THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE SUBMISSION OF JESSICA DURDEN. WWW.JESSICADURDEN.COM
I JUST WANTED TO THANK MY TUTORS FOR ALL THEIR HELP AND SUPPORT DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, I HONESTLY DIDN’T THINK UNIVERSITY WAS GOING TO BE AS MCH FUN AS IT HAS BEEN.
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Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 My Practice .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Negotiated Practice ................................................................................................................................. 7 The Birds ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Extended Major Project ........................................................................................................................ 12 Design Buddy ........................................................................................................................................ 16 TLK ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 Inspiration ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Networking ........................................................................................................................................... 22 Interview ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Learning Experiences ............................................................................................................................ 24 Branding ............................................................................................................................................... 26 Online Presence .................................................................................................................................... 28 Applications for my work ..................................................................................................................... 30 Exhibitions & Galleries .......................................................................................................................... 33 C.V. ........................................................................................................................................................ 36 Promotional Material ............................................................................................................................ 38 After Grauation ..................................................................................................................................... 40
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“I DON’T KNOW IF I’M CONTROLLING
Bournemouth seemed like a nice place too.
THE LINE, OR IF THE LINE IS
I didn’t comprehend at the time just how important it would come to be that I needed to surround myself with fresh air, nature and countryside.
CONTROLLING ME.” - MARCUS OAKLEY
Since my original decision to pick up a pencil, I feel like my whole world was opened up, and coloured in.
Three years later, I have learnt so much. The way I see the world, how I create my illustrations are all forever touched by this place. I now, in humble reflection consider myself to be an Illustrator. Both personally and professionally.
One thing that struck me, as I grew to know all my course mates was the sheer diversity in backgrounds and interests that can lead to becoming an Illustrator. As a child, although I never contemplated being an Illustrator, I knew that every time I picked up pencil, or examined an object with an artist’s eye, I felt like I was free and able to be myself. When it came to college, I took a course in Fine Art. It was then, that I realised I wanted more stability in my life with more prospects of a job. I was driven toward the field that I felt myself becoming deeply passionate about and it was then that I knew nothing else would satisfy me. 04
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One of the course many lessons for me was that illustration can be anything, and that modern day Illustrators need to push the boundaries of what it can be. Over the past three years I have been a witness to some of the most experimental work made by my fellow coursemates. This has encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and try new techniques. However, I was drawn to a more traditional approach of illustration, in which I have been developing and becoming more stylised. By using a pencil and pen I have been trying to push my limitations and see how far I can take my work. My work is based heavily on illustrating nature, animals and people. I mainly work in pen and pencil with the recent introduction of watercolour paint. I feel my work has progressed in terms of inventiveness over the course of my degree. This could be due to a lot of practice, constantly drawing and trying to improve each time, and careful planning of each piece. The inspiration for new work can come from anywhere. I find beauty in most things, and I love to create my own ideas from areas of personal interest such as music, films, the natural world and dreams.
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I have thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in a hub of creativity, with course mates and tutors that help you with ideas. I could not have imagined meeting a group of more talented and helpful people. For this I am truly grateful.
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During the summer before the third year, I made sure that I kept my drawing skills sharp. I became fascinated with naturally occurring patterns that feature universally, both in organic and non-organic materials.
This was a key moment for me as I furthered my investigation of patterns. Some exploratory illustration clearly worked extremely well whilst others failed to capture my original inspiration. They still very much helped steer me along an exciting new path of possibilities.
I primarily focused on birds and their causes for extinction. Overall, I feel that this unit was a turning point for my practice. That said, one of my problems was I tried to fit my work into certain concepts, I felt it necessary to put on labels. I feel that was a result of doubting myself, I know now that I should let my curiosity drive me. I expect that I was intimidated by the thought that this was the third and final year and I was feeling inadequate. At this point I was not ready to leave University.
