Summative Position Statement

This year has taught me a lot about my own practice and how I'm able to work as a professional illustrator. Completing over 12 live briefs since October, and with 6 events/briefs already lined up between now and the start of August, I feel fairly confident that my self-promotion ability is one I've really honed in on this year. This has come through a mixture of face-to-face networking, and full utalisation of my social media and website as a professional.

While the live briefs have taught me so much in regards to dealing with clients, communication, business conduct, finance etc, what they have given me most is a grounding in where my work can sit outside of the education system. I still have an avid interest in music illustration, however live briefs have shown that my reportage work can also be used in a commercial setting.

Leaving this course I'd love to really take the time to get back to making some work for myself. I'd also like to write some of my own briefs so my work can be shown in contexts other than those I've already ventured into (e.g. some packaging work for food is something I've never done). This could aid in showing my work in a way that looks immediately commercial, in turn attracting more clients, so I am able to continue to do the work that really drives my practice.

Overall this year has been primarily about growth and maturing as a professional through simply cracking on and doing the job. I'm eternally grateful for all the live work I've undertaken this year, and for the clients belief in my ability. Moving forward though, I'm excited to carry on this profession as an individual free of academia, and allow myself the time to enjoy drawing for myself again.

Module Evaluation

Final Presentation

Creative Presence

Portfolio

Sending Emails and Contacting People

List of sent emails

Today I sent off some emails to inquire about work, advice and general feedback. I was really nervous about doing this for a long time, and in a way I felt a little worried that it may be a little late in my PPP module to complete this task. However after taking a step back last night I knew this was something more important than my PPP grade. This was something I should be doing for the progression of my career, and with that in mind I plucked up the courage to send out some emails.

As I said previously, I felt a lot more confident sending out these emails now that I've collated a PDF portfolio. I felt I had something I could attach other than my website that laid out effectively who I am as an illustrator. 

I contacted the following people via email

-SoYoung Magazine

- DIY mag 

- The Skinny

- Under the Radar

- Big Active

- Vice

- i-D

And the following people via their 'contact me' section on their website (didn't provide email contacts);

- The Wire

I got an automated response from The Skinny about how they were unable to give back individual feedback during this time, but if you had a direct interest to contact the emails on their site. I found two relevant email addresses and sent them both the email I had originally addressed to their job email; I am determined to get through to them!!

When composing each email I tried to give an interesting subject title if I was addressing a person and not a job@whatever email. I wanted to give them a sense of personality so it didn't just read as another illustration student taking up their time. I also edited the text of each email to specifically address whoever I was emailing; to again give it more of a personal touch.

I'm unsure who I'll hear back from, but just sending out this first batch of emails has given me a huge boost in confidence to send out some more. I'm also thinking of organising some physical mailers to send out to places like Rough Trade (hard to reach via email) and SoYoung, to grab their attention a little more than just a plain old email.

Who to Contact

I've decided to spend this morning sending out emails to contact people. I understand it feels a little late within the module to do this (which is probbaly why I've felt so bad about sending them off) but after taking a step back I realise that I'm not really doing this for PPP. This is something that is going to benefit me, and something I'll kind of be doing my whole life. I also feel a lot more confident emailing now I have my portfolio sorted out. It makes me feel like my work does actually have a kinda strong tone of voice, and it's heading in the direction that I want it to. So today I'm taking the big ol' leap into the real world!!!

What work am I interested in?

Passion
- Music Illustration
- Editorial
- Reportage
- Independent Publishing

Make me some Moolah
- Packaging
- Advertising

Why do these areas suit my practice?

- Have an active interest in music, DIY and subcultures
- Interest in telling stories, human element of things, reportage
- Tone of voice conveys a lot of attitude (helps when relating to human emotion)
- Have made publications and zines in the past, enjoy it as a medium for communication; would love to do more self-researched publications such as Fem.
- Enjoy seeing my work applied to things. Tangible things especially excite me and allow me to see my work in different ways (packaging). Nice to be able to hold something that you've made rather than just look at it on screen
- Also advertising isn't something I think of as particularly exciting, my 'style' is transferable to a lot of commercial jobs ("You could make pasta look great" - Ben Cox) Don't feel I have very many examples of commercial advertising or packaging products on my website. This is something I'd like to expand over Summer so I could attract more 'commercial' jobs (hello bigger bucks) that would allow me to carry on with my passion projects

My existing contacts

- Alan Clough; Illustrator for Welly Club, Fruit, Polar Bear and Hull Box Office. Founder of Something Entirely Different and Hub-A
- Stewart Baxter; Manager of Warren Records
- Lewis Young; Founder of Adult Teeth Recording Company
- Mark Page; Founder of The Sesh and Humber Street Sesh
- David Laycock; Co-Founder at Independent Leeds
- Joe Cox; Co-Founder of Form print shop
- Kate West; Gallery Manager at Artlink Gallery
- Andy and Becky; Owners of CMV

Who to contact?

- So Young
- DIY mag
- Rough Trade
- The Wire
- The Skinny
- Under the Radar
- Big Active
- Vice
- i-D
- The Guardian (?) Maybe when I have more examples of editorial work on my website and in my portfolio