Website Research

What do I want in a website?

- Clear Structure

- Simplistic aesthetic - I want my work to speak for itself

- Easily navigated

The Dots

Jean Jullien

Kristyna Baczynski

Charlie Oscar Patterson

Supermundane/ Rob Lowe

Start Up Wednesdays

Start Up Wednesdays - 01.11.17

How to price and sell artwork

www.phill-hopkins.co.uk

How to sell your work (self)

A brief guide to the etiquette of the art world

Valuing a piece of art

There isnʼt a career path for an artist like there is for other jobs

No guarantee anyone will notice just because youʼve been to art school

Be your best/Be professional/Be yourself

Business card

What do I want it to say about me?/ How do I want to appear?/ Easy to buy

online/ Make your own (but not as a home-crafter)/ Tip: if youʼre given one,

e.g. at an art fair, make notes on the back…”this bloke is a pervert”/ Make

special ones to give to people you want to impress

CV

What do I want it to say about me?/ How do I want to appear?/ Up to date/

Easy to read/ Have different versions - one page, full with bio, third person/

PDF/ Paper copies/ Tip: spell check

Statement

What do I want it to say about me?/ How do I want to appear?/ Up to date/

PDF/ Paper copies/ Short (100 words)/ Long (500-800 words)

Website

So people can see your work/ Keep it updates, google likes change/ Mobile

friendly/ Can fb or Instagram work as a website/ Tip:: invest time in an

online presence

Buy a good camera

Buy a tripod

Take lots of pictures of your work that are in focus and well lit

Social Media

Where do I start?/ hard work to get right/ easy peasy to get wrong/ decide

whether to us in support of your practice or a personal account/ create a

narrative/ tip: invest time

Pricing work

Many artists price their work emotionally and inconsistently

Galleries/retailers canʼt sell wrongly priced work

Nothing will betray you like not knowing how to price your work

Many creatives mistakenly under-price their work because theyʼre no

established, their local art market wonʼt sustain higher prices, they lack

confidence in their work.

Must consider the cost of materials, time, size, research similar artists.

No magic formula, after working out a price, try it and see - raise it/lower it,

selling a number of works/in bulk

Selling

studio, gallery/retailer, online (auction)

Studio visits

What does your visitor want to see

A gallery/shop/studio, a private place where work is made/a combination

How long is the visit for

Always have prices in mind/never say I donʼt know (whilst making a stupid

face/have a written list, if it helps and give a copy/if you want to be taken

seriously, then be serious.

Approaching galleries/retailers - present a consistent body of work/have

sufficient work to sustain sales/deliver a portfolio in a format convenient to

review/confident and consistent pricing/approach the right galleries and

retailers/ submit through the right channels.

Approaching galleries/retailers

Galleries are shops, a business and need to make money

Donʼt hound

Be coy; galleries like to discover

Donʼt mistake an Instagram like as a secret message of love and wanting to

show your work

Be ready to answer questions; rehearse your script

Contracts

Employment/exhibiting/commissioning/selling any other work

Without a contract youʼre at risk

States your rights and what you can expect

Artists residencies/selling directly/contracts of sale/gifting artwork/selling

editions and series/authenticity certificates

5 basic good practices - hesitate, negotiate, rotate, indelibly communicate,

duplicate

Look up

BasementArtsProject

Saatchi Art

Artsy

curatroneq.com

www.thecontractstore.com

Experience

Recently I took on a commission to design a logo for an independent company, although it didn’t go the way I’d expected or hoped it to, it was a very valuable experience.

I was really excited about taking on this task, it was a little different to anything I’d done before, but something I thought my work would be well suited to. After all, a logo should be eye-catching and not over complicated! I think that actually sums up my approach to my practice fairly accurately. However this is not what the client wanted, they asked for quite a lot of different details to be included in this logo which I was more than happy to accommodate, so they’d have something that was unique to them and their company, whilst advising that all of the different elements may be too much. 

After finishing the logo, my client realised that there was too much detail and was more of an illustration than a logo. They asked for a lot of revisions, which effectively worked out to be a whole redesign of the logo. After informing them that their budget wouldn’t cover all of these changes, and adding an extra charge, they then decided they were unable to carry on with the commission. In my opinion I think the extra charge was fair and necessary. As a student it wasn’t a high charge but still showed that I value my time and work. I wouldn’t expect anyone else to value my work if I don’t value it myself. I need to learn how to price and sell my work professionally, so I’m confident in asking what I’m asking for without underselling myself.

