Evaluation of the Module

The module was a learning curve for me to be prepared for the professional world of the art industry. A lot of practical and technical work that was involved had me pushed my limits to produce extra work (especially for the London Book Fair) to get enough content for both my physical and online portfolio. Looking back, I should have pre-emptively planned ahead of extra work just in case if I were to be in a tight spot where I need to do more than expected, just as I had experienced it with the productions of new illustrations that was needed for my portfolio.

I’m glad that this module allowed me to explore the different possibilities to promote myself through online platforms and physical products which will be crucial over the years if I ever need to expand on that. Decision making had played a huge role on everything I have produced (business cards, choosing promotional items, portfolio selection, etc.) and it had an impact on the development to get to where they are as the final outcome.

I was somewhat overwhelmed by the significant amount of work needed to be done for the London Book Fair (as well as for the online portfolio) and it has put a bit of strain on my mental endurance, or pressure on my abilities to produce final artworks in a matter of 1 or 2 days for each one and it was tiring, though it was worth it and has allowed me to push further to work faster and be more efficient with time.

Tutors were very helpful for both practical and analytical feedback and they had offered very good advice on exploring different alternatives to reach the outcome and/or adjustments to fine tune my decisions. I think I rely a bit too much on the tutors for help, but I was aiming to seek discussions with them on what I can do and how to move forward with my work for this module as I want to get the best out of it as possible.

The end results for my promotional items had met my expectations, especially my business cards and this module had taught me all, if not, most things on how to promote yourself through digital media, products and how to approach things at a professional manner.  

Creative CVs

For the creative CV, I would want to present my information in a clean, creative manner, although at the same time I would want to make it look ‘arty’ with small illustrations for visual engagement, however having too much of those would make it look cluttered and visually distracting. To get an insight of the type of creative CVs out there I will look into various CVs and explore how each one represents the artist in terms of presentation, colour, design and layout. 

Key things I found when looking at different creative CVs - 

-        Lists of Education, generally grades of related courses to their career.

-        Short biography/profile. Some CVs don’t provide this information, although I think it is necessary to let the client briefly know who you are with a short statement.

-        Lists of work experience they had done. Can be of generic work experience you had done (retailing, etc.) though it is mostly of commissions and art related works/projects you were involved with clients.

-        List of relevant skills, mostly of programmes or primary tools they use as well as secondary skills that indirectly supports their professional practice, e.g. traditional skills with your primary skills are digital or vice-versa.

-        Visually imagery. Mostly a self-portrait illustration in the centre or foreground. Small illustrations or tally symbols to fill negative space to make it visually engaging.

-        Colours. Not much variety though I can see the reason for them to be in 1-2 colour tones (especially black and white) for a clean presentation. Most of them were either black and white or pale colours that mix well that doesn’t interfere with the text or making it visually unappealing to look at due to contrast.

Other CVs can be a practical or an interactive product like a booklet or flyer, though my personal taste is for a CV that is straight forward (like the ones I had looked into with the above creative CVs) with illustrations that makes it visually appealing.

Thumbnails for simple text placement

Version 1 of my CV. Putting in general information about myself as an artist and basic text placement.

2nd revision. Adding in basic shapes and small illustrations.

3rd revision. Adding more information and shapes to the CV. Also reflecting and evaluating on potential changes to improve the presentation of my creative CV.

Small illustrations and small logos to be placed on my creative CV. In order to personalise my CV to make it unique, I illustrated a character to be placed in areas with negative space to make it visually engaging so the CV is not just text, which could make it generic and somewhat plain. Discussion with my tutor recommended small illustrations just so there is something going on my CV, although not too many that will make it too cluttered. 

4 revision of my CV. Illustrations were added and had rearranged some of the text placement. 

Evaluating the current revised CV to see if any changes needed to improve the presentation.

After going through several revisions of my CV and getting some feedback from tutors, they advised not to put any illustrations simply because they will clutter around the CV (also pointing out that it doesn’t really make it anymore more presentable) though alternatively if I still wish to still use an illustration, I could use a large scale image that can be used in the background. After taking the feedback into account I decided to leave the illustrations out and just tweak the text/font accordingly to the annotations from the notes. 

Final version of my CV. Printed on normal paper (left) and on thick cartridge paper (right).

I decided to do some test printing whether my CV should be printed on cartridge paper or regular paper and the outcome in terms of quality is definitely better than on regular paper (the colours and sharpness is much clearer on cartridge paper). From this result cartridge paper will be used to print my CV.

