I emailed Steph again, just asking if she did any placements while she was on the course...and if so how helpful she found it.
She didn't do a placement while on the course, as she couldn't find anywhere appropriate - which is similar to how I feel.
She did however suggest I just continue emailing loads of illustrators to get lots of advice. Spend the time researching and speaking to people...for her, it was just as helpful.
This was encouraging for me to hear!
Showing posts with label Professional Research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Professional Research. Show all posts
Iron Fist
Well, as mentioned a while ago...I got a reply from these saying that they had forwarded my email on.
Looks like someone did get it, as they have emailed me asking where I am located...and then another asking for a portfolio. I don't know whether this is to check that I'm not a company trying to copy their work...or to judge what advice they will give me lol.
Ever the optimist!
Looks like someone did get it, as they have emailed me asking where I am located...and then another asking for a portfolio. I don't know whether this is to check that I'm not a company trying to copy their work...or to judge what advice they will give me lol.
Ever the optimist!
Billie Jean is not my lover...
But they did reply to my email!
The illustrator isn't Actually called Billie Jean, its a guy called Sam...thankfully I knew this before I emailed them, so I didn't embarress myself by saying 'Hi Billie!'...phew!
Anyway, it was another great reply;
- He mentioned my 'British teeth' work and even linked a Spike Milligan poem about British teeth that it reminded him of, which was great because it made me believe he actually looked at the work!
- 'In terms of developing a better portfolio, it's really important that you explore the potential in your work and most of all, enjoy making your work' - this is my focus for the next year!
- 'Don't just have the set college projects in your portfolio. A lot of students these days, don't ever make any self-initiated work.' - I am definately going to take this advice on board!
- 'There is a new book called 'How to create a portfolio' (Laurence King Publishing) that you'd probably find useful. '...Another book suggestion, I may look at it in the library before buying it though.
The illustrator isn't Actually called Billie Jean, its a guy called Sam...thankfully I knew this before I emailed them, so I didn't embarress myself by saying 'Hi Billie!'...phew!
Anyway, it was another great reply;
- He mentioned my 'British teeth' work and even linked a Spike Milligan poem about British teeth that it reminded him of, which was great because it made me believe he actually looked at the work!
- 'In terms of developing a better portfolio, it's really important that you explore the potential in your work and most of all, enjoy making your work' - this is my focus for the next year!
- 'Don't just have the set college projects in your portfolio. A lot of students these days, don't ever make any self-initiated work.' - I am definately going to take this advice on board!
- 'There is a new book called 'How to create a portfolio' (Laurence King Publishing) that you'd probably find useful. '...Another book suggestion, I may look at it in the library before buying it though.
Criminal damage
I admit, I had lost any hope in getting a reply from the companied that I had emailed but then a little ray of sunshine came...from Kate at Criminal Damage :)
Her reply was unbelievably helpful and it has basically wrote one of my negotiated briefs. Hopefully I will actually get to do it as a college brief, if not...I still intend to do it, as Kate said 'We would really love to see what you produce!' so why not!
She detailed the way that write briefs, what research they do and where they do it.
They are currently designing the Spring/Summer 2011 range and she listed all the things they are using as inspiration.
It was really encouraging to get a reply from them, as...they may not be to everyones taste, but they are a pretty succesful label!
She was really friendly and said I could email for any help I needed in the future...
So I thought, who better to ask for help on my dissertation, which is titled 'To what extent does style explain identity?' and I will be looking at clothing labels such as Criminal damage.
I haven't sent that email yet, because I need to find a good way to word it, but hopefully she will find the time to reply...and hopefully i'm not just pushing my luck!
x
Her reply was unbelievably helpful and it has basically wrote one of my negotiated briefs. Hopefully I will actually get to do it as a college brief, if not...I still intend to do it, as Kate said 'We would really love to see what you produce!' so why not!
She detailed the way that write briefs, what research they do and where they do it.
They are currently designing the Spring/Summer 2011 range and she listed all the things they are using as inspiration.
It was really encouraging to get a reply from them, as...they may not be to everyones taste, but they are a pretty succesful label!
She was really friendly and said I could email for any help I needed in the future...
So I thought, who better to ask for help on my dissertation, which is titled 'To what extent does style explain identity?' and I will be looking at clothing labels such as Criminal damage.
I haven't sent that email yet, because I need to find a good way to word it, but hopefully she will find the time to reply...and hopefully i'm not just pushing my luck!
x
Mike Perry replied...
Finally, after 3 emails, he replied :)
'My main motto is just MAKE, MAKE, MAKE. And then make sure you share it with the world.
'My main motto is just MAKE, MAKE, MAKE. And then make sure you share it with the world.
Keep going!
Best,
Mike'
Its not a lot...but he replied, which is better than nothing!
Plus, its a valid point!
