Communication Box Exhibition

Ruth had been in touch with an invite to an exhibition of all the boxes that had been painted in Headingley so of course I went along. I knew this was only going to be a small event, it was hosted at Heart Centre, Headingley, but I wanted to get the most out of it that I could. When I arrived I left a stack of business cards with my box design on the front next to my image. I thought if anyone did decide to take them, this design would help them remember where they saw me first. 

People I met...

• Other artists involved - obviously I already knew a few but it was nice to put names to faces. 
• The residents of Headingley - I received so many nice comments while I was actually painting the box and the same happened this evening. One resident even gave me a card his wife has written to me thanking me for my work which was so lovely and I really appreciated the gesture. 
• David from Independent Leeds - I had been in contact with David via email previously about sending some photos of my work but had never met him in person. I shook his hand this evening and we had a conversation while looking through the new Independent Leeds magazine which the communication box project was featured in. 
• Katie Hughes - I had met Katie before when she was walking her children to and from school while I was painting my box but I spoke to her today about what she actually does. She works at Leeds University in student welfare, she spoke to me about student stress and pressures and how we just need to learn to take a break. I mentioned the theme for my final major project was about lifestyle and happy living and asked if she wouldn't mind if I contacted her for research. She was more than happy and we swapped details - I think she will be a really useful contact to have for research but maybe also for potential distribution of the work I produce. 

I also left some 'Out Of Order' fliers in reception at Heart and passed the odd few onto people I was talking to. I also sent an email after the event to Ruth which included a direct invite to her and anyone else who wanted to come. 

Independent Leeds Magazine Feature

The Headingley communication box project was featured in the newest edition of Independent Leeds. Unfortunately there was a mix up with the photo captions so my name and Instagram handle is with someone else's picture and my picture has someone else's details on it. This is a shame considering this is the first time my work has been in a publication, however I have been in touch with the lady whose details are by my image and she has told me she will forward anyone that gets in touch with her to me, which is reassuring!

Everyone who contributed to the magazine was included in this centre page illustration by Gordon Armstrong. I thought this was a really nice idea!

AOI Lecture

Although we had this talk last year too, there was a lot of information I had forgotten about so it was good to hear Lou Bones speak again. I left the lecture feeling really inspired and confident that it is possible to earn event money from illustration. There are a lot of contradictory opinions, even between illustrators about whether you can do it full time without a supporting income but this talk makes me feel that yes, you can. 

Self Promotion
Website 
Image led
Name, address, lots of work.
Smartphone friendly
Need a website NOW
Make all information easy to see on homepage
Copyright notice

Collectives
Getting work together.

Blog
Don't appear stagnant online.
Personal projects.
Use personal work to get work that you want to do.
TOURISM and packaging
Illustration is booming in these areas

Twitter - creative voice. get involved with conversations.
Facebook - another portfolio, not a place to get commissions.
Instagram - keep it professional. viable route of commissioning. Build the brand, think what a client would want other than photos of work. add value.
Behance - another portfolio. have as many as you can to be seen by the most people.

Getting work
Physial mailers - postcards, a5 a6, research the people I want to work for, who can I contact.
Meet people in person
SPELL NAMES CORRECTLY
Give my information (basic) and illustration examples.

Accounts
YOU ARE A BUSINESS
Register for income tax within 3 months of starting.
Retain all claimable receipts.
Tax return four times a year.
Cultural expenditure - claim back on these costs.

Copyright
Assignment - giving away ownership of image and give it to them forever. they can do what they want. complete loss of control.
Clients do not need your copyright, they just want it.
Licensing is a better way.
The original artwork always remains yours, if you sell it, that doesn't come with any rights.
Every use has a fee - number of uses, time frames, etc.
Use low res images online.
Use copyright symbol.
Uploading anything to Instagram or Facebook gives them rights to anything you upload.

Acceptance of Commission
If you are receiving money for work you're entering a business agreement. This needs a contract.
Make the contract fair.
Cancellation fees, rejection fees.

PRICING 
It needs to be fair for both sides. 
Don't work on a day fee!
Some briefs may require a non-disclosure agreement - make sure you get a grasp of the scale of the project, usage and exposure before giving a price. 
A re-liscence is usually 60-70% of the original licence.

Above the line - paid space advertising, print includes magazines, papers, etc, out of home advertising (OOH)
Below the line - non paid space advertising - including fliers, social media. 

Size of a client (magazine) is based on circulation. (abc.org.uk)

Tax returns - quickbooks / zero. 

Start Up Wednesdays - Legal Workshop

Setting Up
Tell the tax man you are making money! 
Sole Trader / Partnership - simple yet risky. 
Company - separates business and personal assets, more complex, less risky. 

Company Structure
Owner (members)
Board (managers)
Staff/workers/volunteers. 
There is no reason why all of these jobs can't be done by the same person. 

