy to know because if your client suddenly decides that they are going to take another route and no longer require the artwork you are supplying them with, you will not be at a loss and they are still in conjunction to pay you for the work that you have already done.
All of this information should be available in a written contract before the artwork is begun, so that both parts of the agreement are aware of the terms of the project and all legalities are covered. The most important areas to cover when creating a contract are, "What are you being asked to do?"..."What technical considerations are there?"..."What is the process?"..."What are the terms under which you are producing the work?" (5) these main topics will be covered with other sub-questions to ensure that all necessary information is covered and both parties are in equal understanding of the project.
Once the artwork is complete and in the hands of the client. The illustrator is then required to send the client an invoice for the work that they have done in order to be paid. "It can be said to consist of six basic questions. Who is it from? When is it dated? Who is it to? What is it for? How much is it for? What are the payment terms?" (6). Again, this document should cover all areas of legalities. With these important documents you are covered legally in order to be paid what you are owed for creating the artwork that is asked of you. It is also beneficial to double check any details you are not sure of with the client, and this can be done in an email. It's better to be safe than sorry and will save time in the long run ensuring all areas of the agreement are covered. 

Now that I am aware of these details of the professional side of Illustration, I feel that I am more prepared for starting my career as an illustrator, as I'm not only required to create great artwork but also manage my business as an Illustrator as well.

(1) Rees. Darrel (2014) Page 19
(2) Rees. Darrel (2014) Page 70
(3) Rees. Darrel (2014) Page 70
(4) Rees. Darrel (2014) Page 72
(5) Brazell. Derek and Davies. Jo (2013) Page 121
(6) Rees. Darrel (2014) Page 84

Brazell. David and Davies. Jo (2013) Becoming a Successful Illustrator. Fairchild Books. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Rees. Darrel (2014) How to be an Illustrator. Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

Portfolio

In selecting my art work for my portfolio it's important to choose work that I enjoyed creating and work that has a theme throughout. I collected all of my favourite pieces and analysed which pieces would work well together in a portfolio.
I decided to use double page spreads from one of my children's books and some more recent children's book characters. I am also including animal illustrations and a few more detailed pieces of work. All of these pieces I really enjoyed doing and I think show my style throughout. I have scanned the artwork into the computer, 300dpi. I have used Photoshop to neaten up and crop some of the images as there are a few smudge marks on the backgrounds of some of the originals. I will then position each image on its own blank page so that they have an equal border all the way around the image.
Below is the order in which I will present my work. In the physical portfolio, some images will be landscape and some portrait. I have ensured that in each section (children's, animals and miscellaneous) the landscape images are first and all face the same way and then the portrait images are after. This ensures as less hassle as possible with having to turn the portfolio to see the image. I am also using an A4 portfolio as this makes the portfolio easy to carry and handle and doesn't require much space. I don't have any large pieces of artwork so the images wont be compromised being printed A4 size.

 

I'm very pleased with my portfolio. I believe it shows my skills and preferred ways of working. I also think that the layout of my portfolio presents my artwork in the best way possible, starting with my children's illustration as this is where I want to focus my illustration career, then animal illustration and finishing with a few pieces that follow the same style but don't have a particular theme. Hopefully, once I have completed my Final Major Project; being a children's book, I will have some more pieces of artwork to add to my portfolio.

I will be attending The London Book Fair 2016 on 13th April. There will be an Illustration Symposium with Art Directors who will be available to look through my portfolio and give me some feedback on what they like or don't like about my work, and hopefully will give me some pointers on things to possibly improve on or keep the same because they really like it!
In the past some students have also managed to get some work from showing their portfolios at this event so hopefully I may also be successful like past students.
I will also be using my portfolio to show potential clients the sort of work I do and also illustration agencies to help me get my career started as an illustrator. 



Social Media and Portfolio Website

Another great way to promote myself and my work is through social media. Existing online means that hundreds of people can see my art work at any one time. Providing that I keep up to date with posting new artwork and making sure that all of my contact details are correct, I will be able to keep people interested and create a following and also a clientele.

