Out of Order @ CMV

When I was talking with people at CMV I realised that I'm not looking at doing my work on the course in the right way.

I'm getting too bogged down thinking of things in terms of products I'm forgetting to focus on making great images around a theme that I really love, as the big projects - Buffy & FMP are ones that I should be really invested in dedicating time to but I keep thinking about 'oh my god, this won't do for this product etc etc' when the reality of it is I should just focus on making some great artwork and then I can apply that work to products I have in mind.

I'm hoping this realisation will help me to get back into my work, making some really fabulous pieces rather than just a ream of sketches that I'm unhappy with.

***

The piece I submitted for CMV was part of the monster girl project I was doing for extended practice. I was bogged down with STUFF so I decided i didn't want to make something exclusively for the show, but this meant I had fun and I wasn't really stressed about making something. 

BUSINESS CARDS - My business card situation is really SOMETHING at the moment. I want to make my image more up to date (but retaining a similar style) 

This is what I'm working with at the moment - made it at the end of last year, needs updating badly.

Since I haven't gotten round to updating it I haven't had any professionally printed yet, so all my business cards have been makeshift home printed ones. Which doesn't look right good as they're all varying sizes from me having to cut them out - so that's something I need to get on. 

I got to talk to Jonny (aka Idiots Pasture) about getting into doing event posters / working with musicians etc. He gave me some tips (like what Patrick & John say) about just sending people messages until they respond. &that some companies don't know where to find illustrators etc so if I think something looks bad, reach out to the place. 

start up wednesday - managing ur money

Managing ur money

·      Opportunity – gotta know how much money you have so u know u can take opportunities

·      People sell things

·      The tax man a-cometh

·      If you know what you’ve got you can make good decisions

Budgeting

Costing & Pricing

·      U can up ur prices

·      U can lower your prices if you know what you’re short
you can do people favours but know what you would have made 

COSTING

·      Material, labour, overheads, research and development, time. (overheads, fixed costs – rent, rates etc. variable – phone, internet, gas, electric, stationary, travel, company promotion, professional services.

·      Research & Development : Hourly rate – factor it in. you’re selling your time!!

·      Price ur work so your costs are included

·      Day rate that covers the week if ur not working everyday

Cash Flow

Your Accounts

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0627/8837/products/Apothecary87-129_600x.jpg?v=1461785026

(this guy was offered a lot of money for his logo and he said no because it's a good logo)


Got a lot of good info and spreadsheets that I will be able to use in the future to manage my money better.
I am living in the overdraft at the moment and would really like to NOT do that. 

Career Track Tuesday - APPLICATIONS

This was a pretty informative session about applications; we looked through a few real application forms for a job at Leeds College of Art and had to pick out which ones we thought would be selected.

I believe I learned a lot of important things about being able to apply my experiences at uni to a professional setting and be able to sell myself to someone. I had never really thought about applications this in-depth and although it seems obvious I didn't realise that it's best to back up what you're saying with an example from your experience and really obviously point out that you meet the employers criteria.

Another important thing was to NOT LIE ON YOUR APPLICATIONS, you can embellish your own experiences a little but don't lie because it's not worth it; you will get caught.

I'm definitely going to apply what I've learned when I apply for jobs, whether in the creative field or just a regular employment experience.

DING DONG I MADE A WEBSITE

I bought the domain name ayykaplan.co.uk ages ago and it was just kind of getting wasted with no website on it (though I have it for 2 years)

OK SO LET ME RUN THROUGH SOME OF THE ISSUES (good and bad) SO FAR

• I am very poor right now, so I could only afford the lowest level of website where you can stick a domain name on it 
• I am using WIX as this seemed easiest to customise, and it is very easy to customise. I've had wordpress blogs in the past and have struggled with them, my dad uses wix so I figured it'd be alright
• As I am poor and could only afford the cheapest option, I couldn't afford to remove WIX adverts yet and they look kinda gross and clunky on the site, one day in the future when I'm not poor as heck I will upgrade it to get rid of the adverts but for now I've just got to live with it. 

I just went for a simple layout for now cause I didn't want to stress myself out making something ultra fancy, though I'm sure I will make it flashier soon enough. 

I made it live as I can still change things around and I figured there was no point paying for the website and not having it live until it's "perfect". 

It does the job, it hosts my work, has links to all my other social media etc. 

Also I really dig that stupid font.

Contactin' Contactin'

I have contacted two makeup companies that I would be interested in working for about how and whether they hire illustrators. [Keepin' them anonymous on the blog]

They replied promptly and very nicely, it gave me hope!

Though I felt like I didn't have a solid enough portfolio at the time to submit to the first, I feel like I definitely could do this now as I've built up my tone of voice and quality of work a bit.

COMIC & FILM FAIR 1. 4/02/17

New year, new tabling opportunities. 

I applied for Thought Bubble and unfortunately was REJECTED, but it's not the end of the world, there are other tabling events. 

I still have lots of old stuff from years passed. It makes my table look a bit disjointed but I think it really shows that I'm building a more consistent style that can be adapted to a lot of things but still obviously be my work. 

Which I think is cool AS HECK. 

In terms of selling stuff, I wasn't very successful, which is a bit of a shame since obviously I've put money into making these prints (and prints for Travelling Man). Though a friend did buy me £24 worth of food in exchange for some prints, which was good, I got to eat. 

The event was pretty quiet but we're hoping it will become a regular thing so hopefully it'll build up a bit more traction with time?