Wellington Place - Presentation Feedback

This morning I attended the presentation/pitch for my screenprint proposal for the reception area of 5 Wellington Place. 

It was a very quick and fairly informal interview - more of a discussion of my ideas rather than me stood up the front talking to a panel of people. It was however still nerve-wracking. There were five people including the Managing Director of the whole business complex, all in suits, in a big white minimal boardroom all waiting to hear how my work is going to make their business better. This is not something I've ever really done before - it's my first real serious professional presentation!

FEEDBACK:
The feedback was overall very positive. It was such a short space of time to try and pitch my concept and visuals, but they said my presentation boards were very professional and clear. They also said my verbal pitch was very good, but I feel this was made easier by the conversational feel of the whole thing. 

Direct quote from the MD: "whatever happens with the artwork, you have a great career ahead of you, your presentation abd boards were great."

This is probably one of the best things I could have heard, as presentations have never been my favourite thing and I do get nervous talking in front of a lot of people, especially when it's about my work. I usually ramble and get a bit red and shakey, but I feel I am overcoming this. I also hate talking about why my work is good, but the situation forced me to do this (why would they comission me if I didn't even think my work was good enough?!). I feel I'm finally learning how to sell my work.

This has been good practice for when I graduate even if I don't get the job. 

Wellington Place - Presentation Boards/Prep

As it is only a five minute informal presentation, I have only produced three boards to explain my alternative proposed outcomes as it will have to be explain as quickly and to the point is possible.

Here the clients can clearly see the roughs/composition of my new ideas, how they will look when they are coloured and texture/shape is added and the location/inspiration for each piece.

There is not much writing as to not distract from me talking. I will leave hard copies of the boards with them so they can look more if they wish; the writing is more for when I am not there to explain the most basic bits.

NOTES TO BRING UP:

CONCEPT - focusing on the modern and historical business centres of Leeds, and how they still exist together to create a unique city of business and industry still.

The Corn Exchange was where in the mid-1800's corn was brought by farmers and valued and purchased by rich men. It was a central hub where people came from miles around to do business and get the best deals they could.

The Calls are situated on the Leeds/Liverpool canal, which would transport all sorts of goods from the Liverpool docks to Leeds. Alongside the canal is the amazing industrial warehouse buildings which have been renovated and turned into modern centres for business - bars, galleries, event spaces and more. 

The Lifting Tower would lift goods from trains into other carriages to take the goods further elsewhere or into the city/surrounding area. The tower has been long forgotten but Wellington Place, a modern centre of business, has allowed it to be rediscovered and protected. 

All three areas/buildings are beautiful and I love the architecture - this is where I took inspiration for the geometric shapes and lines. 

Screenprint - analogue textures and bright colours will contrast nicely with the surrounding reception area, yet the contemporary illustrative style will work well with the modern and minimal interior. I've never met anyone who doesn't like a good screenprint!

Wellington Place - Good results!

I have been shortlisted to present my ideas for artwork for the reception of the newly built Wellington Place! This is great news - it's good to receive such positive feedback as well (see email screenshot below). 

I now need to prepare an informal presentation lasting roughly five minutes two show my concept and two more rough visual ideas, based on other areas around Leeds. It was suggested one area should be Wellington Place, which does make sense for where it is being commissioned from, so I probably will focus on this for one of them. 

I think I am going to present four design boards, either as hard copies so I can spread them out on a table, or as four digital slides. One board will be the inspiration/location of each design, one of the final digital design I've already submitted, one of the two other rough designs I've come up with and one of my recent work (focusing on screen prints especially).

Ben Cox - Central Illustration Agency

It was good to meet Ben Cox of the central illustration agency today and have him review my work, as well as listen to his advice on illustration agencies and portfolios.

I never really considered how helpful an agency might be until this talk. I sort of thought they just took a chunk of my earnings and that was pretty much it. However, I now realise having an agent could really help with booking jobs and meeting new clients. Clients may come to an agency before going directly to an illustrator, as they may not have a particular person in mind so want to shop around a bit. A respected agency would only have good illustrators on the books, so getting in with an agency would be an immediate boost. They also help protect you legally and sort of the finance side of things - something I've found I'm not scared to stick my teeth into, but I don't know enough yet and an agent would help make sure I was doing it correctly. 

TO DO - Find out about some good, well respected agencies.

Ben also talked through what makes a good portfolio. His advice was..