So I have created my own Facebook page and also my own Instagram account.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizzymasonillustration/
Instagram: @lizzymasonillustration
These are both social medias that I am familiar with so I know how they work and hopefully over time I will be able to create a large following and have lots of people familiar with my work.
Since creating these web presence's, both my Instagram and Facebook followers have been increasing. The more pictures I post of work in progress and completed work, the more people see what I have done and therefore follow my progress. Not to mention, the positive feedback gives me a little confidence boost as well!


Creating My Portfolio Website:
Setting up my own website requires buying a domain name from websites such as www.iwantmyname.com or 123-reg.co.uk. Here I could type in what I want my domain name to be and it will gave me a long list of variations to choose from and each with a different price. From here I could then choose what one I would like and purchase it.
I then go to another website like tumblr.com or carbonmade.com or portfoliobox.com and from here I can set up my website and set my domain name I have just bought.

Setting up my website:
Firstly, I wanted to make sure that I have all of my artwork neatly displayed and portfolio ready. This involved scanning my chosen artwork on to the computer and on Photoshop doing any trimming and neatening up of the images and then placing them on a plain background with an equal margin around the outside of the image. This allows for the perfect portfolio layout as the artwork is framed and the presentation of the image is simple and neat. Once I had a good amount of images, I then chose my domain name.
I went onto iwantmyname.com to purchase my domain name. I bought lizzymasonillustration.co.uk.
I then went to a portfolio website where I can set up my own website and display all of my portfolio work.
I decided on carbonmade.com as the site to set my own portfolio website up on. The process appeared to be quick and easy, there was a choice of layouts that I could choose from and the example portfolio pages from other artists looked really effective on this website.
The theme I have chosen for my website is clear, clean and fresh. It's easy to navigate and there's no difficulty in finding each part of my portfolio, details about myself and how to contact me.
After loading on all of my details and my artwork, I decided to change the domain name.....however, to use my own domain name, 'carbonmade.com' charges extra which I was not aware of and it didn't seem attainable considering carbonmade.com had already given me a domain name that is useable.

You can view my portfolio website at https://lizzymasonillustration.carbonmade.com/

I am pleased with the set up and layout and how everything works on my portfolio website. The navigation is clear and all necessary information is available on the website.
However, I do feel like I'm missing out on something as I am not using my choice of domain name which I have bought. I think a little bit more research needs to go into this and I may end up changing the website that my portfolio is set up on.

My Promotional Items

We are required to make three promotional items. I've looked into a lot of different promotional ideas including:

Business cards
Posters
Badges
Magnets
Cards
Postcards
Wrapping Paper
Stickers
Calendars
T-shirts
Bags
Pencil Cases
Pencils/Pens

I decided that I'd like to keep a theme among my promotional items; things that have a use, that link together, and that will make people stop and look at them.

My first promotional items will be business cards, post cards and stickers. These are small and easy to handle. You can hand these out to anyone and they will have some of your art work on it and also all your information they may need to contact you or to see more of your work i.e. websites or social media.

My next promotional items will be the items that are linked together.
I will create gift wrap and gift tags.
They are linked because they can be used separately, but also because they will have the same design on them, so they go well together as a pack.

I think these are good promotional items because they are easy to hand out, not only together but also individually, and they have a use. They're not just like a poster that can be thrown away. There is always times when someone needs a gift wrap or gift tags, but can't run to the shop to get some or hasn't got any lying around. My promotional items will not only be seen by the person I give it to, but also who they then give it to with a present inside the gift wrap and a personal message on the gift tag. Hopefully, they will find my designs interesting and therefore spark conversation on who designed it and where did they get it from. They will know my name because on the packaging for the gift wrap and gift tags I will write 'Lizzy Mason Illustration' and this could also be written along with perhaps my website or email address so that I can then be contacted.

I have created this logo, to put on my promotional items, it will also be used on my website, Facebook page and Instagram account.

I will be screen printing my designs for my gift wrap and gift tags as this is more cost effective and is a more hands on approach to creating my items. Here are the designs I have come up with:

I have a few designs for the gift wrap:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The designs will all be screen printed in colours similar to those on my logo.


