Portfolio visit 6 - Nicola Slater

Portfolio Visit Number 6

Nicola Slater

Third Year Illustration Room

http://www.childrensillustrators.com/nslater/

Today I participated in my sixth portfolio visit with Nicola Slater, an illustrator currently helping the second year illustration students at Stockport College, hence the more informal location. By having the session in college did however make me feel more relaxed and comfortable with the usually quite formal set-up. This is probably because I know the environment the session was taking place in, if anything it was Nicola who would have felt somewhat uncomfortable as it’s not her usual territory.

I’ve checked her work out online (she only seems in have online representation via an agent and not a personal web presence http://www.childrensillustrators.com/nslater/ ) and I like her use of simple shapes and hand rendered typefaces. I find researching the professional beforehand comforting, kind of like a background check to understand a little bit about them, how they work and where they are coming from. Not only this but it gives me a better idea of who I need to be choosing to show my portfolio to. Nicola had comments about this too, on how I should be seeking out more book publishers as my work is very children’s book cover orientated. I can relate to her work too as recently I’ve been utilising simple shapes with my ladybird (from the James and the Giant Peach project) inspired elements and making my own types out of stitch. By being able to relate to her work this makes me feel more comfortable too at talking with her as I feel on the same level… almost, she is a pro after all.

I explained how I have taken the type off my illustrations of late as other professionals thought that it didn’t add anything to the overall image. Although Nicola was in agreement with this, she thought that it would be useful to have the type on acetates to give potential employers a feel for how the images would look with type overlaid. Not only this but she made a very good point of keeping all type on separate layers to the main image as sometimes the client will require changes to be made or even need it translating into different languages.

The Helping Uganda project was described as ‘African coloured’, which I will take as a compliment, bearing in mind that the story was set in Uganda, Africa so I must have highlighted that vibe well. Also, she liked the painterly backgrounds such as the green for the ground of double page spread number five in my portfolio.

Nicola preferred the ladybird and grasshopper elements as they were much more contemporary and not as predictable as the painted Uganda images. I discussed with her the struggles that I have been having (highlighted in the previous post) trying to get my current elements to look in-keeping with the ladybird and grasshopper characters. Although I have been trying to make them look part of a ‘set’ of images, Nicola asked whether I’d tried not trying? In honesty I’m not 100% sure but I think not. I have these two images etched on my brain but can’t seem to make the others fit in with their style. Her idea was to change media, use a brush or a sharpie to capture the essence of the thing I am trying to represent but be looser with the idea. For example the audience knows that the ladybird is not a ladybird by how it has been created but at the same time they know straight away that it is representing a ladybird. It doesn’t look anything like what I’m trying to communicate so try to move away from what you intellectually perceive as a wolf for example. I explained that the ladybird was a very quick illustration as was the mouse which she also liked, they took a few minutes only to create. On this she said again to keep the image loose and don’t be constricted by the traditional image. By doing this I am making the elements for the Grimm’s cover too complicated.

On my type explorations she was excited by the James and the Giant Peach attempt which is the reverse of hand stitched type but thought that the Grimm’s Fairy Tales was too neat. This type is the front and has been traced from a font off a pc whereas the other is more organic with it being freehand. Try thinking more in terms of what Grimm’s Fairy Tales connotes, for example dark, scary, woody and creeping with tendrils.

The scarab which I created for the Manchester Museum project would apparently look better and more cohesive in my portfolio if this too was created in this collage method. This is certainly a good suggestion and unlike some of the others professionals have made, it shouldn’t take too long to put into practice.

As I work quite well with space and white background, Nicola said it would be nice to see some line drawings in the background to show potential clients how my work would work with other imagery. For example if I were asked to put my ladybird next to the Eiffel Tower they would need to be able to visualise that. I think that using simple line drawings or an old nib with ink would be a very contemporary and neat way of introducing this. It is also an idea I could carry forward with me on my journey through the Grimm’s cover redesign.

