Portfolio visit 5 - David Bailey

Portfolio Visit Number 5

David Bailey of Kiosk, multi-disciplined design studio

Brown Street, Sheffield

http://letskiosk.com/projects

David has a beard, a very full, very black beard, which I can’t see to keep my eyes off, especially with his constant scratching at. He appears confident and not as bored with me as some of the other designers I’ve been to see, he has a similar attitude and approach as Paul Reardon. Maybe the designers in Sheffield just have a different manner to those at the other side of the Pennines (I’m still trying to figure out whether this ‘boredom’ attitude of designers is with the area they specialise in, me, my work or the general prospect of having to see yet another student showing them their work, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated).

Anyway, we’re apparently pushed for time so unfortunately I have to rush through my work and he gives me advice at the end of all my spiel which is a different method to all the other designers I’ve been to see who give advice at the end of each individual project I’ve presented. So off I go, full steam ahead.

His first remark is that he would like to see more of the pieces I have presented in context (same as Paul Reardon). Clearly this point needs working on as it’s beginning to crop up frequently. To work on this I will rework my James and the Giant Peach book cover which I designed for the Puffin competition 2011 and start to bring my Helping Uganda book with me to every portfolio visit, I have the option to show it to the professional then, even if they don not wish to see it I have it with me in case they do – covering all bases. For this reason, the Little White Lies competition entry seems a strong favourite as it is photographed in context and printed within the magazine template showing exactly how it would look as the magazine’s front cover.

David too enjoyed the Helping Uganda images better than the mixed media characters (another case of painterly vs. mixed media) because of their tactile properties and because he can see children engaging with it well. He said that he didn’t want to sound crude, but on the mixed media characters he feels ‘nothing for them’. They are very flat and would have like to have seen them better or more so if they were presented in context (funny how the different feedback contradicts each other with some saying that the Helping Uganda images are flat because of their painterly finish and some saying the mixed media images are flat because of their use of collage).

On the Little White Lies piece he said that he didn’t understand the concept of it until I explained it but I managed to pull it off because it is very well executed, photographed well (even though I photographed it and in poor light!) and aesthetically pleasing. As well the use of just line instead of block shapes is very nice and interesting and utilises good incorporation of type. I do think that the type is integrated well in the Little White Lies image, probably because it is not an additional layer but actually within the image I created. It was considered before I started to sew and therefore it looks part of the whole image, I need to do this more often rather than the type being an after-thought, which it usually always is.

He found the scarab image interesting (which both Paul Reardon and Paul Bartlett didn’t) again because of its painterly technique and style; this particular technique is what he was interested in most.

The type explorations at the back of my portfolio were described as ‘nothing to like or dislike’ they are just a good show of type experimentation.

David Bailey is currently involved in a project with CBeeBies children’s television channel and is seeking illustrators to collaborate on the project. He did seem very interested in my painterly work so I left my business card with him on the off chance he may want to contact me (though this is probably very, very unlikely and he was probably just being polite by making such positive comments).

I have provided the link to David's agency at the top of this post, please go and check him out and a big thank you for making such positive comments :)

Paul J Bartlett - response 2

Chloe,

I don't think the personalised URL is necessarily important to a client, but it is easier to remember and cleaner to fit on say, a business card.
I have been working as an ad agency/design shop art director for eight years or so, and have only been freelancing for a few months. It's been going well, but I have gotten all of my projects through either referrals/people that I know or sending my website link to creative directors via email... but again, that's all been more
design/branding work than illustration, which you are solely focused on, right?

Illustration has been something I've squeezed into my projects at work or done for fun on the side, so unfortunately I can't offer you much advice in the realm of being a successful freelance illustrator. I don't know if you're familiar with the book "How to be an illustrator" by Darrel Rees, but it's a good one to check out.

As for a critique on your art itself, my main comment is "more." More more more. There should be at least ten strong pieces to show your range or how you push your style in different ways. Maybe you're working on that... I'm most interested in the stitching/mixed media stuff. I like the lady bug and the mouse. I think the contrast of the chunks on white works better than the ones with painted backgrounds (the uganda stuff) which kind of flattens out. The scarab I think is not especially strong as an illustration and the type on that poster brings it down even more. I'd cut that one from your book. (Hope this isn't too harsh, just one man's opinion). But yeah, with the stitching stuff, I think you've got something there, I'd just like to see you push it farther. And don't be afraid to use the computer more to clean things up (rough edges or bits of dirt around the lady bug). I love seeing raw, gritty textures but if it doesn't look purposeful (like a bit of frayed edge in one spot on the ladybug) then it just looks like something extra the scanner picked up. Love the detail of the lips on the ladybug. As the father of a two-year-old girl, I can totally picture a children's book in the style of your ladybug and mouse. Reminds me a bit of the great Eric Carle. http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

So... not sure if that was helpful/annoying/what you had in mind. But please keep pushing yourself. And let me know if you'd like to keep this conversation going.

