Gig Poster

I was asked to design a quick poster for a gig in a local pub back at home. I did cheat a little bit by using the design I made for a recent screen print practice workshop (!) but as it is not going to get used for a university final piece and it's still pretty ok, why not in a tight time limit? I am really happy with the colours and feel like I am getting better at using type within my work where appropriate. I also used the Cintiq for the first time and experimented with some digital brushes, which is so much fun and I don't know why I have never done it before!!!

Study Task 3

Tertiary Sector

Private Sector

Communication Design/Digital and Multimedia Design

Animation/Illustration and Graphic Design/Branding and Identity

Tertiary Sector

Private Sector

Communication Design

Publishing and Editorial/Illustration

Tertiary Sector

Private Sector

Communication Design/Digital and Multimedia Design

Publishing and Editorial/Illustration

Tertiary Sector

Private Sector

Communication Design/Digital and Multimedia Design 

Branding and Identity/Music Industry/Graphics and Illustration

Tertiary Sector

Private Sector

Communication Design

Product and Packaging/Branding and Identity/Graphics and Illustration

My first real illustration job!!!!

Recently I was given an opportunity by the company I work for back home in the holidays to create a poster. They are a chain of upmarket care homes, mostly for the elderly with specialist dementia units and care staff. Their ethos is to treat every resident with dignity and respect, not just shove them in the corner because they are 'on their way out' or 'won't remember anyway'. Since working there and interacting a lot with the residents, this is something I feel very strongly about; I have met some of the most fascinating and brilliant people, who completely deserve to be treated with full respect.

The poster had to include a poem written by one of the head dementia nurses, a couple of my own illustrations and be organised clearly so it is easily readable. They also asked for it to be positive, almost a bit twee, "maybe watercolours or something" so it doesn't look negative and care staff would want to read it. I found it SO hard to work with the type; looking back I probably should have collaborated with a graphic designer.It's not the sort of thing I would usually want to make, but I do feel like I have done a fairly ok job and the company said they were super happy with it, so I suppose that's all that matters! It is to be distributed across all their care homes in the UK and used in specialist dementia conferences and meetings, so I am pretty proud! 

Study Task 2

Character and Narrative 

Matt Forsyth - Adventure Time

Quentin Blake - just everything

Jamie Hewlett - Gorillaz

Bill Watterson - Calvin and Hobbes

Aardman Studios - Wallace and Gromit

Editorial and Reportage

Olivier Kugler

Laura Carlin

Adrian Tomine - New Yorker

Lucinda Rogers - The Guardian

Lotta Nieminen

Product and Packaging

Kate Gibb - Chemical Brothers 

Marc Jacobs - Coca Cola

Maurice Sendak - Where the Wild Things Are

Mark Gonzalez - Supreme 

Unknown designer, but very effective message and design!

Big Heads - Kate Gibb

I really enjoyed Kate Gibb's skype; her work is amazing! I've seen it everywhere before and never knew who the artist/illustrator was. I wish I could work with texture and shape like she does, and screenprint so well. She was very different to Kyle Webster in how she works and why she creates her work. It has inspired me to try and get better! Maybe stencil monoprint again?

Points to take away:

• Do as much work at university as possible as use all of the resources!
• Find ways to create work you want and push it on other people if possible; don't just do what they want all the time.
• Be really experimental and play!
• Don't faff too much with roughs (great as I don't like doing roughs!) and just dive into experimentation.

Session 3 - Life's a Pitch

I really enjoyed this session; it was interesting to expand ideas of what we could actually end up doing and not necessarily be 'illustrators' (although it would be an amazing job). I sort of feel that if my self-confidence within my work doesn't pick up I won't be successful making a living drawing pictures; I can solve a brief, but I'm never completely happy with my work. It is great to realise the skills we learn on this degree can take us to so many places within the creative industry! It was also very uplifting to hear that we probably can get a job, after so many people tell you it's competitive and you will be poor for a very long time. 

It's also really valuable to be able to understand the economy and market of what we are trying to venture into. I feel like this knowledge can give us skills that are as relevant and important as being able to draw if we want a creative career. 

Notes:

• Primary Sector: extracts/harvests products from the earth.
• Secondary Sector: manufacturing goods.
• Tertiary Sector: the service industry.
• Quaternary Sector: consists of intellectual activities.

These four sectors all work hand in hand; without one, there wouldn't be the other. Understanding them gives us deeper insight of the economy and how we can improve it.

Illustrators fit into the service industry. By understanding this, we can see how we fit into the economy, how we can contribute to it and how we can harness opportunity and actually make a living. The service industry breaks down into the...

• Public Sector
• Private Sector
• Third Sector

The creative industries - people actively choosing to use their creative talent as a means to generate wealth. More than a hobby, it is a profession. You create opportunities for others as well as yourself. Generates roughly £13.8 billion in annual turnover and is ever-growing.

Illustrators service most of the sub-domains in the creative industries (hooray!) We can work for design studios/agencies, in-house creative teams or freelance.

67% of designers in the UK are under 40.

Life's a Pitch:

We came up with the very quick idea of creating a colouring book that you can personalise via a website. We would curate submissions from budding illustrators and then customers select from types of book; stress busting, relaxation, colouring for children, colouring for learning difficulties etc. You choose what pieces you want in it and can personalise messages if it's a gift. 

It gives young and undiscovered illustrators a platform and customers something current and fun! 

Our quick name: 'Colour Me In' (we will probably change this).