9 May 2016

Chris Madden advice

Previous Stockport college student and illustrator Chris Madden seemed like a really good person to ask for advice from. I want to follow a similar path to his own and my work is similar in its style - the use of visual metaphors. He gave some really great advice on my work. Thanks Chris :)  - His website http://www.maddenillustration.co.uk


Advice

I have had a proper look through your website and have a few pointers for you. Obviously, this is just my opinion and you should definitely listen to your own instincts, too.

Overall, your work looks really strong - it’s clear that you are very skilled with a pencil, a lot of illustrators these days rely too much on ‘style' to carry them, without having a good understanding of the basics (I am one of them) so that’s a really good strength to have.

With regards to your portfolio, I think a few minor tweaks here and there will make it look really great. 
In my opinion, your strongest work is the 'NHS Waiting Times’ and ‘Soldiers Stories’ images. They display a really good range of skills, the ability to portray a visual idea, and are bold and colourful - all qualities that art directors look for in an illustrator’s work. 

In the B&W images (snow leopard/being homeless) I would be inclined to add an element of colour - maybe even just a flat grey if you want to keep them monochrome - so there is a definite contrast between the background and focal points. The elements are really well drawn but all merge together and become difficult to see, some nice contrasting colours would really help. 

A few pointers on your website - I know you will be working on your site constantly, so you may be in the process of implementing my suggestions already.
I think your site would benefit from a little bit of context. Having a short description of what each image relates to can really help ADs visualise your thought process and how you may fit into their publication. It only really needs to be a sentence or synopsis of the article/book/essay you illustrated. Also, naming the publication is a good idea as it shows that you’ve been trusted to work for somebody else before, so an AD will feel more comfortable trusting your with their assignments.

Other than that, I think you’re on the right track. You’ve obviously found a way of making images that works for you. I can definitely see you doing well with Editorial clients with this kind of work.
If you have anymore questions, just ask and i’ll try to get back to you as quickly as possible.

Good Luck with it all - looking forward to seeing your degree show!


6 May 2016

A Tug of War


This is the final image I have produced for this unit of work. It was one of my original ideas for this project. Based on NHS waiting times the idea behind it is a tug of war between doctors and politicians/business types in the struggle of the NHS. The politicians wanting one thing and the doctors the other, all the while the life of the NHS represented by the red life line being pulled in the middle.

This piece works metaphorically for me and really represents what the story is about.

1 May 2016

Client List

The most difficult part of being an illustrator in my opinion is knowing where your work fits in. After a few years of improving my drawing and finding a consistent style I have found that my work and own enjoyment is in current affairs and social issues, so editorial work is where I want to work in the future.
Using the AOI client list, I have come up with a list of potential clients that I can work with and that I feel suit my own style of work.
  • The Independent 
  • Daily telegraph
  • Money observer 
  • Financal Times - Weekend - Im really interested in this client as they use highly conceptualized work and I can see my work fitting in there. I have sent out samples of my work to them.  
  • Creative Review 
  • Radio Times 
  • The Big Issue 
  • New Internationalist 
  • Sunday Times 
  • The Spectator 
  • Financal Times business - Highly Conceptualised. I really like the style of their illustrations so I will be sending samples of my work to them
  • The Guardian - Im interested in this client as they often take on new illustrators and I can see my work fitting in there. I have sent samples of my work to them. 
I know I'm aiming high from the list above, but from the AOI list these clients are the most suited to my style of work. I will keep researching and looking for other clients of a similar nature. 

I didn't want to just limit myself to just editorial as I have to be adaptable and able to work in a number of fields, so I am looking into publishers as well.