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!

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!!!!!!!!

Portfolio review with Ross Von Rosenberg

"Hey Jadine, hope you are well. Sorry I'm just now getting my comments back to you. The New year has been a very busy one so far. Hope you had a great New Years. Anyway, I've taken a look at the PDF you sent me. And I've got some comments, that you can take or leave, but above all I hope that they are helpful.

Overall I think you're off to a good start. A global comment, like how you have a layed out your little descriptive note at the bottom of each page. The only thing I would say is that the leaf illustration, which I assume is kind of a repeating trademark, could stand to be about 25% smaller. Right now it kind of dominates the information at the bottom of each page. If it is smaller, you can lock it up with the information better to make it appear as more of a cohesive unit. Also, maybe try a cleaner san serif font for the information. I think what you have is fine but it might be something worth looking at.

A few comments on your pieces for the BMW Warm Heart Fund. I think the first page of the pamphlet is the stronger of the 2 illustrations. The horse in this one feels more unique and finished. Overall on that page I feel the compositional layout of the illustration works and has good balance. Comparatively the illustration on the second page I don't not feel is as strong. Composition wise, I feel the tree is competing with the horse, they both have a similar weight within the layout. Also the main elements within the layout don't have any over lap which inhibits the illusion of depth within the composition. Also comparatively the first horse has lots of interesting textures and patterns going on in it, where as the second horse is kind of monotone and it flattens out the image. Also, it's hard for me to comment on the typography too much because I don't speak or read any Asian dialects. But my main comment in regards to the type is that I think it would improve the visual interest of both layouts if the typography interacted with illustrations more. If the two interact more and compliment each other more then it will make the piece more dynamic.

Lastly I think you can combine the last two pages. Placing the shirt layout, and the shirt photo on the same page. Place the emphasis on the illustrated version rather than the photo example. This will make the illustration the most important thing on the page which is how it should be.

I like the plate and cup illustrations a lot. Just a couple presentations comments. The first of the 2 pages should show the isolated illustrations, one each, you don't need the cup illustration twice. The second page show your photograph of the illustrations on the plate ware in context. One note on the photo, if you can clip the image out so that we can't see the photo edges and then plate ware will be on the page of seamless white. It's presentation will be cleaner.

Love the "As It Was" illustration. No other comments there.

I also really like the "Creation of Woman" spread. The only thing I'm wondering is maybe there is something that can be done, typographically, on the cover. I like the bindings and the craft looking paper used, but I feel a wanting to see something on on that cover.

Anyway, that is all of the comments I have at this time. I hope you find them helpful. I think you off to a great start and I can't wait to see the final product. Hope that 2013 has been treating you well. All my best.

Ross von Rosenberg"

I will take all of these comments and put them in to action, they all make sense to me. I am glad that He thinks my 'As it was' illustration was very strong because I used to think so myself.The second image for the BMW warm heart fund isn't as strong I do agree, I wasn't sure whether to completely remove that from the portfolio or not; this is an option.

The leaf image at the bottom was a mock up really just to see if it would look good with a reoccurring icon on each page so I will go ahead and make it smaller, and maybe even change the actual image itself.

All of the help with the layout and format is great! I can always sense when something doesn't feel quite right but it's often hard to see what actually needs to be done without getting somebody else with a keen eye to take a look.

So I must say thank you to Ross again for his super helpful response to my email and taking the time to report back to me with some advice that I can act upon.

Portfolio (and life) review with Matt Bray and Jordan O'Brien

So I have just landed back home after an insightful portfolio review with Matt Bray and Jord O'Brien, both of whom are part of the illustration group; 'Foursight'. Jordan and Matt graduated from Stockport at the end of the last academic year so I felt as though they would be useful to go and speak to because they have recently experienced what I am going through and can give me some really fresh feedback.

Jordan was mainly focused on trying to find out what it is I want to do when I graduate, and sometimes I feel as though you often don't know the answers to questions until someone puts you on the spot and you find yourself answering automatically, with information you weren't really aware of. Well at least this is what I did in this situation.

I thought about what I see myself doing in the future, jobs I would love to do and things I am interested in alongside Illustration at University and I told them that I want to organise and decorate spaces. This means windows displays, areas of a shop that consist of seasonal themes, perhaps even merchandise that then reflect a particular topic within these spaces. My portfolio does not really reflect what I want to do in the future (although I have enjoyed what I have done so far). I still want to show people that I am capable of producing illustrations to be used for books, editorials etc, but I also need to bring some of my work off the page and apply them to real life contexts.

For my final major Project, I am going to split my time in to two sections, they will still run with the same topic, but I will produce 'final designs' that can be sent digitally to clients and are displayed as flat images on the walls for people to look at. I will then spend the rest of my time using and adapting the illustrations I have done to create the set/exhibition space itself, I want the context of the studio to be a part of the work. Perhaps a collaboration is in order?

My work relies upon textures and layers, which can be applied to all these different areas. I need a portfolio that reflects the methods I use, so the guys mentioned buying one that was a little bit different. Perhaps a rustic brown leather one with detailed stitching, and individual sheets that can then be taken out easily. They also said to include some original work because printing can often take away the tactile quality of the work.

So the main things I have taken from this portfolio review is to explore a little more in order to show people what it is I can and want to do, as well as include some of the original, crafty characters I have made for clients to be able to physically pull out from the portfolio and look at.