Name Checks
IPO - intellectual property office. 
Direct Gov Company House. 
Just google it. 
Check you're not infringing anyone's Trademark (TM).
You have to pay to appear on IPO. 
Register a brand for 10 years for £170. 
Do not use the National Business Register - unreliable and moneymaking. 

Intellectual Property
Keep sketches and development work to prove the work is your own if a dispute arises. 
Patents - for inventions or something that has never been seen before. Pricey - 30K at least. 
Confidentiality agreement / Non disclosure agreement (NDA) - secret projects, prevent stealing of ideas until release. 
Design rights - protecting the look of something, usually shape. 
Copyright - this does not need to be registered, if something is produced in a permanent form then copyright stands. It's a good idea to include a copyright clause/footer on websites and social media accounts. 
Copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year that the author dies. 
Resale rights - DACS, royalties. 

Buy/Sell/Licence 
A commission is for the time and energy. 
You can sell the physical object but don't sell the rights to it. 
Non-exclusive - time limited, licence fee, limited territory. 

Contracts
Verbal agreements are legally binding. 
Buying copyright has to be written to be legally binding. 
A freebie is not legally binding, something must be exchanged.

Force Majeure
Unforeseen circumstances which means you cannot meet the requirements of the contract. 
Outside of your control.  

Records
Always keep records of communication, payment, work, etc...

Headingley Festival Ideas Contact

I recently received this email from Nathan Shipley asking if I would be interested in getting involved with Headingley Festival of Ideas. This stemmed from him seeing my Virgin Media box on his way to work every day. I have to admit I had never heard of this festival before but I am keen to get involved with anything creative at the moment so I emailed back for some more information. 

The conversation continued for a couple of days and it turns out the dates of the festival clash directly with my final college deadline. I explained my situation and we agreed that if there was any work I could do to help with the preparation of the festival or make a contribution in any way I would be more than happy to do so, I just wouldn't be able to attend on the day. I am a bit gutted that I couldn't do this but I feel I have left this conversation on a positive note and expressed my interest to get involved with anything similar in the future. 

Behance

I've set up a Behance profile. To be honest I'm probably just putting off making a website because I don't know what to choose as my domain name (the curse of being a Smith). This includes my branding from last year which I also need to update to something simpler and more reflective of my work at the moment. 

https://www.behance.net/naomismithdesigns

LCA News Article

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE

Start Up Wednesday - Customer and Competitor Research

This wasn't the most inspiring workshop I have attended and I can't say I learned loads of new things from it but here are some notes I took of things to consider when setting up a business. 

What is market research?
Trends, competition, who is commissioning, audience, success stories. 
It isn't just something you do when you're setting up, it is a continuous thing. 

Primary Research
Art/print fairs, interviews, speaking to people, talks/lectures, social media, events...

Secondary Research
Government websites, arts sector/organisations and associations, blogs (trendwatching.com), professional institutes (bippyorkshire.com) 

Start small, don't punch above your weight too soon. Keep things minimal risk.
I'M NOT SURE I AGREE WITH THIS. 

Think about...
What areas work is getting commissioned in.
Where my style would be appreciate most. 
How much money people have to spend on art in the places I intend to sell. 

Market research should be about helping to make business decisions, not used to cover up pre-made decisions. It has a purpose. It can be customer focussed or product focussed. 

Start Up Wednesdays - Project Management

What makes 'the dream' work after university?

• Doing jobs you dislike to fund what you dream of. 
• Networking. 
• Helping others out and build a support network. 
• Enthusiasm and passion. Always have the dream in mind. 

Potential businesses I would set up...

• Self employed illustrator.
• Illustration collective. 
• A shared studio space where freelancers can rent desks/spaces. 

Self employed illustrator. Explain it.

• Setting up my ow business so I can work for myself as a freelance illustrator. 

What does it look like?

• Me working in my own studio space taking briefs from clients and also selling my own work through some form of shop. Success would be when clients would approach me for work rather than me having to search for the next job and also making enough money to be comfortable and afford my own studio space whether this is external or a specific work space at home. 

What is it? Simply. --> P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T --> What does it feel like? The dream.

If you know 40% of how to get there, you'll learn the rest on the way. 

There are visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners. If you ignore one of these groups when on your journey to being successful you will lose some of your audience. 

My Responsibilities

• Staying motivated and be the driving force behind it. 
• Build and maintain good relationships with clients and audience. 
• Produce high quality work consistently. 
• Find funding, sort costings and consider logistics. 
• Self promotion. 
• Materials and manufacturer sourcing. 
• Make a profit. 
• Accounting, taxes and legal stuff. 

Share an idea and it will grow, especially if you share it with the right people.

Who else can I involve?

• Family and friends. 
• Potential clients. 
• Potential audience. 
• Accountant. 
• Agency. 

If you're going to do something, set a time limit otherwise it will never get done.

A Gantt chart is a timescale which lists and prioritises tasks over a time period. 

