YOU ARE HERE - Hanbury Hall Event

The Day

We had the opportunity to interview lots of professionals from different sectors of the creative industries. It was also a great opportunity for our class to go on a trip together.

Big Active & Blink Art

• Opportunities to work outside of illustration - other disciplines.
• Trends - Magazines & Billboard Ads. Only 5% - less print based.
• Be aware of changes.
• Useful to have an agent to tell you - How do you get an agent?
• Art buyers - used to be just for print - changed. Digital too - more inter-disciplinary.
• Blink Productions.
• Do you hire illustrators to do animation?
• Work with people before signing them.

• What young people are interested in - trends.
• Having an individual style.
• Deeper level - emotional intelligence.
• Creative teams - ideas people.
• Possible collaboration opportunities.
• Blink industries - TV shows.
• Don't discount traditional means of communication.
• Blogs - itsnicethat
• Individuality.
• Weird visual references - personality into your work.

Anthropologie - Nicola

• URBN
• Detail
• Broad demographic - location.

Networking - Contact

I spoke to a few speakers during the event which was useful, but I got the most out of talking to some alumni in the pub afterwards. Dean and Angelika were really helpful and gave me an insight into what life after Uni is like and their journey to working for a children's publishing agency, 'Advocate Art'. I showed them some of my work on instagram and they advised me on who to talk to, and how to get an internship.

After we got back to Leeds, I contacted them again through instagram thanking them for the advice, and also got in contact with the people they had recommended to me. I sent some examples of my work and a statement about my practice to Advocate Art and they asked me to do an internship with them. At the moment I am very busy with Uni work and other things so I plan to do this after Uni at some point. They agreed that I could get in contact again when I knew I could take 2 weeks off. I am happy that I am starting to plan things for the future and give myself a variety of options.

Printed Mini Concertina

I printed off around 20 of these books, which I then attached to covers, much like a normal concertina book. I like that I was able to include a sort of spine for each one, and I think the printing came out better as a single sided matte image than on the double sided printer.

The Dots - Questions

Interviewing The Dots - Leanne Hammill

Intro

The Dots are an online networking site for creative people.

Questions

1. Who are The Dots for?
2. How did The Dots come about?
3. How does The Dots work?
4. What are the key things you should be thinking about when promoting yourself and your work? Especially the relationship between yourself as an individual and your work.
5. Should the portfolio be specific to a specialist area, or is it better to show a variety of work?
6. What do you personally look for in a portfolio, and what makes a successful portfolio?
7. A lot of us here are studying illustration, you obviously work in the creative industries in a less traditional way, (than for example being a photographer or illustrator). What opportunities do you think there are for people who want to work more broadly within the creative industries? What was your journey to get to where you are?
8. What is the best piece of advice you would give to a recent graduate in the creative industries?

Extras - other things to ask about?

• Releasing an app (new) - makes it more accessible to contact people and network on the go.
• Vibe of the brand - friendly yet professional. How to get this balance right?

The Dots - Profile

Before Hanbury (where I am interviewing someone from The Dots) I thought it would be good to make a profile! Looking at how it is run, I think it's good that there's basically a linkedin for creative people. I will be adding more projects as I work the site out a bit more. There is also an option to search for job in the creative sector which could come in very handy also!

Final Concertina Design

Here is the final concertina design for the inside of the mini book. I had a lot of fun playing around with concepts - it was such a nice relief from the cop hand in to do something just for myself and not so pressurised by an imminent deadline.

Front & Back Covers

I thought about how to present the concertina for a while. I settled on creating a binding design, with the intention of making it look like a little book. I also wanted it to be held together somehow, as a loose concertina could be a pain to carry around with me. I am excited to see the final result of the printed copy!