Worries About Choosing/Doing Briefs

So I still haven't managed to make much progress with my one a week brief project. I just seem to have lost a load of confidence with my visual work for some reason, maybe because I feel like I haven't found what my little niche is just yet. This is making it so difficult for me to choose briefs to work on, as I always have the pressure in the back of my mind that I need to specialise on an area that will be of benefit in the future/help me find work when I graduate etc.

I sort of feel as if I have a bit of a creative block; whenever I open my sketchbook to a blank page I get this overwhelming sense of negativity and doubt within my ability that makes me not want to draw at all. This is extremely frustrating because I have so many fun ideas for briefs that I could potentially really benefit from, but I just can't seem to get it onto paper, or take beyond my sketchbook like the virgin media brief that I failed to submit.

What will be my solution to this irrational anxiety ridden nonsense?  I really desperately need to get started on something or else I will be playing catchup for the rest of the year, rushing my pace to get the six briefs done...which is making me more anxious. Oh the irony! I have a tutorial with Matt next week which should be really refreshing because he hasn't seen how my work has developed properly since first year, and he may be able to help me join some of the dots of where I was two years ago and where I am now. So from that point I hope that I will be able to get back on my feet somewhat and head in a productive and positive direction with my work.

Virgin Media Box Brief

I spent a large proportion of last week sketching out ideas for an exciting brief to create design to be painted onto selected Virgin Media electrical boxes in Headingley, which I anticipated would be a quick turnaround and potentially rewarding and fun brief to partake in.

I researched the major road names in Headingley, and 'Cardigan Road' made me want to draw a load of wooly cardies! So that was the main direction of my development work, which I was really enjoying getting stuck into. I even made a Pinterest board called 'public art'.

BUT I DIDN'T SUBMIT IT!!!!!!!!! 😔

Why not?! Because I always get to a certain point in a project, then all of a sudden I just get completely side tracked by a load of irrational worries that prevent me from going any further. It sounds so stupid, but I just can't bear the thought of people making negative comments about the quality of my work (even though they probably don't?) which is something that IS NOT IDEAL IN MY LAST AND MOST IMPORTANT YEAR AT UNI.

So that is the sad story of the cardies, as well as my ridiculous level of anxiety getting in the way of my work as usual. BUT, every cloud has a silver lining. These drawings could be used elsewhere, and there is nothing to say that they have to hide away in my sketchbook. Thank goodness for the applied illustration module last year giving me an insight into the many ways in which images can be used. Hooray! 

So, now is the time to think of how I can recycle my cardies, look at other briefs to fill the blank of this one, and gain some bloody confidence. 

Statement of Intent- October 2016

Self-Directed Briefs

I'm really struggling with one a week ideas because I just want to try out a load of different things all at the same time, which is impossible! The reason for all of this confusion is that I don't know what area to focus in on because I have quite a broad range of interests and have no idea where to start, or which area would benefit my practice in the future. AAAAAHHH!

So here are my (really rough) ideas:

• Screen printed plant of the week: To get back into the swing of screen printing, set myself the task of designing and making a different plant themed print every week to become part of a series.
• Health editorial of the week: Select an article from The Guardian and re-design an editorial illustration based on the theme of health
• Monday Morning Mantras: Every Monday, post a positive mantra/thought of the day on social media(to try and lift the spirits of that 'Monday morning feeling')
• Greetings card a week?

Extended practice is certainly taking a seat on the back burner at the moment because my head is all over the place stressing about COP. But I really need to think about what I'm going to write on my statement of intent by the 20th...so much to think about and so little time! 

Brief Writing Workshop

Rationale: the core that shapes my body of work; one THING that represents me. It can't really be random.

Portfolio: has to show product, range and distribution. Also has to show a demonstration of context, which is more likely to be convincing towards a client.

Group task: Come up with a list of briefs:

• Secret 7
• Illustration Friday
• Inktober
• Decks for change
• Penguin design award
• Pan Macmillan
• Cheltenham prize for illustration
• Folio society
• YCN
• D&AD
• Quirty T-shirts
• Loop-de-loop
• Drawlloween

Disciplines/Areas/Themes:

• Music album art work
• Book cover design
• GIF/animation
• Children's book illustration
• Editorial
• Character design
• Concept/narrative
• Printmaking
• Textile printing
• Surface pattern design
• Greetings cards
• Stationery
• Fashion illustration
• Publishing/self publishing

Benefits of One-a-week briefs:

• Implements self discipline
• Quick turn around
• Allows you to develop through repetition
• Gradually produce a good body of work
• Constant reflection and evaluation
• No restrictions
• Doesn't matter if it is wrong
• Allows you reflect upon your interests
• Experimental