Costs

• Funding (an income for me).
• You may need to make compromises to get where you need to be, like working for little or no money or working on projects you don't really want to do. 
• Premises (from home or external studio)
• Manage and discipline yourself with time and money. 
• Co-operative working, you are sometimes stronger as a collective or team. 
• Consider what you can get for free and use it! 

Measuring Success

• What will success look like?
• Costs and profit. 
• Satisfaction and how it feels. 
• The feedback you receive and the reputation you build. 

Reflection

I did find this session useful and engaging. One of the session tasks involved making a Gantt chart as a pots-uni plan which was a good exercise to do. It started me thinking about time scales and setting myself targets to make sure I do progress when I leave rather than getting into the rut of doing a job I don't want to do for longer than necessary. 

New Commission

I have recently secured another commission which stemmed from the humpback whale drawing I did before Christmas. The client is a Hull Tigers fan and wants a drawing of a tiger the same kind of style as the other fineliner work I have done. 

The brief of 'draw a tiger' was pretty vague so I clarified some details via email such as sizing, pricing and timescales. The client was struggling to be specific about what he wanted so I sent some quick sketches to get an idea of the kind of thing he wanted. I said that the work would be completed within four weeks of him getting back to me and confirming the details of the commission. This gives me plenty of time to fit this around other projects I have on at the moment. 

I am trying to work a bit more 'formally' while also trying to still be personal and friendly. I am using a separate email account to my personal one and am making sure all agreements are actually in written form to avoid any potential complications in the future. As I start to work with/for people who I don't know well personally I think it important to have a more professional and structured approach. 

I feel this commissioned artwork I am doing sits a little outside my practice as an illustrator so its not something I want to promote massively but I am still really pleased that people are seeing my work and liking it, my name is being passed on and its a chance for me to make some money. I am trying to save money from commissions and other work for a kind of 'post-uni fund' because I will most likely need it and every little helps!

Kristyna Baczynski Lecture

Notes from the talk

• The first year after leaving university will be hard. 
• She was doing comic fairs, working for clients and working for herself. 
• She had a 'stock' of work so she could sell direct to her audience. 
• Set the bar with the work that is in your portfolio, then the work you like doing will merge with the work that people commission you for. 
• Her work starts in sketchbooks. This then goes on to self-publishing projects or as resources for future briefs. 
• Send out ripples and something might come back! Get your work out there, get it seen. Give things to people to make them remember you. 
• Be nice, do a good job and people will come back to you and recommend you. 
• She is a printmaker and prints her products on her riso printer. She thinks in printmaking terms when it comes to colour, shape and layers. 
• She works by hand and then scans so her work is usually pixel based (Photoshop).
• She has a Ukrainian heritage and is influenced by folklore.
• Straight out of uni, she became a greetings card designer for Hallmark while sustaining her own personal practice too. You can't do exactly what you want to do but it allows you to learn about the industry.
• In the end she left to pursue her career as a freelance illustrator. 
• Being multidisciplinary helps, if you can work in more than one format and use multiple programs you are more adaptable. 
• One job leads to another, if the right people see it then the chain of work can continue. 
• Making work for yourself can lead to professional briefs. 
• SAY YES TO THINGS. 
• Set personal deadlines. Having a fair booked in could be seen ad a deadline for a new project to be released on that date. 
• Connect with other creative people. 
• Collectives (look at girls who draw). 
• Be imaginative - don't always play safe. 
• Make friends, support other artists. 
• Build an audience and a following but don't get caught up in the black hole of social media promotion. 

My Response

After having Kristyna as a tutor in first year it was really interesting to find out exactly what she does as a practitioner. I was familiar with her personal work that she sells online and at fairs but had little knowledge of her work for clients. I can see a strong link between Kristyna's practice and how I would lie  my practice to function. I do want there to be two sides to my work, the projects I do for clients and the personal work which I can sell directly to an audience. It was great to hear her speak about how the two connect and how clients will often employ you on the back of some personal work you have done. Her talk made it feel more viable and realistic to me to have a practice that works in this way. 

It was interesting to hear that she had worked for Hallmark straight after graduating. Realistically, I need to be looking at what I am going to do for money straight after graduating and I can imagine myself working for a company like this to learn more about the industry and gain some experience while also trying to make it as a freelancer at the same time. I need to get a better idea of what kind of jobs are available locally and where I might want to be looking for potential employment. 

Elevator Pitch

Who am I? What do I do?

- Illustrator/designer/artist.

- Product application / editorial / publishing.

- Mix analogue and digital processes but retain a handmade aesthetic.

- Lifestyle, food, travel, interesting stuff. 

I am an illustrator. I focus on creating images for stationery and homeware ranges but I also take on editorial and publishing briefs. I use analogue processes to make my work and try to retain this aesthetic through digital editing processes. I love learning weird and wonderful, usually useless facts and am interested and inspired by food and travel. 

'I am an illustrator based in Leeds, UK. I create images for stationery and homeware ranges and and also take on editorial and publishing briefs. My work is driven by analogue drawing processes, lifestyle, food, travel and learning useless facts about the world we live in.'