• Around 30 pages is an ideal size, although he respects that we might not have portfolios this big as recent graduates
• Digital portfolios are much more common, although some clients still like to see a physical one. This could be better anyway for things such a screenprints. 
• The portfolio needs to show a variety of briefs and projects, e.g. a bit of advertising, a bit of editorial, a bit of children's illustration, packaging design etc.
• However, the portfolio should have a strong and consistent tone of voice. It needs to be able to speak for itself and show the client almost a sense of personality.
• Projects with quite a different tone of voice should be put into a separate portfolio, ready for when they are needed for a different kind of client.
• It should be clean, clear and well designed. 

His direct advice to me after looking at my work was that it was bright, bold and eye-catching - he said it would grab his attention from across a room, which was really good to hear! He did however say I need to work on the communication side of some of my images, which I sort of knew he'd say. It's not like they fit into any particular sector of the industry and they need to be given some sort of context (mockups, photos of prints in exhibitions etc.)

Colours May Vary

Today Colours May Vary made an Instagram post promoting the Out of Order exhibition, using my print as the topic of the post and crediting me in the caption. An established and well-respected place such as Colours May Vary posting my work could result in a lot of people seeing it who wouldn't have before - most importantly, industry professionals who follow Colours May vary, who may want to work with me in the future. Instagram is weirdly powerful for exposure of work, so this is amazing. I've had a good few followers since so who knows what else could come through?!

The Opportunity failing (but it's ok!)

Today I finally managed to get in contact with the owners of Pump'N'Grind, and directly spoke to them about the mural and prints/leaflets.

The whole thing was a classic example of a load of miscommunication. They appointed Georgie 'head of art and decorating' without specifying how mad she could go, so she came up with the whole brief pretty much herself with minimal communication to her bosses. They had no idea how excited she had got and how much she had tasked me with. Georgie also apparently has no idea how much an illustrator should be paid to do all the things she asked and I think assumed a happy student would do it all for free (she is also a happy student with no knowledge of this kind of stuff.) I do however think the boss's would have let me do it for free if I hadn't had said anything.

I don't think they ever really expected a student to turn around with a knowledge of how much they should be getting paid either, even if it's a slightly hazarded guess going off one lecture from the AOI (not that they knew this).

They apologised for being so rubbish at talking to me and then politely declined me painting their shop for them. I did try to keep it going a bit, but they kept repeating they didn't have any money spare whatsoever to pay me anything, so I just left it in the end. If they really don't have the money then it's a job for another time. 

They did say they will keep me in mind for when they do have they money, which is one positive. I have also learnt a lot about trying not to get ripped off through this; standing my ground basically lost me the job, but definitely saved me a lot of wasted time and a bit of dignity. 

Independant Leeds Opportunity!

Today Independent Leeds contacted me asking if I would like to make some illustrations for their April/May issue. They have been following my Instagram account since I helped George Addy paint his mural and have been commenting on a lot of my recent work that I have uploaded. They messaged me through Instagram and said they will give me the full brief later on if I am interested (which I am). 

However, the message states they work on a 'contra basis' - pretty much unpaid. After the whole situation with Pump'N'Grind this isn't really what I want to hear; why does everyone think it's ok to just ask for free work?! I am going to reply and see if I can come to some sort of agreement when they give me the full brief and see how much work they want from me. It will probably be better to do this over the phone rather than message as well.

I will definitely do the illustrations - it's a fantastic opportunity for my work to be published in a highly regarded magazine and for people to see it. I just want to get paid!

Out of Order - Exhibition at Colours May Vary

Yesterday I received a call from Becky of Colours May Vary to tell me I had sold all my screenprints, asking if it was alright to sell the display one and replace it with a digital version. Of course, I said yes! I also was told I needed to top up my business cards as they were all taken. 

This is really uplifting and has given me a real boost of confidence. Each screenprint was priced at £30 each, so the fact that people want to spend that much money on my work is really great and means I'm doing something right. As for the business cards, whether people liked them just for the jelly design or because they actually liked my work and wanted to find out more about me (and maybe contact me with a nice commission) is also great either way. 

I've never really thought I've been good enough to ever make any money from my work and it be a viable career option, but now this is all starting to change. People wouldn't take an interest out of politeness, especially strangers, so this means something right is happening with my current work and I need to keep channeling this!

Happy Charlotte.

Out of Order - Exhibition at Colours May Vary

Here is one of my final screenprints mounted and ready alongside my business cards at the exhibition opening night. It does fit quite nicely with my business cards due to the colours! I am so happy with how it looks - the frame adds a huge amount of professionalism to the presentation. It really stands out amongst the other prints because of the yellow. 

