Two portfolio visits in one day.

I had another portfolio visit today with Matt Bray and Chris Madden at half past twelve whilst they were both on their lunch break. I went to Afflex palace for an hour after finishing my review at The Neighbourhood, jotted down some notes over a cup of chamomile and spiced apple tea, then headed over to meet the boys for a bite to eat.

Matt Bray is my 'guru'. This was a scheme set up by my tutors at university, where they paired each member of my class with a graduate, so that we would have a main point of contact for advice. I last saw Matt before Christmas back when I was working towards another big deadline. He said he remembered how lost I was, and how I told him that I wanted a change in direction and wasn't quite sure how I was going to go about it.
Today he told me that he was so happy to see that I had my head screwed on and had come so far since Christmas. He and Chris Madden were really excited by my work and seemed to like what I was doing.

I did all the talking (surprise surprise), and when I had finished what I had to say, I think I was actually a little surprised by myself because I was clear at putting across what it is I want to do. I told them about the voluntary work I was doing and the plans I have for my degree show, and the pair of them kept nodding and seemed to agree with what I had in mind. It really gave me confidence, and made me believe myself.
I took out the postcards I have had printed and told them about my business cards (because they haven't arrived yet) and I got positive comments on those too. I mentioned the idea of printing my work in a newspaper for the degree show in June, to include more of the 'Making of Photographs' and some writing to accompany them. Chris said that this was a great idea, and it would be like a professional scrapbook, and would really help to support my work.

Chris' overall summary to me was "I have never met you before, but I can tell that you have direction and you know exactly what to do." This was especially good to hear from someone I have never met before, because it means that I am managing to portray myself in a professional manner. He also said that he could tell from my portfolio, that I clearly wanted to progress and find jobs via my 3D work, and that the work experience pages would really help with this.

I mentioned that I would like to have a go at window displays and the guys came up with a good idea and suggested I head over to Fred Aldous art shop and ask if I can go and decorate their windows. Matt was also keen to take one of my postcards to show his boss to see if I could maybe go and dress their window too!!

Portfolio Review with Steve Swanborough at The Neighbourhood.

At 10am this morning, I headed to the Northern Quarter to go and meet a successful friend of mine who now works at The Neighbourhood. Steve Swanborough graduated from Stockport College two years ago now, and has managed to work his way to being a junior designer/animator for the creative studio. He was a very busy bee, so I really appreciated the time he spent looking through my work.

He said that by looking at my portfolio, he could clearly see that I had selected the pieces of work that best suited me and showed what I want/would like to do. The main worry I had with my portfolio was the amount of work that is in it. It has slowly become smaller because I have taken everything out that I thought wasn't up to standard, or didn't really reflect what I would like to do. Luckily, one of the things that Steve said about my portfolio, was that he could tell I hadn't just added 'page fillers' which is something he sees a lot of graduates do.

He also told me to take advantage of the fact we finish earlier than most other Universities, and think of it as a head start. Network before the show starts and put yourself out there before the rest of the graduate competition gets a chance! It was refreshing to hear from someone that they believe that you know what you are doing. Steve told me that it was good to know that I didn't just expect to have a job once I have a degree, and that I am fully aware I will have to work hard to get any attention from employers. He felt confident that I knew what to do after I have graduated.

Because Steve is an animator, he was looking for images in my portfolio that he thought he would be able to bring to life. He said that the small handmade 3D objects I made, such as the cardboard birds and hammers look really good to animators. So when I show my portfolio to anyone else, it may be a good idea to think about how some things could be animated and mention it to whoever I am showing it to.

And the main advice given to me from Steve, was to find work experience and look for internships, because that is the best way to get your foot in to the industry!

Hope, Fears and Opportunities Part2

When I returned to university last September, I hoped that in the year to come, I would finally find out who I am as in illustrator/designer and have some idea of what I want to do after graduation.

I can now say that I most certainly have a clearer idea of what I am going to do with my life, post degree. I am also trying to leave myself with many options to explore along the way; by firstly taking a managerial role at the company I currently work for- looks good on the CV!