This is the second lot of designs:

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also did a design combining the two patterns together:









































Below are all of my finished promotional items:

First my business cards:


I'm really pleased with how these have turned out,  the images on the front are clear and show the detail within the images. The text on the back is clear and easy to read and has all the necessary information on them that's needed.

Next are my post cards:
 

 

These are slightly bigger which makes the images even clearer. The text yet again is easy to read and looks really good on the back.


My next promotional item is my stickers:

 

I made seven different sticker designs. I will cut these into individual squares so that they can be handed out separately, along with a business card, post card or gift wrap. I think they're bold and tasteful and people will be interested in looking at them.

 

I then have my hand made promotional items; my gift wrap and gift tags:

I screen printed two different designs on to news print paper for the gift wrap and then one of the designs on to a thick card for the gift tags. I then trimmed and folded the gift wrap and created a template for the gift tags, cut each one out and added a tasteful ribbon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this, I made toppers to go on the packaging, saying what's included in the package, my logo and handmade by my illustration name 'Lizzy Mason Illustration'.

 

 

I also bought plastic slips for it all to be packaged into:

I'm extremely pleased with how my package of gift wrap and gift tags have turned out. It's just how I envisaged the final pack looking and I believe it is finished to a high, professional standard.



Visting Illustrators and Professionals

One route I am thinking of possibly doing after I finish studying Illustration, is doing a course in Art Therapy. I am interested in this as it is a way of helping others through art and I think this is a great concept.

We had a guest Art Therapist, Sarah Shellard, come to the studio to talk to us about how she became an Art Therapist and what it all entails.
Sarah recommended to do a one day course of Art Therapy to get an understanding of how it all works and to make sure it's something that I would be interested in doing. She explained that the university course for Art Therapy is difficult to get on to, and therefore you are required to have lots of life experience and experience helping others of all ages and in different situations.
She also recommended reading up on Art Therapy and to gain a good knowledge before taking on the course.
Sarah explained a normal week of studying for an Art Therapy degree and it seems very intense. The course is five days a week -
Monday 9am-7pm at uni studying
Tuesday and Wednesday at a work placement (a school in Sarah's case)
Thursday and Friday at the studio working.
And this is a two year course. As well as this, as a student studying Art Therapy, you are required to attend your own personal therapy for one hour a week, however, this is not funded by the course and costs around £40p/w. So this is another financial commitment to think about, as well as the course.
Working as an Art Therapist and with clients, you gain a folder of artwork from your client and you look at each image and determine what it is the client is feeling. It is important that the therapist keeps all of the artwork, as if the client takes it home with them, then it could be hurtful to others or could be destroyed and the client would then blame you for this happening. As they can't find the words to describe what they are feeling, they instead draw what is in their head and as an Art Therapist you can translate what they are feeling. Sarah explained that it's important to word what you're saying carefully so that you don't put your thoughts in the clients head. Also, some of the things you will find out, won't always be pleasant and therefore you are required to always have your own therapist so that your own feelings don't then impact your clients.
At any one time an Art Therapist will have up to four clients, and you will write up about each client and also create your own artwork as a reflection on what you've found out from the client. This is quite time consuming so therefore four clients is enough.
Working as an art therapist, you wouldn't be paid less than £25,000 a year, however, this could go up to £30-35,000.
Good books that Sarah recommends are:
Case. Catherine (1992) The Handbook of Art Therapy Routledge
Case. Catherine (2007) Art Therapy with Children: from Infancy to Adolesense Routledge
Hyland Moon. Catherine (2008) Studio Art Therapy Jessica Kinglsey
Malchiodi. Cathy A (1998) The Art Therapy (Source Book) Contemporary Books
Malchiodi. Cathy A (2003) Handbook of Art Therapy Guildford Press



We also had a couple of established illustrators come in to talk to us about their careers.