It was a lot different to any of my other work, but because this was a commission I felt like I had to adapt my visual signature to something that it is not. I partly felt like this because the client asked me to do this brief based on a recommendation from a mutual friend, rather than looking at my work, then determining from there whether I’d be able to produce the logo they were looking for. In hindsight I think I should have just evaluated what they’d asked of me and showed them what I could offer looking for a compromise, rather than doing something completely different that didn’t feel was true to my practice. I think if I had stood my ground I’d have been able to produce a logo that was a lot more striking and that might have pleasantly surprised my client, offering an alternate perspective.

This was a really beneficial experience for me! I acted in a professional manner in what is potentially an awkward situation with a client. With this, I also managed to detach myself from my practice enough to try and complete the brief to a high standard, without feeling insulted when the client wasn’t happy. Although it didn’t work out well, I’m pleased I had the opportunity to experience this and handle this, whilst I’m still studying and while there wasn’t such a large amount of money at stake. 

Mission Statement

I find my most successful pieces of work are when I simplify an image and think of my compositions as a combination of different shapes, I enjoy incorporating different textures and pattern to give my work an extra dimension. I’m inspired by Saul Bass and Dutch design, as well as content which relates to where I grew up in Sunderland. Although I’m very content driven it is the process in which it takes to get to the end product which interests me. Most recently I’ve looked at more traditional print techniques and mixed media within my work, this is why I find it so difficult to work digitally, I enjoy the handmade quality with analogue materials. The use of shape is prominent in my work so I would like to explore how the simplicity of this may transfer to a repeat pattern, to be printed onto fabric.

Visiting UK Greetings

Upon my arrival I was met in reception by one of the Studio Directors, after a cup of tea, we then took a tour of the studios. The studios were divided by specific roles played within the company. The largest studio was for a team of general designers, which a small team of illustrators also resided within. It was interesting talking to a couple of the illustrators, they spoke about different ways in which they work from digital to traditional media. They all had sketchbooks used for initial ideas and things that may be used later on in a different brief. I also found out that their illustrations are then passed on to a designer to then be made into a product, I hadn’t realised prior to my visit that the illustrators wouldn’t solely take the lead on designing their products. I was also taken to see the studio which had teams for; character design, humour and Disney. As well as the studio for external brands I.e. Sainsbury’s, and the gift wrap and packaging studio. It was interesting to find that each greetings card produced go through a series of different designers and teams before reaching the end product that will be put on shelves to sell. As a perfectionist I think I would find this aspect of the industry quite difficult to adjust to, because it’s so different to how I’d usually work. Although this process could offer a great chance to collaborate with designers across the whole company. 

The feel of the professional working environment was really exciting, and inspiring. The studios were very open plan which gave a feel of community and even though there were Macs at every desk, there were still some artists painting. It was interesting to see how each designer take a different approach to their work. There are a number of ways to work for UK Greetings, freelancing appealed to me the most as I felt like this would offer the most freedom with the way I work. As a company, they select artists to freelance for them based on which projects are running at a specific time. No matter how good the artists work is, they can’t pay someone to freelance if they can’t find a use for their work, or don’t have a demand for what the artist is producing. This gave me some insight into how the industry works, as it all comes down to what the consumer wants and catering for the widest audience. 

During my portfolio review, it was encouraging to hear it was my character design that really interested the studio directors. This is an area I’m not very confident in, and feel needs improvement. This has given me the confidence to approach character design more often than I would usually. The studio directors also commented on my use of shape and colour, and could see my work transferring to wrapping paper, this is something I had already pondered and would be interested in trying. The experience of being in a creative environment made me think more about what I would like to do after my degree. On reflection, I think I would like to work in a studio with other creatives, so I can work around likeminded people and have the opportunity to get instant feedback. I think I would find this way of working motivating. 

Ella Barnes_502_SB1_Presentation

Ella Barnes_502_SB1_Presentation

Ella_Barnes_502_SB2_Creative Report

Unfortunately I was unable to get a response from Oliver Jeffers, however I still chose to write an article about him based on my research as his work is the main reason I became interested in Illustration.

Ella_Barnes_502_SB2_Creative Report