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have been a symbol of creation for thousands of years. From temples to tombs you can find their image etched into stone. Today, that symbolism has evolved in ornithology. Artists have discovered a subject that addresses contemporary concerns - from environmental degradation to transformation and mortality. Birds have played a significant role in my both personal and coursework over the past year. I suppose the most significant of which was the series of images I produced titled Extinction. In these images I enjoyed exploring and depicting their causes for extinction, textures, colour, shape and patterns. With so many variations and many more unexplored I am provided with an endless stream of inspiring images to dissect and enjoy. But the resulting illustration has the essence of the above while being pulled into a recognisable shape - a beautiful bird.
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Previous; New Zealand Quail, Extinct. Above; Nesting. Right; Migration, Extinct.
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The idea for this project stems back to an online research session, in which I found the website Collect-London – a clothing company that releases competitions for Illustrators to design a new range of T-shirts. I was a competition-entering machine for a few months but unfortunately this one had ended. I was interested in the theme folk fantasy, I felt that it was on trend and that it would be a theme that I could transition from NP into EMP. There have been numerous resurgences of popularity in the fashion, beliefs, customs and legends of a traditional way of life. Humanity have tried to overpower nature and discovered itself unequal to the task. We are paying the price of our manipulation, and now it would see that the Old World views have returned. My current illustrations were inspired by myths and legends, showing the magic behind reality and all living creatures. I was mostly interested in the role of spells in hunting. 12
Showing a relationship that has been carefully studied and created in primitive hunting culture, where the hunter worked alone and treated its prey like an individual was really the core of my visual investigation. Although I have chosen not to depict humans with animals and there is no signs of civilisation, the viewer is able to witness these animals in a magical environment. And participates in the personal relationship between man and animal which is based on mutual respect. It was presumed that the game surrendered voluntarily, however through my research I have discovered some wild animals retain their independence until death. Prey animals belong to the forest, a world that remained outside the control of people.
With a lot of careful planning and consideration I feel that my final piece is really a huge accomplishment for me. With the new techniques over ambitious size and professional presentation I feel that this really is the best illustration I have created yet. I have carefully examined natural forming patterns to include within this final piece. I’ve been playing around with patterns repeating through living and inanimate things. That is what I have attempted to portray in this drawing, I concentrated a lot on detail to achieve a great degree of realism. Below; Magic Forest work in progress.
The forest is just as important as the animals, and I began by focusing and exploring the ideas of what ties animals to their habitats. I studied woodland creatures in their natural environments and embellished them as to how I would like to see the world. Creating imaginative scenes of magical wildlife unrestricted by reality. Gathering research and information from cultures all over the world from their beliefs traditions, all the while guided by curiosity. At the beginning of this unit I was commissioned to make a photo booth for a friend’s wilderness themed event for her new company Howl. I challenged myself to see how my intricate pattered animals would look surrounded in nature instead of floating in white space. After the event I studied the drawing in more detail and realised there were several improvements I wanted to make.
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Above; Wilderness Photo booth for Howl Event Bottem Left; Listings cover for 60 Million Postcards Bottom Right; Photo taken from Howl
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Stuart Austin from Thinking Juice was my selected Buddy, he was incredibly helpful and insightful. He and I would usually spend our allotted time together coming up with creative solutions to whatever problems I was currently facing.
He suggested new avenues in which I could sell my work or advertise myself as an Illustrator. Even if I do not use his ideas as helpful as they were, I really appreciate this experience in which I got to see the inner-workings of a creative agency, and to talk to a professional.
He helped me a great deal by making me really think through my choices, as I normally rush into something without giving it the proper thought. He helped me with discussing ideas for promotional material, telling me that I have to establish my identity before making logos, business cards etc. He asked me to think about how my logo would be applied to different contexts in the process of designing it. He also gave me some helpful tips on how to improve the look and functionality of my website. 16
Before this experience I really did not want to work in an office. Three years ago on a gap year, I was working in an office and blamed the environment for stunting my creative side. I began my sessions with Stew asking how I could become a freelance Illustrator and trying to gain some more advice, but the whole experience has opened me up to the thought of working in an agency.
I would still like to start my career after graduation by trying to find work as a freelance Illustrator. However I will now not be so judgemental and view working in a creative agency as settling, and failure to make it on my own.