I have had good feedback on this brief and it is very uplifting to hear some positive comments. It makes me want to continue working and making some great stuff!

The Opportunity - Fighting my corner to get paid

I finally got a response off of one of the owners of Pump'N'Grind. Unfortunately, this isn't really what I wanted it to be. 

In a nutshell, he said they can't afford to pay me for the work, and I tried to politely advise them on how we could come to a mutually beneficial agreement. I tried to stay positive, saying how I love the independent business side of Leeds and 100% support their start-up, but also how I am a start-up business myself.

Even if they just offered me free cake and tea for the rest of the time I am here, that would be great. Currently, I have got not one single offer from them and this debate is still going on unresolved. I'm a bit annoyed to be honest! 

If their business is going to benefit from me painting a mural and designing leaflets to advertise for artwork, then I should benefit from some of that profit. They wouldn't make coffee for free, would they?!

An inspirational visit to Kew Gardens

I have been really enjoying working on briefs where I have been able to draw plants recently, and I think the briefs have also been quite successful. I usually go on Google for image references when drawing a plant that is more specific to a brief (e.g. a national flower).

However, today I visited Kew Gardens while home for the weekend and got a load of photos of all sorts of plants for future reference and inspiration. I haven't been in years and forgot how amazing some of the plants and greenhouses they have there are. Some of the plants, especially the cacti, are alien-like and freaky and I want to get drawing them and using them for briefs as soon as I can! It's also perfect for colour palette inspiration.

I also found plants I didn't even know existed - it's better in a way than going on Google, as when searching online you can only search what you already know to a certain point. It's also always better to use own photos as well in case of copyright infringement. 

The opportunity getting a bit slow

I have been waiting for a while for the owners of Pump'N'Grind to get back to me. Georgie (the girl who works there part time and in charge of art) is fantastic in terms of communication, enthusiasm and ideas, but unfortunately she is not the one who decides how much I get paid, the budget for materials or final time scales. I have emailed and messaged them a few times and heard nothing back.

This makes me a bit worried as to how serious they are about this project, or if they even know the extent of what Georgie has asked me to do. It is a big project and although I don't expect to get paid as much as a professional illustrator would working for somewhere more established, I would like to be paid at least something. I'm not ready to enter into the arguments of "well it's good for your portfolio" for something this big. Also, the words "small budget" were used, definitely NOT "no budget"!

MY NEW AND UPDATED PLAN OF ACTION!

Graduate with a great portfolio and a solid bunch of professional contacts.

Work Wimbledon (the tennis) to earn a nice quick chunk of money to set me up to move. Also save money from ambassador shifts.

Move to Manchester.

Find a basic bar/retail/reception job to pay the rent and keep me afloat. THIS IS NOT PERMANENT JUST A NECESSITY.

Continue to spam advertising agencies, design agencies, illustration agencies, studios, even just big businesses with my work (digitally and physically, mainly digitally as it will cost less).

Find good places to work in Manchester - a studio, a coffee shop, a print workshop, a room?!

Take whatever jobs I can get - unless it is really soul destroying, like advertising sausages to pigs or something.

HOPEFULLY I SHOULD BE GETTING A FEW JOBS BY NOW...

So continue to take the jobs and expand my professional contacts.

DO NOT GIVE UP OR FALL OUT OF DRAWING. THIS WILL BE THE END.

I am actually really excited now for this. I used to think graduation would be the end of everything good in my life, but now I see a completely free open space where anything at all could happen. I have nothing to loose upon graduating so I may as well just jump into it head first! This is my plan of action, but it probably won't happen this way, and that's completely fine! As long as I don't just give up I don't care what I end up doing. I'm bored of being scared of what job I'm going to get. I just want it to be creative and interesting and full of new people and ideas all the time! Even if it's stressful and full of all-nighters finishing work and rubbish damp flats for a bit. *

*I highlighted that because it's the most important realisation of my entire degree. 

A sobering chat with Patrick

Today I asked for a tutorial with Patrick to pick his brains for agencies etc in and around Manchester. I also wanted to ask him for advice on what I think it is I even want to do and if it is achievable. I don't even really know what sector of illustration I want to go into really, so I wanted to ask if there was a nice broad job with a decent starting salary so I don't starve or freeze shortly after graduating. 

