INTERFACE WITH THE WIDER WORLD
For this section of my website, it was necessary to include aspects of my work that isn’t all university coursework. This was so that we understand how to approach being a working creative, outside education whilst also gaining more confidence when being faced with live briefs or applying for jobs within the industry. Furthermore, this allowed us to have some work experience for when we finished university, as it has been difficult in the past due to the pandemic. This was my favourite aspect of writing, as it really challenged me in my skills, especially time management.
I really challenged myself with my time management skills as it was one of my weaker skills in the past due to my perfectionism. This year has been the most difficult to balance everything as I had university coursework and work outside the university, including branding the exhibition and creating a music video. Though it was tough, and I felt like giving up at many points, I’m thrilled I didn’t, as some of these projects are my favourite pieces of work. I was also grateful that I was able to include some of the projects listed below within my university coursework as well. I wouldn’t have been able to pursue nearly as much otherwise.
ONLINE ART CHALLENGES
Being inspired and creating alongside other artists online.
When I first started to realise how important it is to market my artwork on social media, I began investigating what ways I could explore and gain more traction on my own social media. Something that mainly Instagram users appear to do is a variety of artist challenges throughout each month. They could either be daily challenges for the month (like Inktober or MerMay) or challenges where artists give them prompts or illustrations to inspire others. An example of this would be “draw this in your own style”, where an artist encourages others to draw their original drawing but make it their own in any format. This is more than often artists with a considerable following (50k etc.). When they reach a new following milestone, they celebrate by interacting with their following and promoting smaller artists on their own social media.
Throughout my time at university, especially during lockdowns, I’ve been involved in several different challenges, ones I have finished (Slowtember 2020) and others I’ve created some illustrations for but unfortunately couldn’t finish due to other priorities (university work mainly). The one I have included for this page is one I created for the “Cheektober21” challenge by an artist called “Apple Cheeks” (Tiffany Tan), who has a following of 138k on Instagram. She also reposted my work on her Instagram story and messaged me, saying she loved my illustration.
Overall, I feel that creating and posting work inspired by these challenges run by artists across the globe can be beneficial to gain more of a following online and connecting with other talented artists who share similar interests with you. After university, I will definitely be able to commit my time more to these art challenges in creating illustrations, which I wouldn’t have thought of doing initially, whilst making new friends.
FREELANCE & COMMISSION WORK
The Side Hustle.
Ever since leaving college in 2019, throughout the years since, I’ve been asked to commission a variety of different illustrations, merchandise and promotional artwork for several other people whilst gaining more social media presence and also a bit of cash on the side. This type of work is a lot more exciting as in the past, I have been asked to illustrate work for “YouTube Influencers “, who have a substantial amount of subscribers, one being my friend’s boyfriend, who was a catalyst in this aspect of work. As he caused more influencers to come to me if they wanted to design/illustration work needed. Though I did not know them before working with them, they were all really friendly and lovely to work with.
My most recent commission was for an influencer called “NicholasLightTV”, who reacts to various other entertainment media (e.g., music) on his channel. This was my second commission with him, as I did another one earlier in 2021. He stated that he loved my work so much that he wanted another commission to fit his new “aesthetic” online as it was previously a purple theme he was going for. The commission consisted of me using a reference photo of him as the base of the illustration and stylising it in my own interpretation. Then because he wanted an “edgy” red flame theme throughout all his social media instead of the previous theme I did for him, I added a bold red colour for the background and flames behind the illustration to achieve this look. He was super happy with it and paid me with a huge tip that I wasn’t expecting because he was pleased with how quickly I created the illustration and the quality. Working with this specific influencer has been my favourite commission thus far because he was very easy-going and knew precisely what he wanted for the illustration making it easy to create. I hope to have more commissions like him in the future.
