Ideas for projects to be undertaken:
- colouring book! keep working on this, maybe consider blurb or awsome merch for printing- using awsome merch you'd have the option to make the book sustainable and made of recycled papers
- this also gives the pages a nice glossy feel and they're slightly off white
- lots of smaller briefs alongside the colouring book brief thats been running for quite a while
- good! keep working on fresh things- not only does this give you fresh things to put in your portfolio but it builds the volume of your work and gives you things to list on Etsy and post to Instagram
- maybe work more with beer packaging as clearly thats something you enjoyed during your Girl Gang brief- maybe set yourself two or three day challenges to make a series of beer labels
- also look at doing some editorials- these would work perfectly with your current method of undertaking shorter briefs alongside your big one as these can just be completed in a matter of days and really help to build material for portfolio's
Current tone of voice:
- sensitive
- funny
- relatable
- personal
- very adaptable
- your tone of voice is clear whether you're working on commissions for other people or in your personal work which is good!
- you seem to be getting commissions that work with the tone of voice thats being developed in your personal work which is good as clearly you're showing perspective clients the kind of work that they can expect when they employ you
- a lot of your personality comes through in your work- personal and approachable
Actions to take to realise ambitions for portfolio:
- work on your characters- maybe create a sketchbook only to be filled with a range of characters?
- then you can refer back to these when you're running low on inspiration
- also maybe do the same thing for your type work? practise this in a separate book and work up a portfolio of type techniques that you can then use in commissions such as your beer commission
- keep both of these practices going and you can work on learning to mix the two
- also keep up your personal and passion projects as these will really help fill your portfolio and will be easier to talk about passionately in interviews or meetings with other professionals
- don't get too bogged down in making things for other people in commissions- if you're going to aim to be self employed you need to remember your own practice
Other comments:
- considerations for zine printing and for your colouring book- need to find somewhere cheap and efficient to print the first run of both
- maybe look at Footprint in Leeds
- start working on your zine hotdog book for Hanbury in March- make it personal as this reflects your current practice and will help to distinguish you from other people
- also maybe think about changing your current business card- needs to have more practical information on it specifically for employers or people in the creative industry
- maybe put one of your recent portraits on it?
- include your business email and website address
- maybe have one card for customers (to take to markets etc with your Etsy and instagram links) and one for professional occasions with direct contact details on it
My comments:
I'm excited at this point during this term as I'm definitely beginning to feel like I have more control over my practice. I now have a method of working which makes my creative process a lot more quick and efficient, in turn meaning I can complete client briefs in less time and still have a good outcome. Although its been challenging to work to my own briefs rather than last year when we were set briefs to respond to, it has made me think about the kind of work I actually want to be doing. I'm putting up more of my personal and passion project work on my social media channels, and through this I'm beginning to see an influx of clients asking me do take part in briefs that reflect what I enjoy doing in my personal work.
Now I know what I want to be doing in my personal work its meant that I was able to draft up a list of creative goals and be more precise about where I'd like to take my practice. Hopefully this will help me in the future when trying to link up with other practitioners and creatives as I'll know where to be looking. Challenges I've faced are juggling my own practice with client work. Although they are similar and I enjoy both, I sometimes become obsessed with making something perfect for a client and subsequently forget to work on my own things. This also means that I often spend more time than I should on client briefs and work more than I'm being payed to.
Overall I'm going into February feeling positive and satisfied with what I'm making, and excited to work more on some larger scale passion projects which hopefully will challenge my practice in areas I've not explored before. These projects will include zines, the colouring book and some new merch for my Etsy store. I've also started offering custom portrait commissions through my Etsy and am enjoying the challenges its given me so far such as drawing people I've never met only using photos, and working on a personal image together with clients to reach a product they're happy with. I also am challenging myself to keep my work more organised as suggested through feedback, by getting myself specific sketchbooks for different projects and areas of my practice.