I feel that this opportunity of a few meetings with a working creative professional helped me with decision making and taking my next steps after graduation. We have also built up a friendship in which over the next few months I can send him some of my work to gain some feedback from an outside source and a fresh pair of eyes. 17
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“CLIENTS COME FROM ANYWHERE, DON’T MAKE PROMISES YOU YOU CAN’T KEEP IN ORDER TO KEEP GOOD RELATIONSHIPS” Talking about Illustration as a business and a profession is something that these events have helped me with. These were friendly and relaxed lectures in which I only attended a few and now regret that I
“IT’S GOOD TO SURPRISE PEOPLE THINGS THAT AREN’T ON A BRIEF. SHOW THEM YOUR TEAMWORK” The biggest thing it did for me was making these guest speakers more relatable, less intimidating and scary. We were not so different after all.
“THERE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE PROBLEMS, IT’S ABOUT HOW YOU DEAL WITH THEM” - GUEST SPEAKERS.
did not go to them all.
“KEEP IN CONTACT, SEND CHRISTMAS CARDS TO CLIENTS” They sparked discussions on inspiration, clients and getting the job etc. What I found most interesting was that the people on the question panel felt so different to me and where I am professionally. It dawned on me that I might have a long way to go before I could be on the same level as they are.
“BREAK MONOTONY AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO EVERYONE ELSE OUT THERE” However during the talks the answers were often things I already knew, actions that I already put into practice, and while I felt I did learn from these talks, particularly new ways to approach problems and how to present myself to clients.
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There have been many ways I have sort after inspiration during the past few years at AUCB. During a TLK evening lecture I realised that I am not alone in doing so. It did help me by giving me new ways of findinginspiration if I am a little stuck but also to keep in touch with what is in trend at the moment and what people would like to see.
Below; Grant Museum of Zoology
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A few places that I have found to be a great source of inspiration over the past year are as follows, Left; Photos taken from BirdWorld Below; View Gallery, Bristol Amalgamation Top Right; Stolen Space, London Word to Mother Bottom Right; The Natural History Museum.
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So far I can count the number of networking events I have attended on one hand. A couple of years ago when I first attended a networking event, I noticed that I was not particualary confident when it comes to talking about my own work. I felt as thought I came across with a certain amount of negativity and self doubt. I realised this was something I was going to have to change and I need to feel comfortable talking about my practice to people in the profession. I was unsure of why when it comes to talking about my work I was negative, especially as in day to day life I feel as though I present myself well with a friendly and approachable manner. When I lost a commission from a friend I realised that this was becoming a problem and I need to start trusting my abilities. I now realise that salesmanship is inherently unavoidable as a mecessity in Illustration.
I was recently invited to the launch party of Future Art Form., and felt this was an opportune time to practice coming across with confidence and positive. I immediately stuck up a conversation with the Director of the company and feel as though I attained my goal of being friendly and also memorable.
While I have always tried to be honest and sincere whilst talking about my work, I realise that networking is only one of the ways you are able to make good connections. And I feel that for me it would be best to focus on the connections that I can already made. As I have been told again and again ‘it’s not what you know but who you know.’ Seeing as I am lucky to have some older friends that have various jobs in the creative industry, I have been orgainising work experience and been lining up possible freelance work. As long as I make the right connections, then I will be happy in the thought that I will have been able to stay authentic to myself and as a practitioner. 22
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QUESTIONS I’VE ASKED MYSELF TO ESTABLISH AN PROFESSIONIAL IDENTITY AND TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF MYSELF AWAY.
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR WORK FEATURED?
IN WHAT DIRECTION IS FREELANCE ILLUSTRATION SECTOR HEADING?
Recently I have been contacting lots of online and printed magazines, the one I am most excited by is Popshot magazine, and its mixture of poetry and illustration. I like having small goals at the moment because I’m working up to the bigger commissions.