The first of which was Natalie Hughes. Natalie was an ex-student of Illustration at the University of Gloucestershire, so it was good to see someone who has been in my position now, and to see her as a successful illustrator in the industry.
Natalie explained that as soon as she finished university she went to Book Fairs like London and Bologna in Italy and she took her Final Major Project with her to show to professionals. She got her work out in the illustration world straight away, she handed out promotional items and she spoke to other illustrators and agencies.
She encouraged us to put work on social media as this encourages yourself to do more work and to create contacts.
Her most successful work that she's done is a map colouring book which was listed in the Guardian Gift guide in 2015.

The second illustrator we had in was Bjorn R Lie. Bjorn has been an illustrator for 14 years and has gained a lot of experience!
He has done editorial work, book illustrations for Penguin Classics, design work for notebooks for NoBrow, t-shirt designs, packaging designs, textiles and commercial.
He works with lots of different people and for lots of different target audiences and therefore calls himself "too much of a chameleon". However, he also does personal art work at the same time, as this keeps him grounded and reminds him of what he's comfortable doing.
He found that creating picture books is the most challenging thing he does, however he completed a book in 2008 and since then it had been translated in to lots of different languages so every time it's released it has a new lease of life.
His visual language stems from a few different areas, including: characters, humour, nostalgia, nature and retro colours.
When Bjorn first started as an illustrator he did have an agent and recommends it for when you're trying to get your name known. He told us it's important to have a good relationship with your agent and to communicate well. He also recommends to have a part time job when you first start as well, as the agent will take a cut from your commissions. However, Bjorn managed to build up his own clientele and therefore didn't need an agent anymore and he doesn't have one now.

It's really useful having established illustrators come in to the studio to talk to us about their career and their successes. It's important to see that there's a lot of hard work that goes into working as an illustrator but it's worth it when you get to see your own work printed or on display somewhere, and that it is possible to be successful with enough determination and belief!


WEBSITE REVIEWS
Today I looked at two artists websites and reviewed what I found when having a look around. This will give me some ideas as to what I could and should put on my website when I come to creating it.

The first website I visited was gemmacorrell.com and here is what I found:
- The welcome page is simple yet interesting. The layout takes the eye around the page appropriately. The type is friendly and looks like hand writing which makes it more personal and welcoming.
- The welcome page is black and white which makes it not too over crowded with colour.
- She uses simple line drawings to accompany the writing. This keeps it visual.
- I was attracted to this website as her web address is simple…just her name makes it straight forward and easy to remember.
- The first things that engaged me in the page was the block capital bubble writing and the drawings.
- The pages are categorised, this makes it easy to navigate and each page has links to the next page or more pages.
- The images are clear and everything is organised.
- There’s not too much writing – the images speak for themselves. There’s only a little bit of writing to guide you to each part of the website.
- The website has links to social media and contact details.
- It provides previous, current and future exhibitions along with previous clientele.
- The site appears professional and that it belongs to a confident illustrator who is happy wth her work.
- The website shows that she can work with illustrations, cartoons, comics, typography and patterns and that she has products.  This shows she can work in a range of ways and that she is versatile.

Things that I have taken from looking at this website to help me with my own are:
- keep it simple and organised
- it’s about my work – show images effectively
- Make sure I copyright it


The second website I looked at was amandahall-illustration.com and this is what I found from reviewing her website:
- Her images are large as soon as the website loads.
- She has details of her books along with her images and also reviews by professionals.
- Her images are colourful and detailed which makes them appealing.
- There are links at the top of the page to different areas of the website and links to her social media.
- Each of her books has a separate section with its details such as ISBN number. As you scroll down you find another book and this makes them easily assessable.
- The images immediately engage me in her website and there is a good amount of images which demonstrates what she can do very well.
- The links to seeing the next page is quite small so easily missed, so some people may not realise that there is more of her work to see. The writing is also quite small which made it difficult to read.
- Her website comes across as professional, she’s confident and happy with her work and her style which is consistent.

Things that I have taken from looking at this website to help me with my own are:
- Have images large and easy to see and my favourite / most effective work first to be seen.
- If I have a book on my website, give the ISBN number so it’s easy to find and buy. Also have positive reviews with it as a second influence on what the client will think.
- arrange and organise my website effectively.