It turns out illustrators pretty much never get hired on a salary. It is almost always freelance work with clients. This did freak me out for a few hours, I have to admit, as up until now I've thought freelance isn't a) achievable with no reputation fresh out of uni and b) a solid way to earn a living unless you are a very well respected illustrator. 

I'm ashamed I've managed to get through almost three years of studying illustration to only realise this now. I need to not be ignorant.

Now I have thought about it some more, I've decided this is a good thing. It means I can live in Manchester without worrying if the work is all in London and I've made a mistake (which I was trying not to believe until I was searching jobs! They pretty much are all in London.) Freelancing allows me to work wherever I want, as long as I can communicate fine with the client and have access to whatever I need. In a way, freelancing leaves me with absolutely no ties and complete freedom. 

It also means I don't have to know what area I want to go into yet, as I can just take work as it comes and get a feel for all sorts of jobs. I doubt I am going to be turning down any jobs for a few years anyway so will get a lot of experience in different fields. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE!

I will have to get a rubbish job to support myself until things really kick off, but freelancing really isn't as daunting as I originally thought. 

MOST IMPORTANTLY...
I have realised I need to sort myself out sharpish and start sending my work out to potential clients and agencies. If I don't tell anyone about who I am, then no one will ever know, and all my illustration nightmares will come true. 

TO DO:
Make digital portfolio
Identify loads of potential clients
Send them my work (digital and physical?)
Start talking to people and charming them into giving me work

Some really nice tiles I found!

I came across this person (again) browsing Instagram. The studio creates handmade/painted tiles in bold and whacky designs. Some include type, some include shape and I LOVE the shade of blue they use for all of them!

It's another good example of how type can be used illustratively and experimentally. Am I getting a bit obsessed with type?! Maybe.

Poster Designs - Student President

I've been asked to assist Joe Cox (of Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern) with his campaign to become next years student president. He saw and liked my previous work, so asked me to design his manifesto and posters that will go up around the college. 

It's not personally my favourite work, but he likes it and is happy with it, so that's what matters! It's was good to practice a quick turnaround live brief (two days) and it will be good to see it up around college. We will see if it's successful!

Where could my work exist? (2)

I've given it some thought and realised a few places my work could definitely exist. Just because I'm not 'strictly editorial' or whatever doesn't mean there are places that my tone of voice and successful briefs lean more towards.

1. Print fairs (physical prints)
2. Gallery/exhibition spaces (physical prints)
3. Product and Packaging
4. Advertising campaigns
5. Walls/murals
6. Publications (children's books, magazines, zines, artsy/indie books)

I'd really like to work on briefs that were geared towards advertising, publishing or product/packaging. These are definitely the three areas I would push more to get involved with (and that my work does reflect more when I think about it properly!)

Where could my work exist?

I'm finding it hard (and have done in the previous two years) to pinpoint exact and obvious disciplines within illustration that my work sits. I feel it doesn't have one that it all leans towards as a whole, for example having a strong link with editorial or product and packaging. It's so broad at the moment as the whole way through this degree I've done a different brief pretty much every time, and only in recent months has my work started to develop a stronger, more recognisable tone of voice.

I'm going to try and break it down (really obviously) to find common themes that I can link together and begin to see where my work could sit in reality. 

-Bright colour and good colour palettes
-Bold shapes
-Strengths working with analogue print methods
-Strengths (developing!) in working with type alongside illustration 
-Characters
-Decorative 
-Poster design

This is annoying as it doesn't give any direction towards any disciplines!! My practice is too broad/not refined enough.

THIS IS WHAT I SHOULD NOW AIM TO CHANGE - start aiming briefs towards specific disciplines so it's less of a 'nice picture' and more something for a specific use. I feel like I should have realised this two years ago, but it's all part of the learning curve (my curve has just been a bit wider?). I've now achieved a strong tone of voice and improved my drawing by a million miles, but now I need to start seeing where this new fab work can actually exist. I've been aware of it but not applied it until now!

Business Cards and Stickers

Here are my final physical business cards ready for the exhibition at Colours May Vary. I went with the jelly design to start with as it received overall better feedback from peers when I asked.

I wanted to print them on a nice thick stock in the digital print resource double sided - one side with the jelly logo and the other with my contact details. However, I was told it would be too difficult to line up the front and back precisely enough, even though I had set it all up fine on Illustrator. This happens just because when the paper flips over to print the other side the calibration slips more often than not. The jellies are too weird of a shape to allow much room for error, even when I made them bigger.