Best,
Mike'
Its not a lot...but he replied, which is better than nothing!
Plus, its a valid point!
Steph says hello...to meee
Steph Baxter did reply! :)
- Firstly she apologised for taking so long to reply and explained it as 'completely inexcusable' lol.
- Her reply really was quite long so to summarise...
- 'Stay positive and work really hard in getting yourself "known".'
- 'You might feel like you aren't getting anywhere, but then something completely unexpected will pop up.'
- 'I really think if you've got something to offer (you have) and you work hard, good things will happen eventually.'
- 'Have your finger in every internet pie...things like Twitter are so good cos you can "Network" with potential clients & build up a lot of illustrator friends who are such good support and its good to help each other out.'
- 'I do a LOT of emailing with work attached, thats how I've got most of my work to be honest, because its so immediate.'
- 'I'm working on some little promo packs with postcards and stickers to send to people at the moment.. But I'm a bit more wary of those because you have to ring and check people got them! (I hate phone calls!)'...I loved this, because I hate phone calls too! :D
- 'I think your work is lovely, I really like your Kleenex brief. Your typography has lots of impact (I LOVE hand drawn type!)'
And Finally,
'Good Luck! The final year is tough but I liked it best :)'
Thankyou Steph!
- Firstly she apologised for taking so long to reply and explained it as 'completely inexcusable' lol.
- Her reply really was quite long so to summarise...
- 'Stay positive and work really hard in getting yourself "known".'
- 'You might feel like you aren't getting anywhere, but then something completely unexpected will pop up.'
- 'I really think if you've got something to offer (you have) and you work hard, good things will happen eventually.'
- 'Have your finger in every internet pie...things like Twitter are so good cos you can "Network" with potential clients & build up a lot of illustrator friends who are such good support and its good to help each other out.'
- 'I do a LOT of emailing with work attached, thats how I've got most of my work to be honest, because its so immediate.'
- 'I'm working on some little promo packs with postcards and stickers to send to people at the moment.. But I'm a bit more wary of those because you have to ring and check people got them! (I hate phone calls!)'...I loved this, because I hate phone calls too! :D
- 'I think your work is lovely, I really like your Kleenex brief. Your typography has lots of impact (I LOVE hand drawn type!)'
And Finally,
'Good Luck! The final year is tough but I liked it best :)'
Thankyou Steph!
Company reply...
Iron Fist...a company that I really would like to produce work for...replied.
Its exciting...wait for it...
'Hi Charlotte, This is not my department so I have forwarded your information on, have a good day.'
Haha, better than nothing hey! One step closer I suppose.
Its exciting...wait for it...
'Hi Charlotte, This is not my department so I have forwarded your information on, have a good day.'
Haha, better than nothing hey! One step closer I suppose.
Agency reply
I wasn't really expecting a good reply...or a reply at all from the agencies because some of them offer portfolio workshops that you pay for etc. so they would probably just prefer me to do that.
But! Heart Agency...who have offices in London and New York (Yes please!) did reply!
They didn't exactly say anything specific, but they suggested a book for me to get. (Funnily enough written by the director of the agency but I still trust it!)
They suggested I get it through their site, so full price plus a bit more weirdly...But I found it on Amazon for about a tenner.
Hopefully its good!
But! Heart Agency...who have offices in London and New York (Yes please!) did reply!
They didn't exactly say anything specific, but they suggested a book for me to get. (Funnily enough written by the director of the agency but I still trust it!)
They suggested I get it through their site, so full price plus a bit more weirdly...But I found it on Amazon for about a tenner.
Hopefully its good!
Following advice...
As Serge said in the email he sent 'Be persistant'.
Even though it isn't a reeeeally long time since I sent the emails, I was hoping for more replies...so I sent them again lol.
I got a reply pretty much straight away from Nick Deakin, so it was worth it!
Funnily enough, Nick started the email with 'I'm really busy so I will be brief.' but it was one of the longest replied I got.
- He said my Kleenex type as image stuff looked 'really tasty'...
- 'Keep churning out work, keep at it, whether it be sketches on a napkin, self initated projects, painting, plasticine models, anything, and get it online' - This is one of favourite pieces of advice, I love seeing peoples sketchbooks...sometimes more than seeing th finished piece so it encouraged to start putting mine online.
- 'Shout about it, post links etc on design forums, email editors.'
- 'I really do feel there is no need to spend much if any money promoting yourself these days'
- 'You could make a project out of a mailer, make a poster or something that folds out, something interesting to receive, it doesn't have to look like you have spent a lot of money on it!'
- 'Keep making things, so when somebody drops by your site you have loads of stuff going on, and your work will be developing all the time.'
- 'Keep it fresh!!!'...will do!
...and when I replied to thank him, he sent one back straight away so that was nice!