I feel that industries that revolve around creativity and invention are by nature infinite and endless. That’s quoted from Picnic, and when I read that I realised just how true it is. I’m not worried about its direction, I just feel like there’s nothing else I would rather be doing.
WHO DO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH?
HOW WOULD YOU DESCIRBE YOUR PRACTICE?
I’ve been talking about collaborating with another student off the course, Milan Abad. I really hope that it happens because I think our work together would look really good.
I love driving to Glastonbury in the Winter/Spring time. I know that a lot of the stuff you find there is considered New-age but I think it’s fun and people like being different and standing out there. I go to pick up a crop circle calendar every year and walk around, and just end up feeling so inspired.
It’s hard to say, mostly because I feel as though I’m just starting to figure things out. I find that I like getting lost in the detail and the intricate patterns and I hope that anyone looking at my work does also. I guess you could connect it with many different styles and influences but to me it just feels like the right way for me to draw. I need a break from it every now and then though, I seem to have three stylized looks simultaneously, the pen, pencil and coloured pencil. But there’s more and more of a natural feel making its way into my illustrations lately which I think is usually shown in the earthy colours and subjects.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?
DO YOU SKETCH A LOT?
My plan was to move to London after Graduation, but while doing this project I found that I needed to be surrounded by nature. Even sitting in my bedroom looking out my window, I drew all the tree tops, branches, and plants. I sat in my garden and sketched the flowers and we for adventures in Dorset woodlands and felt inspired. Now I’m not so sure, but in a few years I want to move to San Francisco for a while.
On and off. I never used to, but over the past few months I can’t seem to stop, I’ve been sketching tons. This is an important piece of work I’ve been faced with and I wanted to get it right, and sketching has really helped me out. I used to draw a lot more, where as now I mostly just sketch out really rough forms and then ink them. I’d really like to brush up on my sketching skills a lot though.
WHAT INSPIRATIONS PLACES HAVE YOU VISITED?
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I feel I have had countless problems to overcome during my time at AUCB. Each time I come to a solution I feel I have learnt slightly more than before. I started reading magazines in the library to gain more of an insight in the practicalities of becoming an illustrator. Computer arts magazine helped me to use the right tools, teach me more on computer software and to help keep me afoot of what was the latest trend in the market. Little things made a drastic improvement on my work which was needed as there is definitely a highly bench mark in level 6 to level 4 and 5. I started buying the right kind of pencils for sketching, keeping them constantly sharp to achieved a precise and realistic quality to my hand drawings. I started buying different line liners, the Uni pin have been my favourite, as they are fade proof, water proof and smudge proof and they have a nice grip, but are not the more comfortable pens to be holding for hours on end. I learnt new skills on Photoshop CS from computer arts magazine as well as my course mates, who have all been doing something the far longer way until someone showed them a shortcut. One of the most interesting experiences at AUCB was helping out with the interview process. It’s like you get to meet yourself a year, two years or three years ago. You can see where they are now, and how that was you and now how far you have come. It feels good giving people advice which would have helped you out during the interview process, and it’s always nice to have a little nosey through someone else’s work, while it’s up for discussion. Across the page is an image I created to have a little break from drawing in pen all the time. With this image I saw the potential of introducing more colour to my work, my drawings were more fun and vibrant, and would open up my practice to a wider audience. I’ve never thought of myself and being able to Illustrate for children, but that is such a huge area of the market I do not want to shut myself off from it completely. By working in this stylized way and getting better at it I feel I could one day consider the possibility of illustrating for children.
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I have to adjust my thinking from seeing myself as a student and becoming a brand. I need to create a solid brand identity that I can use to sell my ability as an Illustrator. I have had to ask myself who is Jessica Durden the Illustrator? What does she stand for? I used a brand onion model to help me answer these questions. It was only recently whilst creating my website that I did find a look that I was happy with. I feel it helps summarise who I am and is geared to the type of commissions that I wish to receive. I have been using parts of my website, such as the handmade font across different online platforms in order to create a consistency.