To make up for this, I printed them on the printer in the studio on thicker off-white stock from the library, and made vinyl stickers for the back of them for my contact details. I actually really like the effect the studio printer had; it had a weird, rustic and slightly vintage look to it, like old supermarket packaging!

I've also made vinyl stickers of my hotdog and jelly logo's to stick about places. People are saying they want one already!

Business cards

Stickers to go on the back of business cards

Stickers!

Potential business card ideas

These are some rough designs I've made on Illustrator for business cards. 

I've struggled for a while to come up with a professional name for myself but I've come to the conclusion I should just use my real actual name. I've never met another Curnick and lots of people have told me they haven't either, so I should utilise it as it stands out itself. The 'Charlotte' can come along on the back of the cards and my email etc. 

As for the jelly and hotdogs, I just think they look funny and eyecatching. They sit alongside my most recent and successful work nicely and can easily be reworked if necessary. I've also been really enjoying tacky old fashioned food packaging and adverts recently so it's been semi-inspired by that. And who doesn't like jelly and hotdogs?

Just realised they can also work as a logo!

Online Presence - Refining my Instagram

Despite Fred's feedback last year saying my Instagram was unprofessional as it was not a new one set up solely for my work, I have stuck by my guns and with my original account and instead tried to refine it to become more professional. 

I don't want to set up a new account. There are quite a few industry professionals following me now and commenting on my work that I post, so making a new one would be pointless. Examples of these are Colours May Vary, Independant Leeds, Grammar Studio and various other contemporary and well known illustrators and designers. 

I also still don't believe a professional account has to be purely work. I think it's nice and engaging when I see other things on designers accounts that I admire and follow aside from their work. Things like travel, inspiration and just interesting day to day things are nice when mixed in with their work. It makes them seem so much more human and you get a good sense of their personality, which I think really helps with personal branding. I like being able to see what they are into and interested in. Relatability is something that social media is so good for; it just needs to be the right stuff in the right quantity. 

I now want my account to be about 80% my work and 20% other appropriate posts - when I travel or see something I'm interested in. A good example of this is when we went to Warsaw, I posted about some typography I really liked that I saw. 

There will be no drunk pictures of me/my friends eating pizza at 3am or similar. I have gone back and deleted anything that could be deemed as inappropriate in any shape or form. I understand professionalism is key, but I just don't think a bit of personality goes amiss! 

Online Presence - Another Linkedin article

I've posted another mini article to inform my LinkedIn connections that my website is now up and running. The more informed and linked my social presence is, the better!

Online Social Presence - The Dots

Today I have also set up an account on "The Dots", a professional social networking site similar to Linkedin but only for creatives. It's meant to be the new best up and coming site for creative professionals. Again, I've added my latest and best work to the page to make it look as fresh and updated as possible. 

I've set my work availability to everything, even though I am still studying. Some jobs like confirming your place a few months before the start, so I am starting to refer to myself as a professional rather than a student now. 

It's really easy to follow other creatives and see some people's profiles who are really high up with exciting jobs in the industry; it's also really easy to message them! I'm going to spend some time sifting through them and message some people when I've got a good idea of who is good to bother. I also need to make a digital portfolio too. 

Online Social Presence - Website

This is the initial design for my professional website.

I've used Wix, as it was the only website builder I could get my head around - SquareSpace, CargoCollective and Adobe Portfolio just turned my brain into scrambled eggs. However, Wix has still enabled me to build a professional and smart looking website that showcases my best work very effectively and gives the public/potential clients and employers easy access to my contact details. 

I tried to keep the design bright and colourful to sit nicely alongside my work, and have it primarily images so the first thing people see is my work; they don't have to poke around to find it. Two pages keeps it nice and simple and the contact page links to my professional email address, Linkedin and Instagram (which I am regularly updating with my work).

I will continue updating the website to put my best/newest work at the top of the home page, to keep it fresh and exciting. I have managed to buy a domain name for 99p but to connect it/buy it through Wix is really expensive; I need to save a bit of money first until I can get this properly up and running. 

Egle Zvirblyte

I again came across Egle Zvirblyte browsing Instagram. I think the illustrations are great! Really humorous and eye-catching, especially the colour palettes. I also think the way her social media is set out works really well; it's like snippets from different projects that sort of run as a set, making you want to scroll and look at more. I want to try to start tailoring my pages to work like this, kind of 'releasing' little bits at a time rather than just one image from one project.