By the way, did you ever make a Wizard of Oz cover?

Best,

Paul


--
PAULJBARTLETT
ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / ILLUSTRATION

608 444-1504 pjbart.com <http://pjbart.com/>

Paul's comments about the URL looking cleaner are definitely true. I think I would feel more professional and proud to have my own URL, it would be like making this thing official. As for the amount of work he's gained from the web presence, it looks pretty slim, it seems like the old phrase of 'it's not what you know but who you know' applies here. The amount of experience and no doubt contacts he's accrued over that time is vastly helpful too.

This theme of 'more' has cropped up more than once in feedback, not just from professionals currently working in the industry but from tutors too. Good job I've got some competition stuff lined up to do on the side of college work this semester. I think what tends to happen with me more often than not is if I haven;t spent a certain amount of time on a particular piece of work I don;t think it's going to be any good. The Wizard of Oz re-covered work that Paul relates to further down in his email only took me three days to produce however because I had to push myself in order to meet the quickly advancing deadline. I really like the finished product, as for others opinions, as yet I do not know, it's just been me working away in my study on it (hopefully the critique will be more positive than critical though).

Again there is this flux between designers preferring the painterly stuff against the mixed media work. Here Paul Bartlett prefers the mixed media work where on Wednesday Paul Reardon preferred the painterly work. Though I do agree with the critique on the characters working well on the the white chunks, the ladybird and mouse are my favorites of that technique too. I like the scarab which he doesn't think is overly strong, I think it just needs something more doing with it, though the comment on the poster and type is wholly agreeable (I do struggle with type being an illustrator anyway, I need to employ a typographer to do those bits for me). I enjoy working with the stitch so I'm glad he likes that part.

I'm not used to working with the computer so much as I prefer to work manually, but the comment about utilising software to polish the images is true. I looked on my website earlier and the dirt that the scanner picked up on the ladybird is quite embarrassing. I need to get round to taking that off and polishing it, pronto! Being compared to Eric Carle is a certain compliment and I'm not too coy to accept that - cheers!

If Paul would be interested in keeping our dialogue up I'd be into that, I need as much help as I can get now I'm about to embark upon the difficult journey of transition from undergraduate to graduate. So a big thanks to Paul for his feedback, it is exactly what I was looking for, there was nothing I felt that was harsh there only honest! Honesty is the best policy, I can't learn anything from praise, I'm only seeking criticism.

Portfolio visit 4 - Paul Reardon

Portfolio Visit Number 4

Paul Reardon of Peter and Paul Creative Communications Agency

Prospect Road, Sheffield

http://www.peterandpaul.co.uk/contact.php

Paul keeps his scarf on therefore so do I… it’s not impolite it’s a mutual love of scarves, and hate of the cold.

I’m still nervous, though not half as much as I was during my walk to Taylor O’Brien on portfolio visit number one to see Helen Taylor. This is not the ‘I’ve not got butterflies but bats’ feeling, more the ‘just butterflies’ feeling. Paul looks me in the eye when he speaks to me which makes me feel more on his level, some of the professionals I’ve been to visit tended to let their eyes wander about the room akin to the thought that they’d rather be anywhere else in the world right now than listening to this undergraduate drone on about her less than standard work. I’ve been sat own two seconds and my butterflies fly off, he’s a cool dude.

Before the usual spiel commenced, he asked me what I was doing currently, what I wanted to do when I graduated and why I study in Stockport. This was a nice touch, it made me feel more comfortable and almost confident in the work I was about to show him. I asked for his opinion on a front cover, I don’t like the idea of a title page, all that basic information is on my business card. He didn’t have any ideas.

The first few double page spreads in my portfolio are on the Helping Uganda project I started in September last year, the really zaney stuff for kids. Paul’s a designer and I expect him, like the rest of the designer crew (Lise Brien and Craig Oldham etc.) to prefer the mixed media insects which began in January 2011 with the James and the Giant Peach Puffin competition, he didn’t. The first few double page spreads were his favourite, he liked the tactile quality of the characters and design but felt it was too restrained to be presented in my portfolio (on other designers opinions I’d not taken the finished product in – the book). Instead he wanted something he could hold and have the tangibility of the work in his hands not encased in plastic wallets. As well, he favoured the work so much he advised getting it professionally printed in a much larger format so that it could demonstrate its full striking potential. And on the thick board books kids like, not the limp paper types. By adding as much tangibility as possible such as being able to touch the stitch adds to the finesse of my work. Try to work images up to realise the full idea. If a project was started on but was cancelled etc. if there were some good strong threads, carry it on anyway.

