Bibliography

1) Will Morris, http://whmorris.com

2) Ben Newman, http://www.bennewman.co.uk

3) Nick White, http://www.thisisnickwhite.com

4) Papio Press, www.papiopress.co.uk

5) Pirrip Press, www.pirrippress.co.uk

6) Sarah Mcmenemy, www.sarahmcmenemy.com

7) Helen Ward, http://helenward-illustrator.co.uk

8) http://www.handmadeology.com/5-things-to-consider-before-starting-an-etsy-shop/

9) https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/top-10-tips-for-starting-an-etsy/22664153555

10) https://www.etsy.com/uk/seller-handbook/article/getting-started-with-income-and-expense/22664713439

11) Becky Lees, www.beckyleesillustration.co.uk

12) Anna Coffey, www.illustrationbyannalouise.co.uk

13) Harriet Plaskitt, http://hpillustration.weebly.com

14) Kirsty Smith- Neale, www.kirstysn.co.uk

15) Zanna Goldhawk, www.zannagoldhawk.tumblr.com

16) https://www.pinterest.com/NTUYouFirstAD/ntu-creative-cv-gallery/

Module Evaluation

Initially my intentions for myself for this module were to; become more independent and proactive with the organisation of presenting my work, develop my skills when it comes to use of pattern alongside a narrative and continue to experiment with styles and techniques. I wanted to enter into competitions so as to expose my work to a wider audience and have a more professional outlook when it comes to this side of my practice. 

When it comes to my practice, it has developed into something that I am able to work with so as to achieve the more professional outcomes. By using others projects to achieve this, it has resulted in a more consistent style and technique that I find now crops up in my work. I'm still going to be developing this way of working so I can adapt to the changing market of illustration. Whether this be to accommodate a different brief set or to access other audiences by producing merchandise to sell. 

I was expecting to develop my pattern based work alongside narratives however, it is clear to me now that narratives are not something I wish to focus on with my work. Through briefs and experiments I have found that narratives aren't a strong point for me. I have therefore adapted so I can continue the use of my successful patterns and combine it with singular or collective illustrative pieces, usually location based. After coming to this conclusion I am a lot more confident with my practice and can proceed to reach out to potential clients and enter competitions more. 
After contacting and having talks from practicing illustrators and artists I have understood further that self initiation to expose my own work is what will help in the long run with gaining potential clients. Networking is what drives the business forwards and makes for a successful illustrator whether this be freelance to begin with and then leads on to having an agent. This has supported and confirmed what I was already expecting. The interview and talks were perhaps the most useful of resources and they were able to give me insight from a reliable, working source. Their first hand experience informed my lack of knowledge on some subject and drove me to find out more.
This module has helped me gain a better understanding of where I want to take my practice in the professional world. I took it upon myself to do some research when it comes to Etsy stores, finance and going freelance as I was inspired after a talk from the owners of Papio Press and finding out the potential for where my illustrations can go or be applied to. I can now evaluate my practice in relation to these potential future outcomes and apply what I have found out. 
The process of becoming more professional and adapting my practice will be an ongoing thing as the market for illustration is always going to be changing so I will develop more and apply any other things I will learn about the industry to my practice so that I can remain current, accessible to potential clients and be professional. 
Now that I am confident in the nature of my practice I can more forwards with my research and carry on exposing my work. I wish to develop and produce a website for my work, perhaps a brand name and logo too. I wanted to develop my practice first so I can be sure that what i decide for these next steps will be something I am confident in and will see me through as a professional. These will therefore be the next steps to me learning more and developing with this professional journey as well as maintaining and keeping in mind the things I have already learned.

My Creative CV

With my CV I wanted to give away some clues as to the style of work I tend to lean towards so I have hand drawn the sketchy, ink boxes and type along with adding some watercolour. From some research I've found that I prefer the simpler CV's with just enough information on to indicate keys skills and experience with some info. about myself. I feel like I will definitely develop this CV further as I will be gaining more experience and entering more competitions as I develop my practice and expose my work. This may mean a complete redesign as the work I produce will always be developing and my CV will need to accommodate this change.

Creative CV's

I will produce a creative cv that I can adapt and change if necessary but I have done some initial research to inform my approach to the task. I have chosen a few CV's to analyse so I can see what is successful and what isn't so i can apply my findings to my own.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/552253973029605395/

For me, this one is too overrun by the image. Whilst it gives an insight into what could be the nature of this persons practice, I feel like the image is too specific and may limit the kind of work you are offered. With my CV, I want to give hints and present some elements of the kind of work that I do so that the employer is informed but I am not going to be limited to the idea that I only do a certain type of work. The written information is concise and relevant which I will also be doing with mine.

