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!