It became clear to me this year is that, although I am indeed doing an illustration degree, I do not want to be a freelance illustrator. The idea of possibly having huge gaps between work has never appealed to me personally. I really want to focus my time on looking for more active job roles that reflect my personality. Call me crazy, but unsociable hours and constant demand, is much more appealing to me.

One thing that I hope to maintain, is my passion for creativity. For me, it doesn't necessarily matter what my actual job title/description is as such, so long as I continue to explore and be creative. I believe this is what will carry me through and (fingers crossed) make me successful.

Something else I have also managed achieve this year, is to stay true to my working methods. I have found a way of working that feels natural to me, and now have the confidence to explore and combine new techniques in order to show that my work is adaptable, and can be applied to a 3-dimensional environment. I really want to continue applying myself in this way. I have been taking photographs of my work for my major project and working in to them with collage and hand drawn type, and some of the outcomes are really exciting!

The biggest fear that I have for the future is getting 'stuck in a rut’. I am scared that once I leave university and go on to work as a full time manager, I may get sucked in to the 9-5 comfortable routine and forget where I really want to be. I guess this is why my biggest hope is to keep the passion. There is no rush, and I know that because I eventually want a career in retail and merchandising, I will have to work my way through many other job roles. I just don't want t lose heart.

In terms of opportunities, there is nothing I expect. I have learnt in the past year that there are no expectations. The only opportunities I will come across will be the ones I have created for myself. Of course by chance, the perfect job may come up, but it all comes down to how I apply myself and make the most of what is around me. I am a lot more confident than I was a year ago and feel as though I am capable of making the best of myself.

Creative Review.

Last month we had a 'creative review' session at university. This is a group discussion, where everyone brings in an article, a film, and a book that they would highly recommend.

I chose to take in my 'Craft Makers Guide to Photography', and although I had only browsed a few of the pages that seemed most relevant to me at the time, I knew that it was a super helpful book and it was encouraging me to learn about, and understand my own camera.

Subsequently this book has become very important throughout my Major Project, as I’m sure you can tell. I have struggled with organising time with a photography student, so I have just gone ahead, got stuck in, and had a go at it myself.

Another girl in my group brought in Moonrise Kingdom, a Wes Anderson film I could not believe I hadn't seen, so that week I went out and bought myself a copy. It was a beautifully ridiculous film; although you wouldn't rally expect anything less. It is a story of two twelve-year-olds, who fall in love and run away on an adventure together.

The characters were awkward, intriguing and loveable.

It was interesting to see such a juxtaposition of ideas, in the sense that, the characters were intended to be incredibly naive, yet they tackled rather complex and mature circumstances. Even though the youngsters struggled to articulate themselves as loners, they could openly discuss problems such as depression.

Bill Murray portrays the perfect wacky and overprotective father, providing 'old school' humour that you can't help but laugh at, like throwing a shoe at a sheriff's head with anger, or the casual comment of a 'true' man- "I'm going outside to find a tree to chop"!

Don't let the front cover of the DVD put you off. I already knew a little bit about the film, but when I took it from the shelf and my friend saw the cover, she instantly thought it looked dull. I recommend you watch it!

Major Project Progress.

I Just thought I would post an update on how my major project is going so far. I have spent several days carrying around stuffed jeans and other various props (and had a lot of funny looks along the way). I really wanted to get some crude photographs of my work so that I could then alter them on photoshop and rework in to them with collage and hand drawn typography.

Some of the outcomes are really exciting! And because there is huge focus on the history of the Levis brand within my project, my tutor suggested that I incorporate the famous red tag in some of my final images. This way that can be used in my portfolio as posters intended for a particular client.

I then have a few other photographs that I have taken for portfolio purposes. When I spoke to Lord Whitney about my work, they said it would be interesting to get some 'in the making' images. I got a few photographs of me working on  a small set against a white backdrop and zoomed the camera out so that you could see all of the tools I was using and a glimpse of the studio in the bag round.

I really liked the images, so I decided to use it as the header on my website and also used it as the main image for my business cards (along with some collaged typography) of course!

I am now working on a new set of photographs I have taken. I am currently editing them in photoshop and thinking what else i can possibly add. I am not sure that type will work on these?