PROMOTIONAL ITEM - POSTERS

As an artist, one of the promotional items that I am seeking to produce are posters, which are one of the primary items I am willing to use for my artworks to be put into context for decorative/display purposes. Most of my personal/original works can be used as posters, similar as with many other illustrations out there in the market where artists sell prints of their original pieces. 

Most artists who sell original prints as posters are generally A4-A3 sizes, particularly in events for customers who can easily carry them with ease, compared to A2-A1 posters which will be difficult to carry around and these sizes are often bought through an online store. From my experiences from attending these events, it is clear that the sizes of poster/prints from what I seen are generally A4. Though personally, for this promotional item (posters) I will go for A2 at the least. I will not seek out to get anything bigger than A1 or a movie size poster as they are will take an awful amount of space that people will probably won’t have enough wall space to put them on.

Chosen images from my personal works that I think can be put into context as a poster for decoration purposes. 

Looking at it from a seller’s point of view, I will need to mass print the posters at a relatively cheap cost, while selling each poster for a reasonable amount that will help get back the money from the investment in printing them. I will refer back to the experiences I have from last year and this year’s True Believer’s event, where I sold prints (fanarts at the time) to customers who were interested in my content that I am targeting them with. With the knowledge I have gained from this, I will revisit the website where I had mass printed the prints for those events to see if the cost of printing A2/A1 posters will be at a reasonable amount. 

Knowing how to price products and the amount of money that will be invested towards printing the images is critical as this will help with financial stabilisation and growth if I were to set up an online store to sell prints or/and merchandise in the future, as making money as an artist can be somewhat unstable over the years depending on how many contract and commission work you would be given. 

The website I will revisit is doxdirect, an online printing website that can help you print booklets, leaflets, posters, brochures, etc. which I have used to print some original work and fanarts for last year’s and this year’s True Believers event.

Calculating the cost of printing a single A2 sheet (including the paper weight, process to print and edge-to-edge printing). This is the minimal price (£6.67) I will have to pay in order to print just 1 sheet of A2 paper. 

Printed.com

Looking into another website to see the price of printing a single A2 sheet for a poster on Printed.com. The price is more expensive (£10.50) plus the site also charges £4.50 for a standard delivery, boosting the overall price I will have to pay, unlike doxdirect where the delivery charge will be free for prints costing £1.50 or more. 

Vistaprint

The pricing for an A2 print on this website is £7.49, which is average for its price, though doxdirect is still cheaper (by 82p) however, the more prints you purchase on Vistaprint, the cheaper it gets according to the quantity and the price tag it is tied to, though you would need to purchase 3 or more prints for the deal you will be getting.

Vistaprint offers other customisations for your poster design, including one where you can simply upload your image (which will be the option I would choose) to print large illustrations. 

awesomemerchandise.com

I had quickly looked at Awesome Merchandise, an online website where you can print your design on various products. The price for an A2 print is £15, which is more than twice than the others, which is too much if I were to print a single copy for this module as a promotional item, however the price does become more decent if purchasing more quantities of it, which is good if you were to set up an online shop. 

There is an alternative way to print my promotional item rather than through a website and that is to use the IT facility as they have printers that can print up to A0. The cost is significantly cheaper, roughly £5 for a A0 print according to one of my tutors, which is ideal, however, the downside is that you cannot change the paper that it is already attached to the printer which means I have no choice in choosing paper quality (although it is matter paper which is good) but I am uncertain of how the colours might produce on the paper, as I have some work suffered with very poor colour quality when I used them for my previous projects to print. 

After exploring other printing websites to compare the price tags, I will still choose doxdirect over the others simply because I will only be printing 2 (or 3) different images to show them as my promotional items for the portfolio and promotion module. If I were to mass print them, then yes I will use a different website such as Vistaprint or Awesome Merchandise as the cost of printing in large quantities will be cheaper than printing on doxdirect which will be more expensive, or alternatively (if I was to be in a difficult situation) will print somewhere else like in a studio, etc. where it will not cost as too much. 

My A2 prints of each illustration from doxdirect

Due to the image size of the landscape illustration print it was expected to be printed with a white border as the original size does not fit to scale with an A2 size so I trimmed down the large negative space on the top and bottom of the print. Unlike the A2 portrait image that is printed all the way to the edge of the paper, I decided to leave a tiny white border around as I personally think it looks presentable with it rather than a full edge print. 