Even though it isn't a reeeeally long time since I sent the emails, I was hoping for more replies...so I sent them again lol.
I got a reply pretty much straight away from Nick Deakin, so it was worth it!
Funnily enough, Nick started the email with 'I'm really busy so I will be brief.' but it was one of the longest replied I got.
- He said my Kleenex type as image stuff looked 'really tasty'...
- 'Keep churning out work, keep at it, whether it be sketches on a napkin, self initated projects, painting, plasticine models, anything, and get it online' - This is one of favourite pieces of advice, I love seeing peoples sketchbooks...sometimes more than seeing th finished piece so it encouraged to start putting mine online.
- 'Shout about it, post links etc on design forums, email editors.'
- 'I really do feel there is no need to spend much if any money promoting yourself these days'
- 'You could make a project out of a mailer, make a poster or something that folds out, something interesting to receive, it doesn't have to look like you have spent a lot of money on it!'
- 'Keep making things, so when somebody drops by your site you have loads of stuff going on, and your work will be developing all the time.'
- 'Keep it fresh!!!'...will do!
...and when I replied to thank him, he sent one back straight away so that was nice!
More Replies...
Nicolas Tual (Dekore) and Serge Seidlitz (another person I mentioned in my PPD and enterprise presentations!) have replied :D
Nicolas came across as really friendly!
- Firstly he thanked me for saying I liked his work...Flattery goes a long way!
- Secondly he asked if I had a website...which just confirms what I knew, that a website is important. So I will email him again when I do have one...
- As I asked about portfolio advice, he explained that lots of clients want different things...one may want a 5 slide pdf, one may want a 50 piece hard portfolio so its hard to say one specific thing about how it should be.
- 'I always personalize my pdf for each client/agency, that make them think
Nicolas came across as really friendly!
- Firstly he thanked me for saying I liked his work...Flattery goes a long way!
- Secondly he asked if I had a website...which just confirms what I knew, that a website is important. So I will email him again when I do have one...
- As I asked about portfolio advice, he explained that lots of clients want different things...one may want a 5 slide pdf, one may want a 50 piece hard portfolio so its hard to say one specific thing about how it should be.
- 'I always personalize my pdf for each client/agency, that make them think
that I made this portfolio just for them and that I did not blind-sended a hundred pdfs to random art-directors.'
- 'When it comes to face-to-face interviews, I always make sure I have both a digital portfolio and a hard portfolioto present...And I bring along a few goodies with me such as mini-books, stickers, posters or whatever.'
Hopefully I will talk to him again in the future once I have a website I am 'happy' with.
Serge was equally nice...but busy, so he just gave a few words which was just as good :)
- 'I would say at your stage it is important to go get commercial experience.'
- 'Be persistent, and hassle them, remind them that you're available!'
- He ended it with 'good luck, Serge.' which is always nice to hear!
- 'When it comes to face-to-face interviews, I always make sure I have both a digital portfolio and a hard portfolioto present...And I bring along a few goodies with me such as mini-books, stickers, posters or whatever.'
Hopefully I will talk to him again in the future once I have a website I am 'happy' with.
Serge was equally nice...but busy, so he just gave a few words which was just as good :)
- 'I would say at your stage it is important to go get commercial experience.'
- 'Be persistent, and hassle them, remind them that you're available!'
- He ended it with 'good luck, Serge.' which is always nice to hear!
First Reply...
Excitingly, Keaton Henson was the first to reply to my email!
I spoke about Keaton in my PPD and enterprise presentation...so I was excited he replied! But then I had to open it, so I still had the fear that he would be like 'Don't bother bla bla bla'.
I should have more confidence and not be so negative because he didn't say that. Why would he waste time replying just to say that? lol.
To sum up his reply, he said;
- 'Your work looks really great, love the typeface stuff! '
- He personally believes art at college/uni to be counter-productive. Its his opinion so I accept it.
- 'Its important to develop a personal style and have your work out there in the world before you begin to sell yourself commercially'
- 'Never underestimate the power of the internet, and email people as you have me'
- He ended it with 'Hope that wasn't totally unhelpful'...but right now, I believe anything is helpful! :)
I spoke about Keaton in my PPD and enterprise presentation...so I was excited he replied! But then I had to open it, so I still had the fear that he would be like 'Don't bother bla bla bla'.
I should have more confidence and not be so negative because he didn't say that. Why would he waste time replying just to say that? lol.
To sum up his reply, he said;
- 'Your work looks really great, love the typeface stuff! '
- He personally believes art at college/uni to be counter-productive. Its his opinion so I accept it.
- 'Its important to develop a personal style and have your work out there in the world before you begin to sell yourself commercially'
- 'Never underestimate the power of the internet, and email people as you have me'
- He ended it with 'Hope that wasn't totally unhelpful'...but right now, I believe anything is helpful! :)
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