Here's a sneak preview...

Portfolio review? A Business and prospects chat.

Yesterday afternoon I met up with Moni, a very successful, young Visual Merchandiser currently working for Pandora. Fresh from a company meeting, he took me over to a near by bar where we sat chatting for an hour or so.
Although there was the intention of having a portfolio review, for what I want to do, it was more relevant to have a long business chat.
He began by asking me why I was interested in Visual Merchandising and I told him that it really appeals to me because I want to do something active and creative, yet also linked to another huge personal interest; fashion.

To Moni, the main thing that got him to where he is now is passion. He mentioned this word to me several times during our discussion. He said that if I really want to pursue a career in this field I must be prepared to work hard for it and either work for free, or start at the bottom. This is something I knew I would have to do. I have never worked in fashion/retail before so in order to get a 'foot in the doorway', as he put it, I would need to find voluntary job opportunities or apply for a job at base level and spend time working my way up. He told me to just apply for any job that seems relevant, keep looking for opportunities and take them, most companies promote in house so you never know if it could lead on to something else. The important thing is to stay with a particular company for a year rather than 6 months if you plan to move on; it looks much better on the CV.
"It's all about experience" is what Moni kept repeating, and it's up to me how I intend to get that.

One thing he did regret was not taking photographs of what he has done. He said that it is a good idea to be in the habit of recording my work and keeping a portfolio as evidence to show other employers. I will most certainly make sure I always have a camera!

Moni was extremely chatty and was more than willing to tell me all about his experience and how he moved from working out on the floor at French Connection, to then work alongside the Visual Merchandising team before becoming a VM himself. He has never done a creative degree; he just has a really good eye and knows what works and what doesn't.  The job at Pandora was brought to his attention after he left French Connection, and although he felt unsure about working with jewellery, he took on the challenge and really enjoys his job.

He told me to join the Manchester Fashion Network which I am currently doing as I am writing this post. There seems to be quite a few internship opportunities on there at the moment and they keep you updated with any other events that may be of use and interesting for those who want a career in the fashion/creative industry.

I have been offered a job as a manager at the company I work for at the moment. I asked Moni what he thought, because I have been sitting on the fence wondering whether it is too good an opportunity to turn down, or whether I should be looking for a job that suits what I want to do in the future. Because this job I have been offered is a foolproof fast track scheme to management, he said that it doesn't matter that it is in a restaurant, it looks good on your CV to say you have been a manager of some sort.
I think that managing others will not only give me more experience, but give me some extra confidence to throw myself at other highly responsible job roles. I am constantly looking for retail jobs and visual merchandising roles, so when it is meant to be it is meant to be.

I know that I am going to have to work my way through perhaps different companies and job roles to get to where i want to be, but I think I have some sort of plan and I'm feeling good!!!!!!!!

An unexpected meet.

I went in to town this morning to go and get myself some new art materials from Fred Aldous and then I went over to Selfridges to go and buy the iphone case I have been wanting and looking at online for the past few weeks. I got chatting the lovely girl at the till as per usual and told her what I was studying at University and that I wanted to eventually end up in visual Merchandising. Just as we finished our conversation, she told me that the guy who had been stood behind her moments before, was in fact the head of VM at that store. 

She waltzed me over to speak to him but I could only manage to hold his attention for five minutes because he said he had been working since half past 6 in the morning, that, and the fact his phone was constantly ringing in his pocket.

I just asked him how he got in to the visual merchandising role, and he told me that he had worked in retail/fashion stores whilst studying and that slowly worked his way up once he could work solid hours after he had graduated. Most of the other people he worked with had also worked in fashion stores too.

He also said that most of the VMs he knew had either art or arts/design degrees. In fact it sounded as though it was more popular for them to have a degree in design rather than any studies in fashion at all.

So at least I learnt a little something today:

1.Visual Merchandising offers some long and unsociable hours (I do this now in a job I'm not all that passionate about so I am sure I could deal with that if I can VM)

2. My degree in Illustration will definitely help

3. It helps to perhaps find a job lower down in the chain at a fashion retail store..