Presentation notes

SLIDE 1:

• intro slide

SLIDE 2:

• started the year on a slightly rocky note. at one point I wasn't even sure whether I was going to be continuing the course, but after that blip and realising it's what I really wanted to do I made sure I got completely stuck into the course and my practise
• Feel like I had a turning point last year within my practise, but I really feel like this year I have found my 'thing' as it were
• This year is probably the year I have most enjoyed as I feel like i'm finally starting to realise what it's like to be an illustrator

SLIDE 3:

• COP!
• feel like I always say the same thing about this module
• I found juggling my cop module with extended practise and felt as though I fell behind a bit in my practical work while I was completing this module 
• I explored the idea of open work in my extended essay which I found really interesting, but I did find it quite difficult to produce a practical outcome which had a strong link 
• i've kind of accepted after three essays essay writing will never be one of my strong suits
• feel like I can speak for everyone when I say there was a huge sigh of relief after it was handed in and I could get stuck back into practical work

SLIDE 4:

• At the beginning of this year I mentioned in my manifesto I wanted to explore shape, colour and composition further as I feel like these are probably the three key aspects of my practise
• I've made sure to think about these three thing carefully while i've been creating images, and i think they were especially successful in these screen prints i did for Batsford Prize
• for me this is probably my favourite piece of work i've created this year

SLIDE 5:

• screen printing
• another part of my manifesto was to try and explore a range of different image making process; I especially wanted to get into screen printing as I love the aesthetic but after a few bad attempts I got put off
• I forced myself to give it another go and loved it which is something i never thought i'd say
• It's definitely become a very important part of my practise and some of my favourite outcomes this year have been screen printed
• its something i want to carry on with in the future 

SLIDE 6:

• something else I never thought i'd really enjoy that much is collaborating, after last years collaboration which felt very forced and didn't go too well I was a bit put off by the idea
• But I got approached by Beth off of graphic design and decided to give it another go and it turned out to be a success
• the brief was to re-brand a small coffee shop in leeds called Pump N Grind. The deliverables were to create a mural, a new menu design, and a new window display as well as re-designing the logo for the coffee bags and also re-doing the chalk boards sings in the shop. We decided to make some stickers as well for a little extra
• we worked efficiently together to meet tight deadlines communicated well throughout the whole project and worked really well as a team. I'm happy with the finished re-brand and definitely couldn't have done it without Beth
• This has made me a lot more open to collaborations in the future as I can now see how beneficial it can be

SLIDE 7:

• and here are the finished images 

SLIDE 8:

• something I have loved taking part in this year was a stall me and my friends ran as a collective at Print Stuff in York
• Our collective was made up of 5 of us and it was really nice to experience this alongside them. 
• For the fair I concentrated on producing some screen prints to try and sell; thought on reflection it was evident that the things that sold the most were the smaller items such as ceramics and pin badges
• I did sell a few prints though which was exciting and it's given me a lot of confidence in my work and enough confidence to potentially take part in more print fairs in the future
• It was also great to be in a room full of such amazing practitioners and to be able to go and speak to them about their practitioners and life as an illustrator 
• I worked on a small piece of branding for my prints which links directly to the branding on my website

SLIDE 9:

• which is something i've finally made this year!
• I feel like I put it off for so long as I thought it was going to be a mammoth task, but after hearing over and over the importance of a website while applying for jobs and internships I finally made one
• I wanted to keep it fairly simple but contemporary. I kept a simple theme and colour scheme and made sure it wasn't too busy with clear links to different parts of the website
• It does feel slightly empty at the moment but I need to keep telling myself its a work in progess

SLIDE 10:

• another part of my online presence i've worked on a lot more this year is my instagram account
• I've made sure to post a lot more regularly and I've been thinking about what I've been posting more and when to post
• I feel like instagram is very important as an illustrator and can be vital for commissions and getting your work out there. it almost works as a mini portfolio but it's nice that you can make it a bit more personal
• I want to keep my feed bright and colourful to best reflect my practise as a whole. 

SLIDE 11:

• working on some live briefs and commissions this year has meant i've been able to see my work in the real world
• this was a set of commissions I worked on for Banger Magazine which is a music listings magazine. I have especially enjoyed working on these briefs because of the outcomes of the magazine. I love the graphic design and feel like the pages compliment my illustrations quite well! It's also been nice to see my work alongside graphic design and other illustrators work 
• I'm hoping I can continue making work for this magazine 

SLIDE 12:

• another part of my manifesto was to push myself to get my work out there. This has meant i've been submitting work to more exhibitions and trying to give myself opportunity's to showcase my work
• the first image is of my work at the fossgate social in york which was part of the run up to Print Stuff; I got a commission off the back of this after someone had seen my print in there which shows it was successful
• the second image is of my work at Anything Goes, an exhibition set up by a couple of people off of visual communication
• the last image is of my work in Further North, which came after me and some fiends exhibited some work in North Bar in Leeds last year

SLIDE 13:

• where my practise is now is completely different to where I started in first year. I can't believe how far my practise has come and I feel so happy to be truly enjoying making work. 
• I have recently been exploring wood cutting and making 3D objects of my figures which I am finding really enjoyable 
• it's so nice to be able to create physical objects which I can hold in my hands, and I feel like this is a direction I'd like to take my work in 

SLIDE 14:

• what next?
• Over the summer I really want to try and find a creative internship or some work experience so I can start building up a creative CV to start applying for jobs
• I really want to be living in London so this is a goal for me and where i'll be looking for internships etc 
• My short terms goals are to just continue making work, and to make sure I don't stop now that uni is over. I need to keep the momentum going and carry on exploring my practise. I'm really happy with the way things are going recently so for me the future feels quite exciting (but also very daunting of course)

SLIDE 15:

• thanks! any questions?