Illustrations i have been influenced by over the year.

Follow Rebecca's board illustration on Pinterest.

OUIL501 end of module evaluation

Context of Practice End of Module Evaluation 

Similarly to last year, I was very apprehensive about COP as a module as I struggle with writing. To make sure I did not leave the essay till last minute I made sure to start straight away and had weekly sessions with my DSA tutor. These sessions have been really helpful, giving me the much-needed confidence in my own writing. They have made the thought of a 3000 word essay less daunting, due to the weekly workload set, allowing my essay to slowly but surely come together over a long period of time. 

At the beginning of the year I was really unsure about what type of subject I wanted to look into, I worried I would make the wrong decisions on a essay question and loose interest/momentum with it.

Though I was not set on the question I chose to research into homelessness, luckily I was aware of a project-taking place at ST George’s crypt (a homeless shelter) so I decided to take part, which allowed me to visit the crypt every Wednesday. This was a great opportunity for me to gain primary research into my subject. Though having to be involved in a separate project was very time-consuming and sometimes irrelevant to my COP study, the opportunity to experience the environment of the crypt and interact with the people made me more passionate about my project, which I feel has really helped the development of my essay and practical work. 

it has definitely opened my eyes and changed my opinions towards stereotyping homeless people, and how easy it can be for any of us to end up in such a desperate situation.

 At times I found this project quite challenging and intrusive when interviewing the users of the crypt.

my initial idea was to create 8 illustrations of 8 different homeless people i interviewed at the crypt, however after talking to tutors and thinking realistically, i decided to focus on one person. i felt that if i tried to illustrated 8 peoples stories the concept would not be as focused  and the final resolutions may not create a strong enough individual connection to someone’s personal life and therefore my piece wouldn't be as empathetic. i found by focusing on the one person, i was able to really explore them as a person, which made it easier for me to try and illustrate there life with sensitivity and justice. 

 To adhere to the brief, i had to then think about how to visually communicate the persons (Tony's) in the format of an 8-12 publication. However after discussing with Eleanor she reassured me that the work I was creating and then laying up into the one portrait collage image substitutes for the amount of work asked for from 8-12 publications. 

I have definitely learnt the importance of primary research in this project, i feel the work I have produced from the case studies have much more of a personal, sensitive aspect to them due to my aspiration to communicate the person/people I met and do them justice in what I create. 

I feel I have began to envisage my work with context and publication in mind in this module, thinking about where the illustrations would go and how and it would be seen as this is something I have had to be aware of in other modules. I think this has helped me develop and push my ideas further, such as considering how the audience will interact and understand my idea by experimenting with creating a jigsaw from the collage illustration.

To communicate the homeless persons life journey in images I decided to use a collage method, layering up individual illustrations on Photoshop creating one image of he’s story. This allowed me to really focus on one image at a time adding the pencil details I wanted to produce intricate pieces, helping connote my concept and the sensitivity of someone’s individual life. 

 Though I have primarily created my piece by hand, I have had to tackle working with Photoshop to collage the illustrations together, which has been challenging. However I feel this is something I needed to do to improve my skills as I believe digitally editing can really increase the professionalism of someone’s work. 

When drawing the portrait of Tony (homeless man) I started off with the multiple fine liner drawing which I have been developing in previous projects I thought this would be a ideal technique to illustrate and strengthen my concept as the multiple lines looked like the grains of a tree, a visual metaphor for the many different journeys in life.  However I found this made the portrait to bold, so I decided to draw in pencil as I felt this gave the more gentle effect I was after. 

With the jigsaw idea, I have had to consider text to replicate instructions given in a commercial puzzle, I wanting to make the context of the jigsaw as realistic and professional as possible so research a variety of game instructions for inspiration of layout. When experimenting with font and layout in previous projects, I have found this very difficult to get right, as can alter the whole tone of a publication, after testing myself; I ask my flat-mate (graphic design student) for advice. He helped me with the composition and font of the instructions pages improving the continuity of the tone of voice, creating a strong recognition. 

After spending a long time on the development and refining my illustrations, I feel the printing and presenting of my work could be better. I need to spend more time thinking about what paper and what size paper to print on, as I feel this has slightly lessened the impact of the illustration/s from not experimenting with this. 

Basing my illustration around the information and interview material I used in the essay I feel my practical work represents my theory well. Because I decided on an idea early on, I found it more straightforward and clearer to link the two together as I was working on both at the same time.

creating page on Facebook

creating a Behance page.

i have been meaning to set up a behance account for some time now, and after my friend suggesting to me this may be a more appropriate platform for inspiration and potential work than my  Facebook page it encouraged me more. 

why have i not done this sooner! while setting up my bechance page i can already see the benefits, being able to view other creatives work, and for them to view yours back seems like a much more appropriate platform for potential clients or collaborative work. 

 i like the way you are able directly post your work elsewhere whilst posting to bechance- such as Pinterest, allowing me to cover and hopefully reach more viewers. 

i havent added much to my page yet but plan to explore and add more! 