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The workshop with Hayley was invaluable. She gave us some useful advice on how we could become noticeable and go to the extra effort of making something beautiful. She gave us some ideas on how to keep people and to generate work and what someone is looking for in a promotional mailer. After seeing some websites of how other Illustrators have stood out we were asked to perform a task, to write down something memorable about ourselves, something that made us more distinctive. I thought of how when I was born my Dad crashed his car, and he crashed again on my 1st Birthday. He made up what he called Indian names for my brother, sister and I, mine was the car that crashes. I discussed one time with a tutor how a lot of my recent work features an animals dead or dying. He questioned me and asked why this might be a recurring theme. When I thought about this I realised this could be a way for me to resolve my own fear of dying and what comes afterwards. I tried researching where my family name comes from and discovered two possible meanings, the first warrior of the forest. The second of Valley of the deer’s, both of which seem to suit my practice. I grew up in a small village in Surrey, I enjoyed going on adventure in the woodland by my house with friends and we used to spend summers building a lot of te-pee’s.
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I put more thought to this after and wanted a statement that both told a story, was friendly, memorable and also professional. I feel this is still a work in progress but so far I am happy with this statement. Jessica Durden is a freelance illustrator and visual artist currently in her final year of studying Illustration at The Arts University College at Bournemouth. To get in contact with Jessica Durden for any inquires, commissions or if you just want to introduce yourself please email hello@jessicadurden. com Throughout her projects Jessica Durden has developed a fascination for nature, natural and manmade patterns and pays attention to the smallest detail. These are blended together in a charming, unique and contemporary manner. Her fascination in nature stems from growing up in a small village in Surrey. From building tepee’s to exploring countryside’s for inspiration, Jessica was always found having adventures by the way she sees the magic behind the ordinary. In the rare chance that Jessica is not found hard at work on a project she will still be planning trips to South America and collecting precious stones, feathers and the ends of her pencils.
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Behance. ‘The creative Professional Platform’, use this as an extension to market myself. Tumblr, this is now connected to my website, which will make it easier, instead of creating more and more blogs like I have, I will be sticking to this one, a way to share ideas, keep up the good content on there and give an insight into who I am. LinkedIn – This is essentially for my C.V. Facebook – I have a personal facebook profile with a professional page linked to it. This will be used to give more of an insight into what type of person I am and it is used more and more by recruitment. YouTube/Vimeo – The 2nd most popular search engine and vimeo being more for creative, I have used these to show more of my animations that I have made and can show my likes and interests to recruiters. Twitter – using this to shout about my work, views on life and the industry of illustration to name but a few of its possible usages. This is growing as an interview tool with the right crowd. 28
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I feel that with my illustration work I have an opportunity to get my name out there through exposure, by applying my drawings into sellable products. Becoming more commercial with my work would gain me that exposure so that I can get the more sustainable commissions. I have to consider how best to apply by work to different materials, whether they’re t-shirts, prints, tote bag, wallpaper, photo-booth, cd covers etc. Half the battle is finding the right people to contact, and thinking of the best ways to do that. To apply myself to the more ecological, environmental, sustainable, quirky, commissions I have to make it a true representation of myself. I entered a competition for Surfdome and Rapanui over Christmas, they were asking for entries from Illustrators that would be turned into a t-shirt range. I entered an owl I had just finished drawing. I was overwhelmed to see just how well it did in the competition and received by others. Unfortunately it did not win, but it encouraged me to continue entering more competitions. I have also been contacting magazines, both online and printed publications, asking if I could get involved, submit illustrations and possibly featured. Basically trying to get as much exposure as possible being that I am now an emerging Illustrator and have to be constantly looking for work. I have never wanted to be pigeon holed, but found I was doing it to myself, until I had a talk to by design buddy. He reminded me that I could apply my work to anything and any situation.
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I have worked on a series of different projects, some of these are self-initiated, and others are concepts that I found intriguing, exciting and was invited to take part. I like the projects where I create a small, most of the time low-fi zine. The themes can completely differ from each other forcing me to produce work that is unlike anything I would normally, and I have come up with some very surprising results. Projects such as wanted to create a little escapism, to drawing our teacher as an icecream.