Although working with YouTube Influencers was fun and exciting, I’ve had several commissions that didn’t go to plan. I’ve had several people ask for commissions of styles that I cannot replicate (or even ask me to trace other people’s work), asked to create content that I was uncomfortable with and had a lot of mishaps with whether they want a commission or not. This work, whilst not a traditional means of income or experience. It has taught me many of the skills needed to succeed in a workplace setting. This includes handling of money, customer service, and time management, allowing me to meet deadlines and ensure consistent, high-quality services, which will be beneficial in the future when applying for creative-based jobs or continuing on with my freelance work.
FANZINES
Creating alongside other creatives making products we are all passionate about.
This is a relevantly new scheme I had started to invest my time into ever since late 2020 when I applied for my first “Fanzine” run by my friend from college. I have written more detail about that Zine in a blog post. Since that Zine, I have worked in three fanzines and one that is still ongoing. Currently, the three zines are in their pre-order stage, and they are going amazingly so far, one of which is covering the costs of all of our own bundle packs of the fanzine. Whilst the others are still ongoing with their pre-orders.
Despite fanzines being a cultural phenomenon for a while, I realised that you don’t see them much anymore, especially as a collaborative project, until the pandemic began. Throughout my countless hours online through lockdowns, I have seen a considerable surge online on different fanzines created by lots of my favourite artists online and even friends who have been a part of many different ones. When applying for zines myself, I have mainly used ones that I am particularly interested in the theme, whether that be some of my favourite video games, tv/film, or anime.
I wanted to partake in these fanzines because they have been rising in popularity, especially since the pandemic, and it was an exciting way to promote my artwork. Participating in these collaborative projects online can not only give me a chance on creating illustrations for my interests but gain more connections through speaking to the mods (leaders of the zines) and other contributors personally on a “Discord Server”. It is another way to gain more traction on my social media and gain more of a following, like the online art challenges.
After university, I would like to continue applying for more fanzines are creating illustrations that I am pleased with. The one I’ve included within this blog section is my merchandise piece for the Zine I was in called “Festival of Stars” (more about that in a blog post). Not only that, but I would also like to continue being involved within different fanzines to make further connections with other creatives across the globe and gain more of a following on my socials to be able to get more client work. Being a part of this scheme of work can allow me to develop skills that need more improvement, like time management and collaborative skills.
GAME JAMS
Partaking in Game Development Events.
Throughout my second and third years, I have been a Video Game Development society member. Video Game Development society aims to teach other members about the games industry whilst also developing skills for when you enter the workplace. They often partake in events such as Game Jams and host game development classes, whether in learning how to use Unity, programming or 3D modelling. I joined this society in my second year as I wanted to know how to 3D model whilst wanting to make friends/connections in the field of work I would like to work in. It's also nice to have people with similar interests as you, as well as I often don't find a lot of people that are highly interested in video games in the way I am (through art, not just by being a "gamer"). In particular, I have been a part of two-game jams throughout this year, one being the Ludum Dare (which I've written a blog post about) and the Global Game Jam.
This was a live brief in collaboration with other members of the society to submit a video game that followed the theme "Duality". What made this brief interesting and time-dependant was that we had to plan, create, and finish the game within 48-hours of the creators of GGJ setting the brief. It wasn't a competition. It is more of an event that encourages people from all backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity. My role within this brief was to illustrate three sets of two background artwork that demonstrate polar opposites (an example would be day/night) as our game centred around the idea of switching between dimensions. Throughout this project, it was challenging because my drawing skills were against the clock. Despite this, it was gratifying because I was able to create illustrations that fit the criteria for the brief whilst also being illustrations that I am happy with. It was super exciting for my work to be the game's primary focus (as the player would need to know which dimension they are in before switching), and I was very grateful the team Leader Liberty picked me for that role.
Overall, this experience was like no other between this one and the Ludum dare as I feel like I won't have another opportunity like this again, this being my final year at university, therefore, leaving the society also. This allowed me to gain more collaborative skills whilst also building upon my illustration skills. During creating the illustrations for this game and the textures/ UI for the Ludum Dare, I have learned a lot about game development and not just the art aspects of the video game. I felt this was important to note as I can understand the different components that go into a video game, and it's not just "pretty pictures" despite that mainly being my role for the most part. This allowed me to gain more confidence in the field of work I would like to work in and become the start of what it would be like to join the industry after university.