For the James and the Giant Peach project I don’t have the finished outcome in my portfolio because the finished product wasn’t, I don’t think, very successful. Instead I have extracted some of the key elements such as the ladybird and grasshopper characters which I think do work well. Paul thought that this was a mistake, he compared it to having a thumbnail of a drawing, he was intrigued to see the whole design and I couldn’t provide him that. If the final outcome wasn’t a success but I am insistent on having the containing elements in my portfolio then it is advisable to rework the final design of the cover. It is the small details like this which I have not considered before, and points that other professionals have not raised, this goes to show that I am definitely still learning.

On this point too, he asked me never to show visuals cold. There should always be a lead up or a story before revealing the finished product because people won’t necessarily always understand the context of an image when it is presented in that way. Looking back, I do tend to neglect some of the story behind some of the pieces of work, and funnily enough they are usually the works that are either not as strong as others or the one’s that I am not as keen on in comparison. My Little White Lies competition work does show my image in context and for Paul and most other designers, that way of presenting work is much easier for them to visualise.

At the back of my portfolio I have included some typographical experiments which Paul praised. As an illustrator he understands that we do struggle with type as it’s not our area of expertise but trying to develop typographical skills now will stand in good stead for future work. He made the suggestion of collaborating with a typographer for future works, only with the final major project now under way I don’t think I’ll see much time for experimenting.

All in all Paul gave me some handy tips. My preliminary thoughts were that now I’ve got three portfolio visits under my belt no-one will be able to tell me anything new that hasn’t already been said buy one of the previous professionals who viewed my work. I was wrong. Plain and simple and it turns out that I will get some different feedback every single time in one way or another.

Another of my lessons then is to secure as many portfolio visits as I can between now and graduation – not just because I have to as part of the professional practise aspect of the course but because I have now realised that I need as much varying advice as I can get in order to further myself and my professionalism… but the scarf stays

D&AD Education Day 08/02/2012

D&AD Education Day

Wednesday 08/02/2012

Showroom Cinema Sheffield

In association with Sheffield Hallam University

Steve Woodwat and Simon Morrow – guest speakers from Elmwood design agency Leeds

Transition from education to industry

5 things we’ve learned along the way

1) Be an expert for a day

You ordinarily gravitate towards briefs that interest you but in industry there is no choice on subject matter or brief. For example, Royal Mail briefed us with a project to celebrate the birthday of ‘wall boxes’ (not post boxes, but the one’s actually encased in brick) by incorporating them into stamps. For us it was a pretty dull brief to begin with, but once the research started to tend to immerse yourself in the subject matter and don’t realise you’re becoming a nerd on it. When you’re brand new to a subject you really need to spend some quality time on it because there will be actual nerds out there who know the subject matter inside out. Not only that, but get into the community and find out their responses, which are their favourite photographs of the boxes? Diving into subject areas where at first you may not be necessarily interested could produce outstanding results.

2) Take people with you

At university you do everything for yourself but taking clients with you on your creative journey and getting them to place their trust in you I very important. Bauer media wanted at rebrand, owned by an old German guy (Bauer, believe it or not) and he wanted to keep the old logo. It was a collateral job, bits of stationary and a website update. In the board room when they presented the idea to the suits they found themselves needing to gain their trust, how would they do that when they were wearing jeans and converse and the old suits were, well…suits. Stuck in old times they wanted to produce a powerpoint presentation to show clients when they were considering Bauer as a potential business venture. Elmwood however, proposed to do an animated movie and with no prior experience of the arena found it hard work trying to gain their trust. Yet once on board the journey with them and keeping them at the heart of communication even helping build the idea it became an easy sell. The client eventually became in love with the product before they had even seen it because they had been a part of that creative journey with the designers.

3) Design for humans

You need to start thinking of the real world implications of the designs you make, think of the life of the work beyond it being in the studio and the real audience’s perceptions. A charity rebrand for ‘People Can’ shows how the needs of the client and the client’s audience such as print quality and cost is essential. Keeping things down to Earth with a sense of humour and not being patronising is the safest bet. Do not design for designs sake but for a purpose.