Benefits of Live/Competition briefs:

• Working to deadlines
• Gets your work exposed
• Could win money and opportunities
• Potential for collaboration
• Chance to research a new area of interest
• Level of professionalism 

Summary

Today's session made me think more carefully about what it is that I want to get out of the briefs that I choose. The idea of my practice being quite broad is making me feel a bit apprehensive in terms of what briefs I think I should choose. Perhaps I am thinking too far into the future along the lines of 'if I do this brief I could have a better chance at getting a job in such and such', which isn't really very helpful. Over the next week I am going to try and think more in the present, i.e. what I am enjoying now, and go from there.

Rationale Workshop

The aim of today's workshop was to narrow down our practice in terms of where we want to be at the end of the course and embarking on our creative careers.

5 Things I want to make

• Prints/designs that can be applied to a range of products (like 505)
• Book Jackets
• Educational books for children and adults
• Greetings cards
• Workshop pack

5 Practical skills to develop 

• Screen printing
• Hand rendered processes e.g. painting with gouache and watercolour
• Hand written type and layout
• How to draw PEOPLE in my sort of 'tone of voice'
• 3D and haberdashery

5 Disciplines to explore

• Publishing and book design
• Children's illustration
• Public and large scale?
• EDUCATIONAL
• Character and narrative

 5 Practitioners that inspire me

• Elsie Gravel
• Amy Isla
• Mike Lowry
• Tracey English
• Ashley Percival

5 Things I want to find out

• Where my work sits within the industry
• How I can become more confident in my work
• What kind of people appreciate my work. Who is my audience and what is the best way to communicate with them?
• What kind of people I should and shouldn't work with
• Finances! How to be savvy with numbers and financially stable in my creative career

 5 Places I want to go

• Tigerprint (potentially) for an internship??
• Somewhere that I can talk to interesting people that I don't already know
• London- D&AD to exhibit my work (and hopefully find a job?)
• WORKING STUDIOS
• A place I've never been, and visually document it

5 Things I don't want to do ever again

• Move back home and get into the cycle of having a dead end job and never moving back to a city
• Use after effects on my own (I need moral support!)
• Run to a submission...
• Stay up all night doing work
• Lose interest in my practice!

 Establishing Wants and Needs

This enabled us to prioritize what needs to be done in the time we have left at college.
Wants: RED
Needs: BLUE

Narrowing down wants and needs


WANTS

• To get an internship
• To be confident in my work
• To gain experience working FOR a company before I start freelancing or further study
• Produce a strong range of products to kickstart my Etsy shop and increase my online presence
• Develop a broad portfolio; show employers that I am very adaptable

NEEDS

• Develop a stronger tone of voice through story telling, character and narrative
• Visit studios, contact agencies and find out who I want to work for and establish my portfolio to fit the direction of employment I want to take
• Focus on hand rendered image making processes and techniques; screen printing in particuler
• Establish my online presence; emphasis on sustaining my Etsy show to become my 'cash cow'
• Gain a substantial level of knowledge about how I can publish my work i.e. approach educational organisations, book/art stores etc 

Five Clear Statements

I want to research how illustration can be used as a persuasive device in the context of advertising, with the aim of changing behaviour. This is because I want my work to inform, inspire and educate people of all ages. This means I will be able to put my ideas forward on issues that I am passionate about, through a passionate way of working. This could open up opportunities to work in ethical advertising, editorial and educational illustration.

I need to establish my online presence because it will help me create potential contacts, and develop a larger audience that is being exposed to my work. This means I will be able to potentially find some clients, discover opportunities and sell more products on my Etsy shop.

I want to have the chance of doing an internship at somewhere like tiger print, or a creative advertising industry. I aim to apply by Easter, so then I will be more focused on the direction that I'd like to go in career wise. This means I will be able to gain an insight into whether I would work best in a studio environment after graduating.

I need to develop a stronger tone of voice within my work, which will allow me to communicate my passion and interests through the way I present my ideas visually. My rationale(in progress)concerns the emotive and informative impact that illustration can provide in a persuasive context on the theme of health and wellbeing. This means I will be able to find clients and audiences that really appreciate and understand the messages I am trying to communicate within my work, which will be both self-fulfilling for myself and inspiring to the audience.

I need to become a lot more confident in my work because this is something that I really struggle with, and find myself becoming restrictive in terms of who and what I apply myself to. This means I will be able to approach professionals more easily when looking for work as well as gaining constructive advice in how I can continue to develop my practice.

Initial Statement of Intent