This one is sided more towards the outcome I wish to achieve. With elements of their practice coming through but not too much to pin them down as doing a limited selection of work. Their information is clear and again to the point and presented in a personal way with a selected typography. 

A much more graphic and very simple approach here. Whilst it is creative and is directed towards something this person is possibly inspired by or their work it directed towards I feel it doesn't give as much information as I'd like to give. However, it is an interesting, simplistic concept. 

The separation of image to text is for me, a good balance. Like the others hints as to what kind of work they produce is given with there again being good amounts of information that isn't overwhelming. The hints of colours and recognisable symbols with the writing makes it more engaging and a memorable CV.

I will be editing and developing my own version of a creative CV to try achieve the effect I want taking into consideration ones I have seen and will continue to look at.

Group Poster Project

As a group of 6, we were given the task to produce poster that were typography based and with limited to no illustrations. We chose to use the subject of 'Things Your Mum Say.' This was a relatable subject to many so I found it be a fun little project to do.  

We brainstormed our ideas to come up with a few choices we could choose from.

1) Eating your crusts will give you curly hair.

2) Nettles don't sting in august.

3) The harmful rays go after 3pm.

4) Don't sit too close to the TV or you'll get square eyes.

5) Carrots make you see in the dark.

6) Santa's real.

7) Don't eat yellow snow.

8) Don't let the bed bugs bite.

9) If the wind changes your face will stay that way.

We each chose one to do and experimented with typography to see what would work best. 

We all discussed our experiments and developments so we could make informed decisions when it come to the final piece. This process was very helpful and I was able to adjust my ideas and combine things to make it the best piece it could be from my developments.

This was my final piece. I think the typography takes centre stage but I felt it needed some other element to represent the phrase so I added some patterned details to infer the nettles. Bringing this element to it I think make it a lot more visual appealing along with the added colour to correlate to the them of the piece.

I enjoyed working in a group to discuss the ideas and development but when it came to an outcome working individually worked best for me. With further projects I will seek advice and constructive criticism when necessary so as to get an outsiders take on my work so I can develop it further if necessary. 

Work Experience

For my work experience I decided to enter into competitions so as to expose my work to a wider audience. This is what I have been wanting to do more with my work so I feel this was a good step to take in order to partially fulfil this. I entered two competing with 2 piece for one and 4 pieces for the other. The Cheltenham Illustration Awards 2015 and Hiii Illustration 2015 International Competition were the two I entered. Now that I have developed my practice and the process I take to come to a final outcome, I feel this was a successful submission as I was able to show a few different pieces of mine that still focused on the approach I take to a brief interns of an outcome. 

In terms of illustration in the professional world, allowing myself to have exposure to new people can only be beneficial and as it allows for me to show off my best pieces and gives me the confidence to continue with the nature of my practice as this has developed a lot recently.

Whilst waiting upon the outcome of these competitions I can further my exposure with more competitions and also take time to refine further my practice and process so as to be more prepared with future work and entries.  These are the first competitions I have entered so I feel that professionally I am still learning and will be more prepared in the future with other competitions. 
The two pieces I entered into The Cheltenham Illustration Awards competition. produced the pieces with the same thoughts and idea and behind them so they are in a way variations of each other.

For the Hiii Illustration 2015 International Competition there was a very open brief. I was therefore able to select pieces that show off the kind of work I produce. I chose 4 to use for this. 

Group Presentation

As a group, we were given a hypothetical situation of what we would do with £200 in terms of selling our own products and how we'd seek to make a profit from it. 

We decided we would head to Tewkesbury Craft and Gift Market after booking a table there for 6 of us to share. 

A bus would be the cheapest option for us, so we'd arrive early to set up our display of products. 

During the day we would rotate around so that some of us were manning the table to sell our products and some of us can be going around the venue to see what else is on offer and try and network with others. 

We calculated our budget so that our £200 will be spent in the most efficient way possible. In terms of the products we'd sell, we decided to make prints on tote bags and cards. We can each have an evenly shared amount of each so that we can all have some products to apply our designs to. We thought that as part of the build up to this event, we could take some time to promote it ourselves and let people know we will be there so as to hopefully bring in more customers, so business cards and Facebook promotion was also involved in our budget.

Our profit was obviously going to be dependable on how many products we actually sell. We worked out how much we'd sell each products for though. As the day went on at the event we'd adjust prices depending on if they were selling well or not. 

I found that working as a group for this task would make it more efficient if we were to go through with it. Each person could then work with their strength, whether that be printing, finances or organisation of the event. Splitting the cost of a table at an event like this would be more sufficient also as there would be a chance to make a better profit as well as showing a wide range of products on the stall. 

An event like this would be very beneficial to my practice in terms of networking and exposure and also help me learn more about these kind of events so that I could take part in more in the future.