4) It’s not about you

Naturally, people are protective about their designs but think about the idea of releasing things. Commercial writer Jim Davies wanted to produce a direct mail piece and sometimes your ideas need to be commissioned to others that specialise in that area. In this case, the illustrations for the piece were commissioned to illustrator Rob Guy and the guy who had the original idea basically sat back and let it materialise. It is hard to let your baby go but in this case the project was much better off having being let go, there are people out there who have real specialism’s to make your idea even better. Remember to let your guard down.

5) If it feels right do it

University trains you to be a really objective thinker but at the end of the day you still need to have an instinctive feel. Everyone has different ideas on artwork, one person will think its fab and the other crap. Sometimes its all about having the confidence in yourself and your abilities to run with it. The BBC ran a project with primary school children to try and beat the world record for the amount of plants planted in one day. The agency decided straight away that the design wouldn’t be ‘green’ friendly because that doesn’t interest kids. They’re not bothered by how many emissions they’re saving but are interested in having a cool place to sit in the sun, or somewhere to have a picnic or just somewhere for the dog to pee. It was essential to start thinking like a kid. And sometimes the first idea is the best and there’s nothing wrong with that, just explore other avenues before you start to run with it.

Getting your foot through the door

Placements – offer experience and is a brilliant way in

Find the right place – it is important to know that you end up working in the right place for you, not just that you are the right person for them

Find a name

Write a good email

Show interest/flattery

PDF portfolio

And remember that 50% of it is you and 50% of it is your portfolio

Be memorable, be a sponge and go for it

Don’t be disheartened if things don’t work out the chemistry just isn’t always there in every situation, luck will always play its part!

Elmwood agency here: http://elmwood.com/

Steve Woowat’s site here: http://www.woowat.com/

Simon Morrow here: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/simon-morrow/15/317/77a

Paul J Bartlett

Recently, I've been looking at The Fox is Black website and have compiled a sketchbook of work in hope of entering the re-covered competition for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Me being me, and struggling like a lemon, posted a few questions on the website and Paul Bartlett was considerate enough to guide me on the right path. (His submission is awesome by the way, how I think I stand a chance next to work like that I'll never know!)

As surprised as I was that somebody was so kind as to offer me some advice, and I was clearly inspired by his work, I decided to take a sneaky peek at his website. The quality of his work is obviously very high and this made me start thinking of the quality and finish on my work. Ok, he's been in the business now and had agency work for eight years, but still these things need to be put into perspective.

I made the decision to email him and congratulate him on his awesomeness (though coming from me means nothing really I guess) and to see if he would be available to take a look at some of my work for constructive feedback purposes. Again to my surprise, he replied - almost straight away too! His work does vary from mine; on his web presence 'about' section he describes himself as 'a freelance art director, designer, and illustrator with eight years of agency experience. I specialize in big ideas and thoughtful executions that make people take notice and feel something. If that sounds good to you, let's talk. I am able to work from my home studio or your place of business.' Not only does his work vary from mine, his confidence levels do too. And why not, he is a freelance artist in need of work like the rest of us.

Weighing this up, it shows that my confidence needs to rocket a few notches if I’m to make anything of this dog eat dog business. I think that this will happen by showcasing my work more though this is a catch 22 operation. I’m not confident enough to showcase my work, but it is only by showcasing my work and gaining some feedback (and hopefully some appraisals) will I be able to move forward and gain that confidence in the process. Additionally, the quality and finish of my work needs to be improved. Although I like the organic quality that some of my ‘rougher’ pieces offer, some of them need a good polish. For example there are a few pieces I have uploaded to my website which need a polish, ragged edges and patches which could use a rubber etc. But most importantly, I need to stop comparing my work and my working method to others. I’m finally starting to find my way of working, so I need to wear some blinkers for a while to stop me wanting to imitate others ways of working which I sometimes feel look more aesthetically pleasing compared to mine. Paul Bartlett’s work is fantastic, but he is clearly more of a photographer, whereas I am more of a collager and stitcher, the two are completely separate and I need to support my own work and my decisions.

All in all, a big thank you is owed to Paul for boosting my confidence in the world of illustration (is not in myself), it’s good to see that there is a support network there, especially for newbies like me who really do need it! And keep up the good work dude!

Copy of the email I received for the honourable Mr Bartlett:

paul bartlett

Add to contacts

To Chloe Jones

Chloe,

Thank you for reaching out and thank you for the compliments on my work.

I think it's a brave move to ask a stranger for advice. I'd be honored to take a look at your stuff.
Let me know where to find it, and I'll get back to you when I can.

Planning on updating my site with a "Book Covers" section soon. I also submitted entries to the Dracula and Romeo & Juliet contests, but I didn't do backs and spines for those yet... I think the Dracula one in particular freaks people out. :) But it SHOULD. Dracula is a scary dude.