20th april

monday- bring things in/show what i am proposing to do

is your designs right for who you are trying to approach

make sure I AM happy with them -please yourself


placement - doesnnt have to be illustration publishers - could be graphics, fashion

creative cv is different from usual cv
what motivates me
what person i am
what i like creatively
an interview without being there
could be a illustrated story of my life- book


promo pack
-graze box style?
-so your always prepared in showcasing work
think about how its going to be send/packaged


ppp presentation in a type of pack - digital pack

Synergy -

show awareness of platforms you could deliver yourself - email, e cards, post cards,
magnets - make work that is in context of a magnet - illustrate whats in the fridge


Use brief as a SHOPPING LIST

CARDS- could be just with text on and you add illustration as you hand them out
mugs
stress ball

studio brief 1 - eval and blog all

studio brief 2 - eval and blog all

studio brief 3 creative presence:
read brief!
promotion pack!
online presence -up and running
blog-demotrating research

ppp presentation:
(look in creative statergy brief)
work I've found interesting throughout the year (Pinterest)
identifying how aloft investigation i have done has started to shape what my professional practice is going to be and how i am going to explore this in level 6 -we will start taking to-contacts of areas i am interested in, what visits, etc

I'm going to be...
in order to do this i need to develop...
certain discipline

reflect my own creative statergys, my promotional material
proffesional, organised, clear manner
certain aspects nailed and a slide of things i am not sure about?

protentials (what i want to do)

• Magnets
• business card
• badges
• rubbers
• pen/ pencil

vistaprint mechanise lists for inspiration

other ways to make myself visually recognisable

so far with my promo pack/business card development, i have focused my designs on using work i have produced for particular themes instead of creating a logo/illustration i could use to illustrate myself to put on my business card and other promotional merchandise. i feel my style/ work tends to illustrate serious themes and not so much cartoon or character based so therefore i am finding it hard illustrating myself as a character. 

i think using existing work which showcases my illustrative style is more appropriate for my promo material. however i do want to have something that will maintain the same on everything in my pack and everything i do in the future so i am recognisable with it, such as a simple logo or the text i use to sit along side the illustrations. 

below i have researched into fronts/logos which creatives have used to write their name. something i could do. 

i really like how this person has included drawings/doodles within the text of her name. 

playing around with illustrating my name 

i really like how this promotion pack is compact with the promotion material inside. this has given me the idea to do the paper cover for rubbers, pencils - i feel this is appropriate for my profession i am promoting (illustrator i.e drawing with the pencils and rubbers). i like the idea of promoting myself on mechanise that will be used instead of just thrown to the side due to the irrelevance of them in everyday life. pencils, rubbers, notebooks will be used and therefore my name and practice will be remembered when the product is in use. 

i really like the simplicity go these two promo packs above,  because my work focuses on detail i think a simple designs style and layout  like these will work best for my promo pack, using negative space around my illustration to make it a focal point i.e the onion in the middle of the creative cv cover. i think this style will also communicate my work strategy/personality swell -  accurate, precise, detailed. i also think the type of work i tend to produce has a more sensitive, realist approach ( i.e not necessarily deal with humorous, entertainment issues) 

Add caption

Applying to Compettions

as part of our responsive module, we were required to entire a variety of live and competition briefs.
i found this module to be very self initiated and independently driven which i feel is a taster to the way we will have to work upon graduating. Fred fittingly pointed out after the module submission that applying to competitions shouldn't just stop now the module is over, this is something we should carry on doing throughout our practice, another way to radiate and promote our work.

OUIL503 end of module evaluation

Responsive Module Evaluation. 

This module has definitely opened my eyes as to what it would be like as an illustrator outside of education. Before this module it was easy to confine myself inside a bubble of course briefs, with just a grade result as my target. it has allowed me to think about my work within the creative  industry, outside of the studio environment and beyond the competition of just my course peers- scary thought!

Working with ‘real world’ clients has allowed me to experience working to their individual deadlines and requirements, though I am used to working to strikes deadlines, the consequences are much different to education. If I were to miss a deadline within my university course, this would effect my overall grade, letting myself and tutors down, whereas in the professional industry, there is no pressure from clients. it does not effect them if I enter my work or not, though my failure to do so would ultimately stop me from potentially being recognized or considered in any future illustration work, inevitably threating my own success as a illustrator. This made me more determined to reach deadlines, being responsible for a wasted opportunity that could effect my accomplishment, as an illustrator is something I did not want wresting on my shoulders. 

I found the set up of the module quite confusing and overwhelming at first, being in-charge of what briefs to undertake was quite a responsibility, I worried that I would chose a brief that I may loose interest in or hit a creative block with, however, from experience with other modules and discussion with tutors and peers, this is something that is probable with even your ideal brief, there Is no escaping! 

Choosing individual briefs has really encouraged me to become more decisive, something I lacked massively before hand due to lack of confidence in my own ideas, I tended to rely on others for guidance and opinions as I felt I needed reassurance that I was ‘on the right track’.