This also inspired me to further research game development and possibly pick up programming/coding to learn as an interchangeable skill that is more desired within the video gaming industry. However, I would like to take this more on my own pace and make it more of a new hobby than a skill I could use within my career as I am more passionate more on the art side of video games.
DEFRAG EXHIBITION 2022
Collaboratively creating the Brand Identity for 3rd year Degree Show
This was an unexpected collaborative project that I never thought I would be working on this year; regardless, it is pretty exciting to be a part of this project and nerve-wracking because of how important it is. The brief was to create a set of brand guidelines for the upcoming 3rd Year’s Art & Design degree show. Then later, after the spring half-term, we would be designing the entire catalogue, invites, and posters and promoting the exhibition on its very own Instagram. We also plan to create installations for the show to help tie the theme together and make the display different and more exciting compared to previous years.
How did myself, Jess, Emma, Elle, and Liv manage to be able to design the exhibition? In one session in Professional Practice, Jeremy proposed the idea for the Graphic Design students to develop the catalogue and the branding for the upcoming degree show. I decided to email Jeremy about the concept, and he said to form a team of people interested in the project. I wanted to do this because it was a fantastic opportunity that might not happen again, especially with me wanting to go into a field of work that doesn’t usually involve exhibitions. Furthermore, it will give us first-hand experience of what it’s like designing an art & design show whilst being able to complete work on a strict deadline. Therefore, gaining new skills and developing existing ones for our benefit when we finish our studies. I wanted to take up every opportunity I possibly could throughout this year as it is my final year, and I felt like it was mostly ruined by the pandemic, so I would like to make the most of it now whilst I still can.
Throughout the branding part of the exhibition, my roles within the group project were to tackle the illustrative side of brand guidelines. This was because I’m able to create illustrations quickly whilst maintaining the quality, which is what “I am best at”. Another reason was that branding isn’t really my strong suit, and I wanted to help more on the aspects of the brief that I was more in my comfort zone in because we were pushed for time throughout this part of the project. Therefore, I created the poster designs and catalogue cover and set up and organised the social media of the degree show. I made some of the typography aspects of the project to ensure that it fits with the previous material I mentioned.
Despite moving on from the pandemic, we thought to take a step back to reflect on our time at university. Therefore, wanting a more narrative approach for the show. Since going digital was a key aspect throughout our time studying, we decided that our theme for the exhibition would be focusing on the opposite and how we are reverting back to going to lectures and face-to-face classes again. Even though this is what life was like in the previous years, we wanted to create the opposite effect by making the “physical realm” glitch like its malfunction. Later in our ideation stage, we began thinking about using pixels, glitches, and another computer “errors” to symbolise how the pandemic was a temporary malfunction and how we are starting to fix the fault in question.
Since we are currently going through the process of getting back to some sort of normality of the enormous impact the pandemic has had on everyone these past few years. This shift from a digital lifestyle to a physical one in both education and our day-to-day lives has inspired us to make the brand’s identity in celebration of finally a physical exhibition. To reflect on this, we decided to base our exhibition this year on showing the process of collating scattered pieces of data, almost like a malfunction. This displays a real juxtaposition that represents everyone, not just us students, experiencing the pandemic.
Even though this project is still ongoing, this has been a roller coaster. I’ve learned so much throughout this project, especially. Despite not being video game design related, I have learned a lot of skills that can be transferred over to that setting and gained work experience outside of university work. One of the things I’ve learnt the most is being able to adapt to other people’s ideas and compromise, as working in a team within a creative project isn’t something I’m not quite used to, so I’m used to just going with my ideas. It was fun, and again like I previously mentioned, I’m happy I did email Jeremy about it around Christmas time, as I probably won’t get another chance like this again.
CAVEMAN - MUSIC VIDEO
Collaboratively producing, shooting, editing a music video from scratch.