The end results of these large scale illustration prints are ok, personally I think the colours could have been a little stronger as the tones looks slightly faded. This could be the case of the type of printer that was being used to print these from the website (most likely a laser print but who knows). Since these are just one-off prints to show what these items are, if I were to mass print them as a sellable product, then yes I will use a different website that will be of a good investment when getting large quantities. I would probably would need to look further into the quality of the printing on each site in the future (for future reference if I were to set up an online store) to see if it is at a high standard, as the prints on each online printing service will vary from one another. 

PROMOTIONAL ITEM UPDATE - Business cards

After the success of having my portfolio website up and running, I decided to do a revised version of my business card by adding my website address to the contact section. With the first business card being successful and was given out to many people, I am beginning to be running low on the quantity I currently have and so I think it is time to get a second batch printed with the newly added website address.

The only configuration and adjustments I made was to move the current text on the card a little off centre to the top to make room for the web address to be placed at the bottom. The text of the web address was made a little bigger so it stands out slightly from the rest of the information, though at the same time not too large where it would stand out too much.

The tutor (Delores) approved with the tiny adjustments and it is ready to be sent to be mass printed. However, for the full illustration on the other side of the card, I decided to change the image simply because of the newer illustrations I have produced over the past week or two, feels a lot more appropriate and fitting that best describes my work at the moment.

Business card updated with the newly added web address to my online portfolio. (Business card version 2) 

Chosen illustration that will replace the current one for the other side of the business card. 

New batch of my business cards.

With the web address finally added I can now hand out my business cards with all the information that is necessary on it for clients and customers if they are interested in viewing my work or getting in contact.

The end result of my new business card is good as expected and I honestly feel this is what the outcome of my business card should have been originally when I first had them mass printed, though at the time I needed them for events (True Believers and the London Book Fair) and have not set up a functional website for my online portfolio. Despite spending more money to get the second batch printed, the money I had invested in to get this product produced was necessary for this module as this item is a must have for me as an artist who can give these out to potential clients and customers. 

Artist Research

There are a few artists who I am currently admire and follow through social media as my inspirations. These digital artists promotes themselves through various social media, such as Instagram, Tumblr and other art sharing websites (ArtStation, Deviantart, etc.) as well as YouTube and Patreon.

Ilya Kuvshinov – Freelance Illustrator

His works consists of female portraits which is his primary content in producing and identifying himself as an artist within the community. Other works includes studies (life drawings) and fanarts from various TV and pop culture entertainment. His way of promoting himself and exposure is primarily through Instagram and has a Facebook page. Patreon is one of his sources for financial income. 

Ross Tran – Digital Artist

Personal work of his own character

Fanart of a Japanese animated film, Spirited Away. A Studio Ghibli film by Hayao Miyazaki

Character illustrations as well as fanarts of characters from popular TV shows and games. His original illustrations focuses on an original character he had designed for a project, which he continues to expand upon. Uses YouTube to expand his exposure and interaction to the audience, as well as collaborating other artists for various one-of projects and self-promotion. Uses Instagram to post works he is currently doing and sneak peeks for his latest YouTube videos.

Feng Zhu – Concept Artist/Designer

Concept art and character design

The primary online platform he uses is YouTube to show online tutorials, Q&A, advice and provides free lessons. He doesn’t post as much in terms of his work, as his schedule as a teacher as well as a concept artist doing works for AAA products within the film and game industry gives him little time to post online. He has a blog that showcases his students’ works, as well as posting on his Facebook page. 

As a digital artist who is striving to improve, I see their works as inspirations as well as learning their methods and techniques from videos they post (Ross Tran and Feng Zhu) on YouTube. Also, it is something to visually look at that I find appealing, as it might spark ideas for my own works. Other source of inspirational information is YouTube videos, particularly from Feng Zhu, as he gives free online videos of many topics, such as designing characters, drawing environments, being efficient at working and how does the industry in design entertainment works in terms of marketing and employment which is really resourceful to know. Social media is perhaps the most optimal way to market and to self-promote as we are in the digital age of image sharing and connectivity with others who shares the same profession and interests with you. 

Video of Q&A with concept artist and designer, Feng Zhu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8V88OvCx10 

Reflection on Group/Indvidual Tutorials

Individual and group tutorials for this module (as well as with previous and other modules) were crucial to the development of my skills and progression. The weekly individual tutorials with each tutor had opened up a lot of discussions and advice of where I can move forward with my plans. Each tutors has offered their own perspective of what they think is right and in general they all share the same solution/outcome with each discussion.