Though this has improved my confidence, making me a stronger and self-assured illustrator, and has allowed me to experience what it will be like after university, it has also made me appreciate peer reviews, feedback sessions, and being surrounded by other creatives.  I feel input off others and being influenced by different design styles can really push my practice forward, and is something I will keep in mind after university. 

One thing I regret with in this module was not clarifying what was classed as a substantial brief, I was under the impression every brief has to be as intense as our main individual practice ycn brief so I therefore choice 3 other from ycn. I think by doing this I put myself under more pressure as the deliverables from each were rather extensive.

Learning how to Present our work to a profession level has been a substantial part of this module and is something I did not see as essential until now. It has been great to see how much better work can look in a effective, clear design layout. I have definitely become more aware and critical of how I present my work, especially comparing my current boards to the boards we had to create for our first individual practice crit. I have learnt not to over complicate with text and allow the visuals to talk for themselves, the first thing the client should be hit with is a impact board to showcase my work and drawn them In. 

Though presentation boards can massively improve the look of my work, they do take time; I need to make sure I account for this time within the deadline future. 

As we are being advised to have our own online presence, I have began to put my work online and on to social media sites to promote my practice, however as the work produced for this module is for competition entries, I have had to consider withholding work until after deadlines to avoid the chance of plagiarism, something we have been warned about in our PPP module, and something I would perhaps not of thought about before.  Contrary to this, I have tried to evidence and justify my ideas and thought processes as much as possible on my blog to avoid accusations of copyright myself. 

To being with, I was not particularly enthusiastic, and was quite apprehensive to start the collaborative practice brief due to past experiences of collaborations, personally i would rather be responsible for my own work, I feared that if the project did not go as well as hoped, I would feel I would of let the other person down as well as myself. 

Never the less, as this was a compulsory part of the module, I began to look for a partner to work with that could improve my practice. Unfortunately many people had already found pairs so I was put into a predicament by my tutor to choose from the creatives that were left. Luckily I was partnered with Joe boyd, another illustrator on my course, I was really happy to be partnered with him as our practices are quite different, our strengths are opposite to each other so this will therefore hopefully make for a stronger project outcome. 

To begin with, both me and Joe were quite timid with our opinions and idea, I was reluctant to instruct or suggest alternate routes due to my lack of self -assurance, there was no authority or controller in our partnership which at times made it difficult to make a decision. However as time went on and we spent more time together, it became easier, we understood that our opinions were not said to offend but used to improve our projects which would inevitably benefit us both. 

Overall, I found this module very useful as I have come to realize that illustration is not just down to the work you produce, there are many other aspects that need to be considered, such as deadlines, communication with the client, the presentation/delivery of work, etc. It has made me more confident as a creative by pushing me out of my comfort zones and forcing me to have trust my decisions. 

using myself instead.

after seeing peers and other illustrators business card idea i realised alot of them were branding/illustrating themselves,  however because my style is realistic i thought drawing myself would not have the same effect. it would also have to be really true to life to make it obvious it was me. - a challenge!

i looked through some photos to see if there was any i could draw from.
i found this one and thought it might be appropriate seen as though i am wearing artistic clothing. however i feel i would definitely need to have a photoshoot to get a picture that was high quality for me to capture detail and i would also prefer a picture that wasn't posed. 

business card development

i am really stuggling to think of what i could illutrate to sit on my business cards and the rest of my promo pack.
as my illustrative style is usually of people or illustrative a particular issue, i am finding it hard to settle on a single object or person i could draw.
i have seen that other have illustrating things

creative business card idea

 as a contributor to my promo pack having a complimentary sweet that reveals and stores my contact information on would hopefully make me creatively rememberable.
the context of this idea (chocolate/sweets) is also describes aspects of my individuality- (chocoholic!)

Visual identity -

• blogger header, 
• tumblr header

• creative cv
• badges
• notebook - though i like the idea that a notebook/sketch book links to creativity and will adhere to other creatives that i may aim to collaborate with for illustrative work, creating these notebooks on a large scale will be expensive.

Tumblr Online presence

Creative cv potential design layout

this idea is to show the finished illustration when the cv leaflet is closed  (the line in the middle shows the 2 flaps of the  leaflet joining.) below is the design layout i could use for the inside page, showing how the illustration is spilt in two.

with this idea in mind, to make it more about me, i could illustrate myself, and when the leaflet is opened to read my creative cv, and for the client to find out 'about me' the illustration is dissected, revealing 'the inside me' with writing. 

things i aim to consider when producing my promo pack.

consider communicating my personality -illustrative(work) personality and individual personality (i.e interests/beliefs/humour/likes/dislikes)

needs to catch the eye of a potential client.

think about how mine can be different from others-make it rememberable.

professionally presented 

do not overcomplicate or overload with text - need to remember I'm a creative - SHOW THIS!

Contain specific information such as experience and understanding of personal goals and achievements.

ideas for promo pack products

key rings
badges
pebbles
stickers
costas
beer matts

note pad

consider season/occasions
e.g - illustrated eggs for easter!