Online Presence

The problem with having the most common surname in the country is that finding a username or web address that hasn’t already been taken is always a challenge! 

naomismithillustration would have been the obvious choice but this domain name has been taken. Although it is free on other platforms such as Instagram and gmail, I don't think it is a wise choice to go ahead with this as I don't want my work to be confused with hers. I have spent a lot of time on godaddy.com and searching gmail, Instagram and Facebook for available usernames. I thought about childhood nicknames and then realised that I wouldn't really like to revive these, they can be embarrassing and childish. Also, any nicknames from my school years were all based around Smith and are obviously going to be pretty generic. I spent a lot of time searching and did not record all my searched but here are some examples...

naomiillustrates

illustrationbynaomi

illustrationbynaomismith

naomismithstudio

naomismithcreative

naomismithworks

naomismithdraws

naomismithdesigns

naomismithmakes 

I have decided to go with naomismithdesigns as a username. I was unsure about the word 'designs' because I couldn't really pin point which area of the creative industries it linked to, but it is actually quite broad. I like it because it will also be relevant if my work does take more of a pattern route or designs for products or packaging, yet it still includes illustration within it. I have set up accounts on LinkedIn, Bechance, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Gmail. 

I have avoided twitter as I don't feel I have enough to maintain an interest on this platform yet but this might be something I choose to do later on in my career. 

For my online presence I have made accounts on Bechance, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and set up a shop on Etsy. Admittedly I have made most of these quite late on in the module so I haven't managed to get a great following in the amount of time I have given myself. This process has made me realise that if I want to be a freelancer, I will have to spend a significant amount of time keeping up with these online accounts to maintain an interest with by audience. This could take more time than I initially thought. I do use social media at the moment but not anywhere close to this extent, and nobody bats an eyelid if you disappear off-grid for a week or so. However when you are trying to maintain an interest and keep people engaged, especially on sites like Facebook and Instagram, this could be more demanding. I have set up an Etsy shop but haven't made any of my products available for sale yet because I haven't actually produced them yet. I am planning to produce these products before summer so I can really make a go of my Etsy account over the summer break and try to get some of my work out there. I think it will be a good learning experience for me!

I have also mocked up a simple idea for a website that would fit with the theme of the rest of my online presence.