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Images of my productivity outside of the Uni. I enjoyed getting involved with collaborations with other Illustration students, when I produced a zine with four others called Alkoholik Robotik. I’ve been keeping my hands busy and getting crafty. Working along side friends at a Freeway Poetry night, producing live Illustrations on boards.
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I was encouraged to submit work to the CafĂŠ Boscanova for a way to raise money for our final year show. But really it turned out to be much more than that. it was a great exercise in curating and collaborating with other people. Most importantly it made me aware of how I need to value my work, it was a lesson in realistic pricing. Crayon Exhibition.
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This was an interesting collaboration filled with good experiences mixed with some slightly negative. I thought the idea of working in U.V paint would work well with my way of drawing. I received paint for the organizers and had regular updates and meetings with them. The problem I found was that I did not get a U.V light earlier to test the paint and I trusted that the paint I was given was U.V. However, it was not. The night before I checked it under a black light and it barely glowed, so I spent hours trying to make it U.V. When I got to the church to drop off my artwork I felt that the set up of the show was not particularly professional. I wish I could have helped out the event organizers more, the timing was wrong for me and I was attempting to take on too much.
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This was another great opportunity to collaborate with 40 other students from a range of different courses. It was a chance to get my hands dirty in preparing the unusual space for the exhibition and overcoming a challenge of getting my artwork to the event –to which the answer was rolling it on skates. The event was well curated, organised, displayed and received. I feel proud to be a part of eclectic, exciting exhibition. 35
Freelance Illustrator/ Fine Artist W. www.JessicaDurden.com M. 07951731517 E. jessicadurden@hotmail.co.uk
I am a passionate Illustrator who thrives on challenging briefs, extracting the highest level of detail from my environment, real objects and my imagination. Using mostly pencil, watercolours and pigment pens I try to find the perfect balance between reality and unrestricted boundaries of the artist’s eye. I enjoy working independently or as part of a studio collective and my interests span from natural landscapes to folklore and magic. Much of my recent work has centred around closely studying objects, animals and nature and drawing them in unusual ways, by embellishing patterns and water colour effects. I aim to seduce my audience with and marvel at the organic and non-organic patterns around us. I relish the opportunity to work to client briefs and consider myself to be highly motivated to creating innovative and outstanding results.
Education: Sept 2009 - Current Sept 2008-June 2009 Sept 2005- June 2007
The Arts University College at Bournemouth. BA (Hons) Illustration University College for the Arts, Farnham. Foundation Degree, Fine Art / 1st Farnborough Sixth Form College. Fine Art (B) Media Studies (B) English Literature (C)
Certificates: May 2010
ABC Digital Design - Photoshop: Image Production ABC Digital Design - InDesign: Desktop Publishing ABC Digital Design - Illustrator: Image Production
Mentoring by Stuart Austin the Art Director at the Emerge Group with the Design Buddy Scheme. Skills: Silk Screen Printing/ Etching/ Lino-cut Printing / Analogue Photography / Laser cutting / AfterEffects CSS / Drawing / Typography / Key strengths comprise excellent communication and presentation skills.
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Work Experience: Dec 2011 March 2011
Coriander Mexican Restaurant (Illustrations for the redesigning of the menu) The Arts University College at Bournemouth (Assisting Interviews)
Event Illustration: March 2010 Sept 2010 Oct 2010 Oct 2011 March 2012 Dec 2011
Best of the Biro / Poster Design / The Winchester Off the Road Theatre Production / Poster Design Madagascar Charity Night / Poster Design Interactive Wilderness Photo Booth / Howl Event, 60 Million Postcards Nineties Photo Booth / Circus 1990s, The Winchester Freeway Poetry Night / Live Illustration / The Winchester
Publications: April 2012 2010/2011 Feb 2010 April 2011 2010/2011
The Secret Zine / Self-Initiated Collaboration Alkoholik Robotik / Self-Initiated Collaboration Dingsdabumsda / AUCB SU Publication Slapdash / AUCB SU Publication Another Escape / Project of Rachel Taylor
Exhibitions: March 2010 2010-2012 Feb 2011 Sept 2011 March 2012
It’s Yours, 60 Million Postcards Bespoke, Café Boscanova Crayon, The Moontree Gallery Out of Sight, Wilkinson’s Car Park Pangaea, Sacred Heart Basement
Interests: Planning trips to South America, and travelling around Europe. Taking walks in the countryside and adding to my feather and the ends of my used pencil collection.