Overall, if all portfolio visits were to take place in my comfort zones, e.g. the college or an environment familiar to me they would all be some much more relaxed, I’ve been nervous in practically every other. Nicola really warmed to some of my work which is encouraging, it’s always nice when a practicing professional praises your work, it gives it more credit and strength in my own eyes. I have learned that I need to take out some of the pieces that I don’t believe in fully myself as clients will wonder why they are there if I don’t support them 100% myself.

Thanks Nicola, have fun keep creating :)

Struggles

Struggles

I’ve been working on my redesigned cover for the Grimm’s fairy-tales for five weeks now and I feel as though I’ve done, on reflection, very little. I have produced a few elements which can be found within the fairy-tales which hopefully wouldn’t need too much explaining if you were to see them on the cover for example a wolf, from Little Red Riding Hood and an apple from Snow White. In the crit last week I discovered that the more recent elements do not look like the original ladybird and grasshopper which inspired this method of working which I developed whilst working on the James and the Giant Peach cover last January (which ironically was last years Puffin competition). This is mainly due to the material of choice. In previous crits it was discussed how using origami paper could be a good alternative to magazines as the colour is in a set size and I wouldn’t have to trawl through magazines for endless hours looking for the perfect colour and dimensions. But now having both to compare, it is clear that the original way or working was much more effective. The hours involved in creating the elements is worth the result! I have therefore been to the market and purchased some quality magazines (Harper’s Bazaar, Elle magazine and the likes) at discounted prices meaning that the quality of the elements now should be first class.

Having played with the technique, material and quality I should now have no excuses for producing anything other than first class from now on in. I understand now that by spending more on the materials will inevitably show in the final outcomes with them also being much better quality and higher class. Now I have this mastered I need to produce much much more material as I feel what I have produced so far is very limited and limiting for five weeks worth of supposed hard graft.

I’m also beginning to notice that I do have pre-empted ideas of what I would like the finished outcome to be and work towards this continually rather than exploring avenues to their full potential. For example, for the last two weeks I have been planning out how these elements will fit together to form the cover rather than exploring them further to their fullest potential. Instead I need to give them my full attention and only bring them together once I know and am fully satisfied with their quality and aesthetic. Though because I have been having these ‘planning’ phases, I have noticed that I am struggling with the same dilemma as last years Puffin competition – bringing the different elements together in a cohesive manner. I work quite graphically anyway (according to the pro’s) usually on a white or very pale background and paying particular attention to space. It would be nice to have a template which I could use for all book covers etc. so that an audience could associate that design with me straight away. However, this could be difficult depending on the context of the book. But potentially this idea could be quite clever. On the Wizard of Oz cover I designed, there were four elements equally spaced on one line close to the centre of the cover with the title ever so slightly above and the author quite a way down close to the bottom. This type of template would work well for the Grimm’s cover and have made a mock version to start working with.

It is a difficult situation knowing that my FMP is being led and negotiated by me, therefore if a project over-runs, I am to blame. If the next project doesn’t start on time, I am to blame and then the next project will not be completed on time and the cycle goes on. This particular project should have been finished by the end of today (19^th Febrauary) otherwise my other two projects will not be explored to their fullest. Although I understand the tutors concept of wanting me to explore something fully and in depth, I also want to make sure that it is completed to schedule so that I don’t have to be thinking about it when I start the next. If I have two projects on the go at the same time it will not only confuse me but I will not be able to focus properly on either one knowing that the other is not finished.

So there you are, a small dose of my struggles currently, I’m sure I will be blogging about this again soon, probably tomorrow, or even in a few hours… but for now, goodnight people

Amazon review

Amazon article review

Metro free newspaper – Friday 9^th February 2012

In Fridays (9^th February) edition of the Metro (free newspaper) there was an article featuring the rumour of Amazon’s move from a solely online presence to the high street, with its first shop soon to be trialling out in Seattle. The store is described as a ‘boutique’, probably with a similar mind-set to the Apple stores that have opened where customers can go and play with its products before they purchase them. The article goes on to say that the move ‘could be inspired by the success of the Apple stores’. The only observation I’ve made is that Apple has a wide range of electronic products to offer whereas, to my knowledge at least, Amazon only have the Kindle ‘e-reader’.

