Unpack Your Practice

Confidence Boost: Today's session was a re-cap of what is expected from us in PPP, which simultaneously covered some of the grey areas with our group worries about graduating.

Tips from John:

• Think about what makes me, me!
• PPP is your business toolkit
• "You all wear different shoes, which shows you all have different tastes and interests. This is similar to your practice. You should be excited about this!"
• The future is full of opportunity, stop worrying about it
• Think about how I make work not what I want to be.
• Don't turn away from briefs, have your own take on things.
• YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

Task: Unpack your practice

What do you do best?

• Think and observe
• Interact with people
• Empathise with others and think about things in a broad context
• Try new things and rise to challenges
• Work in layers
• Communicate
• Explore
• Give advice
• Talk about food...
• Watercolour
• Mixed media
• Line work

How do I work best?

• When writing academically-silence
• In a studio environment around creative people to bounce ideas off from
• NOT in my bedroom at home in Grantham
• When I'm not stressed

Where do you see your practice now?

• Just coming out of a creative dip
• Worried about COP massively
• Excited about future briefs

Where do you want your practice to be? (how do you broaden your ambitions)

• At a place where I feel confident and have a sense of stability (and income)
• Where clients can see that I am adaptable
• If a client asks for a selection of my work, I can put a selection forward that I have confidence in and am proud of
• I would like to see my work in the wider economy, perhaps within the NHS or the health/caring industry, yet I am also interested in advertising and publications. Basically I want to do everything!!

How am I going to get there?

• Start believing in myself!
• Take as many opportunities as possible
• Make sure that I enjoy what I'm doing without worrying too much about the outcome
• Connect with people that work in similar ways to me

How is illustration consumed in the wider economy?

Exploring the discipline of ADVERTISING:

Where is it found?

• TV commercials
• Social media
• Website side-bards
• Youtube
• Online shopping 
• Billboards
• Bus shelters
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Bus tickets
• Clothing/fashion
• Fast food
• Posters
• Leaflets
• Direct mail
• Games
• Events
• Freebies/promotional items
• Merchandise
• Shop windows
• Cinema
• Radio
• Music
• Podcasts

Roles within advertising

• Marketing
• Research
• Creative Director
• Director
• Art director
• Storyboard artist
• Actors
• Animators
• Film crew
• Musicians
• Concept artists
• Location manager
• Screen writer
• Script writer
• Copywriter
• CGI artists
• Costume designer
• Stylist
• Producer
• Sound director
• Editor

The point of this exercise? Identify different creative roles that illustration could contribute to. How can our skills be used in a wider context?

More tips for creatives:

• Love what you do, be happy and have fun. If you have work that you're happy with you can talk for hours
• Be aware of what is going on in the outside world!
• Think differently, but don't over-complicate things
• What is my USP? Why will employers hire ME?
• Have a RANGE of ideas, not just one
• Don't be distracted. Switch phone off!
• Visualise ideas as many ways as possible
• Try to EXPERIENCE briefs first hand. Talk to your audience
• Don't settle for second-hand information
• Make sure research is relevant
• Be the author. Write/draw the story that the audience wants to read
• BE A CHILD! Forget restrictions. How do kids think about things?
• Tell people about your ideas. Show your peers. Be excited
• Be confident, not arrogant
• Get mentors NOW in the industry, SPEAK TO PEOPLE
• Don't have time to be SHY
• Join organisations and groups such as the AOI, and those overseas too!
• Every other creative started the same way
• Be the best you can be, not mediocre
• "If you want to be interesting, be interested"

Reflection

This session was a great refresher for PPP, as it is currently sitting not just on mine, but everyone's back burner. It's really easy to forget what our ambitions are, and who we should be making contacts with when we are so swamped with work for COP! I was also reassured that my illustration degree can open up so many creative job opportunities. Illustration is everywhere, and I shouldn't get so put off by people mocking me for choosing a career path that just involves 'drawing pretty pictures'. 

When John asked the class who wasn't feeling confident, I put my hand up and shared my most recent struggle with not knowing what my 'thing' is. To which he and Patrick reassured the fact that we are 'not all caterpillars waiting to turn into butterflies, tomorrow, you might be a fish', which acted as a metaphor that I don't have to pigeon hole myself into doing one thing. I have a lot of interests and I am adaptable, and need to start emphasising my creative ability to come up with innovative solutions to creative problems and believing that I can do anything!