This was another group project that was mainly for university coursework; however, it involved a lot of innovation and collaboration between Me, Jess, and Emma and two music students. We were given this opportunity by Kevin, who very kindly asked the music department whether anyone wanted a music video produced/ edited. The origin story of this project was because Emma worried about how to apply her career aspirations of “Set Design” to one of our components in our university work.
At first, I was apprehensive about whether to follow through with this project because it was totally out of my comfort zone, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to focus more on my video game projects and concentrate on my own career aspirations. But after finishing this project, I was unbelievable happy with the result, and it was a chance to collaborate with my two friends that we barely got a chance to do within our course. Not to mention solidifying my love for animation and finding a new interest in media production, which I will consider making a career out of if working in game design doesn’t work out.
Throughout creating the music video, there were a lot of setbacks, challenges, and obstacles that we faced throughout the entire project, from getting the wrong camera, struggling with how to create a bedroom set, and me getting COVID. There were many times when we all wanted to drop the project entirely because it caused all three of us a lot of stress, but we didn’t give up in the end, and we ended up creating something that we are genuinely proud of and we learnt a lot throughout the entire process.
There weren’t really any set roles like the exhibition project as we all helped each other in everything from producing the video in the post-production stage. We all took part where we could from the test shots, creating the bedroom and creating animated elements for the video. Again, I felt like this was another exciting project opportunity, and I would regret it if I passed it up. Despite not being video game design related, I wanted to be a part of this brief as it was something I could learn from and adapt the skills I did learn to suit my career aspirations.
Some skills that I did learn would be video editing (from chopping and changing, adding transitions, using different video editing effects etc.), Set Design (understanding what looks good in a 3d setting whilst understanding composition more) and animation. These are all skills that, on the surface, might not be as relevant to video game design, but they are stepping stones into this field of work. It will be a long process to achieve the goals I would like to have in terms of 3D modelling and other video game design elements I would like to work on. Still, this project has enabled me to have a broader skillset in different career paths that I could potentially go into.
CHALKBOARD - SU BAR
Applying my illustration skills onto chalk.
This project was weird as I never thought I would ever be illustrating a chalkboard design for the SU Bar within the university. Regardless of that, it was a fantastic opportunity. It has given me a chance to be more involved with the staff who cater for me whilst in accommodation and make more connections within the university. Not to mention being able to translate my illustration skills in a mural-esque setting, allowing me to push my skills even further than digital or traditional media. I was given this opportunity because my Residential Advisor talked with the manager at the SU bar and referred me to be someone suitable for the task. At first, I was a bit weary because this could take up much time and possibly some manual labour to be involved due to it being on a wall. Another reason why I almost declined the opportunity was that I was already struggling and falling behind on university coursework and fanzine deadlines, causing me to debate whether to do it.
I decided to follow through with the task because the staff understood my wanting to focus on university work and said there was no pressure, and I could take however long I needed to create the piece. As it was supposed to be a food menu, I mainly took inspiration from Pinterest to plan how I wanted to make the chalkboard and started planning the composition for the board. Before the February development week, I began creating the menu using POSCA chalk pens provided by the SU bar and Student Union. I wanted to use the blue marker first; however, that soon dried out after using it for a short amount of time, causing me to use the purple marker, which was the better option.
At first, I thought I would be able to finish this project within a day. However, it took three different days (a total of 13 hours) to create the illustrations and the typography for the menu. It took so long because it was mainly down to the pens constantly running out. After all, I was using them for such a large-scale project. Upon feedback, also I went around all the outlines of my work using a pink POSCA marker as the purple faded into the black background too much, making it hard to read far away. Overall, I was thrilled with the outcome despite minor errors (the text not being perfectly lined up). I enjoyed the entire process of creating this piece. Though it was tiring, it was worth it, as I could list it up on this page and gain more experience working on something on a larger scale. Not to mention returning the favour to the catering staff at the university as they provided my meals throughout my time at university.