However, later in the article brand analyst Imogen Power states ‘I think it’s going to be a retail experience rather than a traditional shop. It will be interesting if they use it for promoting new authors, book themed events and concerts – I think it will be that kind of space’. Of course by utilising Imogen’s statement it would be logical to assume that by promoting new authors this will mean promoting new books. Although the e-readers allow one outlet for these new books surely they will sell their paper and original form too? At the moment an author cannot sign an e-reader, can they? Of course if this were to happen it would also mean a new lease of life for illustrators. With the printed word now moving online and the collapse of many bookstores this injection is just what illustrators need to see that there is still life in the old dog. The cycle would have come full circle with the original opening of book store to sell printed books then moving online and eventually coming back to the high street where they first started.

Although buying books online to read on the e-reader does still requires the cover to be illustrated a lot of the authenticity is lost through the pixilation of the image as is the tactility. Buying a book usually means having the thing right there in your hands, something you can hold and touch and feel whereas online they are just images. Does this mean then that the cover will play a bigger part in somebody’s decision of buying a book or a lesser part? For example if there is just an image to look at and things such as the paper quality and size of the book are not contributing factors to the decision will this mean that there needs to be more emphasis on what is on the cover to do the selling work for the author? And does that mean that illustration will have to move with these changes too with the added pressures that this brings? The need for contemporary and different illustrations will be even more in demand as the tactility is lost.

Will these potentially new Amazon stores then, change this online purchasing? I guess it will have to be another case of watch this space…

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Brief set by The Fox is Black as part of their re-covered competitions

http://thefoxisblack.com/

This brief provided me with an outlet to produce some of this ‘more, more, more’ work. Initially, I was worried that I wouldn’t get the time to produce something to standard having got my final major project to be working on alongside, which obviously has to be my main focus. But then of course in this catch twenty-two situation I also need more work in my portfolio, so I decided to give it a stab.

It turns out that giving it a stab was a good idea because that in itself has given me a mini break from my final major project work meaning that I can now return to it fresh looking at it from a new perspective etc.

I started the work on Wednesday 8^th February meaning I only had four days until the deadline and for me four days is short. Usually, to produce a front cover, back cover and spine design it would take me a minimum of four weeks so the challenge it provided in itself was worth undertaking. I read the brief thoroughly before embarking on the task and the idea was to illustrate the book and not the film. I don’t know if I’ve ever even read the book so I started my research there. It was a good job I did too because little details have been neglected in the film version for example Dorothy’s shoes are silver and not red as they are in the film. After reading the story I decided to focus on key elements to parallel the technique I’m using in my final major project which were the Wizard’s granting of their wishes; a new silk heart for the Tin man, a new brain made of pins and needles for the scarecrow, a drop of courage for the lion and Dorothy’s silver shoes which took her home to Kansas. I made these elements out of mixed media again to parallel my FMP work by using origami paper and cardboard. I then scanned in these elements and polished them on Photoshop. As Paul J Bartlett commented, my polishing skills need to be worked on so this project gave me a fine opportunity to incorporate that too. I then went to photograph green glass bottle to use as a background to reference the Emerald City and put the elements into context. I struggled with typeface again so I picked out the font I like the best from the selection preset on Photoshop.

Overall, I’m happy with the final outcome. The standard could be slightly higher if I had had the time but due to the short deadline this wasn’t possible. It has provided me with a basis if nothing else on which to produce a piece of work that I could possibly add to my portfolio at a later stage when I get some feedback as to whether it needs more work or not. But for now, here you go …

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