Good luck with school.

Best,

Paul

Group Crit 06/02/2012

Group Crit 06/02/2012

After Thursday’s tutorial, I thought I was on the right path to making some good progress this coming week. However, I have been stalled once more by some surprises from this mornings group crit results. Although my ‘totem’ idea has been established for well over a week now, it has only just this morning been brought to my attention that it does not reflect Grimm’s fairy-tales, or at least the group does not see how it reflects Grimm’s fairy-tales. Understandably, totems are usually associated with Indian American and there origins are definitely rooted there. The idea was supposed to be that a totem is predominantly crafted from wood and the Grimm’s fairy-tales are more often than not set in the woods. Additionally, I was using the structure of the totem to bring my elements together; I was using its significance secondary. Although the idea of the totem being of spiritual significance could also imply magic, which, along with fantasy and enchantment is prevalent in the fairy-tales.

Another hurdle is the concept of working out of the sketchbook. It has taken me all my time, might and strength to contain myself in a sketchbook after years of working on other media for that too to be now criticised. The only thing I can do is listen to the advice given and act upon it. So this week I will be leaving my sketchbook in my bag and instead work on cardboard where I can make almost three dimensional characters instead of the flat ones I have produced so far. Indeed I will continue to use my current method of magazine cuttings (or origami paper cuttings now I have found what it is!) but glue them to something that is tangible rather than paper. I think that this will be fun and enjoyable seeing the characters appearing off the page giving them a true personality and feel. I understand that a sketchbook can be confining and restricting, this is why I never used them at the beginning, going back to working outside of it will be a real boost and show that my work can work just as well in other forms. I look forward especially to photographing some of the results at the end of the week to give my portfolio another angle and more depth.

Tutorial 02/02/2012

Tutorial 02/02/12

After much debating on whether my totem was 'fitting' for its intended purpose, the tutorial on Thursday (02/02) made the decision for me that it wasn't quite. The initial design I posted previously has been worked on and the separate elements have been collaged into the same design, see the newer version above. Reflecting on my first FMP post already, I can see now that the colour is not right for starters and the type needs integrating for seconds. My lessons from last semester although essential are proving difficult ones to learn...

It has been decided that I should research totems more thoroughly to reference the shape better and to show better integration of the individual elements. Currently, the elements are just stacked on top of each other and do not signify the totem idea. Additionally, type needs to be introduced soon so that it is fully integrated and incorporated into the final design rather than an afterthought or clumsy additional layer pasted on top. I have some preliminary ideas for this but they are yet to materialise on paper. I think that by stitching the type it will be one step in the right direction of integrating the type with the image as this already incorporates some stitch.

Symmetry has raised its head again in my work so far. The strongest elements are fully symmetrical and work well next to lesser asymmetrical ones. However, more surreal combinations could work well and reflect the darker side of Grimm’s. For example, we don’t need to see all of the spinning wheel, maybe just the wheel itself or the needle and this could be put alongside the eye of the frog (frogs eyes are its most essential asset for it to represent a frog).

Making my characters out of magazine cuttings is thoroughly enjoyable though extremely time consuming. Of course there’s the distraction of re-reading ‘that’ article you’d forgotten about whilst trawling for a particular colour or texture but the trawling for the colour or texture is also time consuming in itself. Basically, I could be trawling through five magazines before I find the perfect colour and even then it can be too small an area for what I need it for. A suggestion was to scan in the colour or texture and start to create a digital archive where I can store them and print them off as and when I deem necessary. Although this is a sensible suggestion, my gripe is that the quality of the printed page will not be the same as the original glossy magazine cutting. I like the magazine cuttings because they are more flexible to work with; they are thinner and more aesthetically pleasing. Because they are thinner they are easier to manipulate and tease into the desired shape for my collaging method. However, an idea I’ve warmed to is the notion of using origami papers which imitate magazine paper. I’ve never used origami paper before and was initially wary of the idea, but having been to purchase a pack today and seeing the quality of it for myself, it has reinforced that this way of working has to be more effective and efficient. As I now have a pack of paper ready to go in seven inch squares, I will be able to knock my little characters out in no time!

Finally, the last suggestion was to introduce a sense of place to the totem so that my audience can understand why these elements have been grouped together. If for example there were branches protruding from the elements to suggest a tree in the background or intertwined in the design, the audience would understand that the wood unites these characters together. I didn’t want to be overly literal with my design of Grimm’s fairy-tales, as most illustrators focus on the castle and woods; however I think that a subtle hint with branches curling round the design will be effective.

All in al then, the idea is praised but needs much more work… better get to it