With their knowledge and experience within the industry, each tutor shed some opinions of the things I can go forward with as a digital artist and ways I could optimally advance in my field of specialism. While I sometimes disagree and questions some of their advice, we mutually agree on most things we talked about, such as the content I should put on my website, various alternatives to meet the outcome and overcoming technical and practical problems, most importantly decision making, which I think the tutors played a major role in. At times when I’m uncertain on the project, I would seek advice to see if the discussion my tutors gave me may shed some new perspective on my projects, which had greatly helped me to keep my momentum going for the project.

Group tutorials are ok as each person can give their opinions and insights to the work we had done, though personally I think individual tutorials are better in terms of interaction and discussion as there are more input such as critical analysis.

These tutorials with Fumio, George, Delores and others throughout my modules were very useful and I am glad that the discussions I had with each one has opened up the possibilities of how I can improve my work as it is crucial to update them of my current progress so they can be aware of the development.

3rd Year Collaborative project

For this collaborative project we decided, as a whole year group, to create postcards based on our favourite book or poem (a sentence from a poem or a scene from a book, etc.) and will be using the method of screen printing with a limited colour palette of 2-3 colours. The decision of choosing the type of item we will create for the project as well as the process of making it has took some time, though there has not been any significant problems in our communications as a year group and made a private Facebook group to discuss the next steps and potential changes to our project.

Specifications for the Collaborative Project:

- A6 landscape

- 3mm white border

- Three layers of colours for separation – Rose, Turquoise, Payne’s Grey

- Website name in bottom left corner of the image, not intersecting the border

I do not read a lot of books myself so I will not be choosing any fictions books, so the other option is to choose is children’s books, as they are very simple in terms of storytelling and narrative. The children’s book I will be looking into will be “The Three Little Pigs” with its easy story that can be easily illustrated. My knowledge and experience in screen printing is not great so I will not be able to do complex layer separation with the limited colour palette in Photoshop (as this process is not in my strengths). I will try my best when it comes to the process of colour separation, though this will depends on how detailed/complex the illustration will be. 

Group organisation on our private group on Facebook for all of us to communicate and to resolve any potential problems in regards to the collaborative project. 

Thumbnails and Ideas

Quick thumbnails using basic shapes to illustrate the characters

Chosen illustration and outline

Finalised outline which will be put forward for the process of selecting negative spaces and correspond them to appropriate colours within the limited colour palette. There will be different tones of grey which will determine the shade of the colour (light and dark tones). 

Colour separation

Turquoise layer separation

Rose layer seperation

Payne's Grey layer seperation

Separating each space for the colours was somewhat of a long process as I find it slightly difficult to manage them, which is the reason why I made a simple illustration for my postcard as I do find it difficult on more complex images which I had done in previous projects from last year and from 1^st year.

Final image with all the layers visible ready for screen printing. The varying grey tones were changed to black at the last minute as I asked to see if there are any necessary changes needed. It appears that the group were unsure how well varying tones would print and was advised to have it all black, or use dot-tone to keep the shading and so I decided to make the layers in black colour just to make it easier for both me and the others who are in charge of handling the files and printing them. 

The process of all our postcards getting printed.

Conclusion and thoughts on the project

During the process of making the postcards after the announcement of the specifications, it all comes down to our individual responsibility and initiative to get it done and have it emailed to one of our classmates who will collect all of our images/Photoshop files in preparation for screen printing.

There have been a few updates during the development of the project over time through our private Facebook group page such as clarification on recent changes, as well as reminding those who needs to know what to do if they were not present at the meetings where we discussed about the project. The organisation of this project is somewhat loose, though as I pointed out before, this all comes down to our initiative and time management as there is no outside help from the tutors, as this is our responsibility as a year group to ensure this project is under control through organisation. 

I had no trouble with the work as everything was explained with clear instructions of the specifications we need to meet. Initially I thought things might not work out as well, where in the beginning of this project most of us are pretty indecisive on what to do and kind of shrug the project off until later on when some of us need clarification of what is happening. The project did went off on a slow start but we all managed to pick up the pace when we decided on what we want to make by voting. There could of have been a lot more contribution between each other, though with simple instructions to follow, this project was easily doable by using our initiative.