Online Platforms: Twitter; @Jessica_Durden Illustativegoodness.tumblr.com http://www.behance.net/JessicaDurden
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I fear that becoming an Illustrator and staying one will be an expensive business. The figures released from AOI show that almost 75% of Illustrators spend over £100 on self-promotion, but realistically it will be a lot more than that. I will be as advantageous and resourceful as I can when it comes to self-promotion. I know now to really carefully think through my decisions in order to prevent unnecessary waste and money. It was only a few weeks ago that I picked up a business card from a cafe in London, their information was hand printed on a cut up cereal box. This was both different and sustainable, which are two things I greatly admire. Another interesting self-promotion technique I have considered is to make a video of shameless self-promotion. Artist Pedro Campiche has made an incredible video, below, and I feel it makes great use of the world 2nd most popular search engine - Youtube. It is another unique and exciting way to draw attention to yourself. I feel at the moment that my video editing skills are not up to scratch at the moment but will be producing a video over the summer. In Hayley Potter’s workshop she told us that good promo material provokes a response, is unique and consistent with your identity. I have been spending time thinking about how my current work can be transformed and used in different formats. I have been thinking about how my work can become stickers, temporary tattoos, postcards, posters, zines. These will hopefully be quick and easy little give-away’s that will hopefully attract peoples attention. In the following week I intend to produce a little book with close up details of my final pieces for this unit. This idea really suits my type of work, as I want people to get lost in the detail. This limited edition book could be the kind of thing that I would send to different agencies, magazines and companies that I am interested in. Everything I will do from now on will have personal hand made touches, to my printed portfolio, promotional material, etc., as I feel Illustration is by far the most inventive and most cool of the creative industry, we should stand out more than the others.
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I feel that this time in education has taught me many lessons, but after graduation I will have to begin learning about the real world. The knowledge gained over the past 3 years in particular have given me a realistic view on the creative industries, and have taught me that I must work hard to achieve great results. And, that I must be determined and politely persistent when it comes to finding and attaining illustration work. My C.V. is looking pretty bare but I will be excited to fill it up with as many different new opportunities that await me. I am passionate about Illustration and I am determined to do the hard work, to shameless self promote and to put my mind to ideas on the forefront of design. I feel open to accepting new challenges, working with new people and new places but do not want to lose touch with the places I have come from and the people that have enriched my life. I want to move around to other countries and soak up all the culture, to see how that will influence my practice. Within the next 5 years I know that a lot is possible, and I have some personal goals to fulfil. I enjoy the buzz that comes from working with other practitioners and would like to see myself working in a studio in the near future, possibly forming a collective. The most useful advice I received was from our course leader, Lisa Richardson, she told me that problems are possibilities. That’s all art is, problem solving. If I can push myself over the next few key months, solve the problems that will inevitably occur, than I can see my work breaking its way into the industry and spend my career having fun and doing the things that I love.
THERE EITHER IS OR IS NOT, THAT’S THE WAY THINGS ARE. THE COLOUR OF THE DAY. THE WAY IS FELT TO BE A CHILD. THE SALTWATER ON YOUR SUNBURNT LEGS. SONTIMES THE WATER IS YELLOW, SOMETIMES IT’S RED. BUT WHAT COLOUR IT MAY BE IN MEMORY, DEPENDS ON THE DAY. I’M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU THE STORY THE WAY IT HAPPENED. I’M GOING TO TELL IT THE WAY I REMEMBER IT. -GREAT EXPECTATIONS BY CHARLES DICKENS. 40
I JUST WANTED TO THANK MY TUTORS FOR ALL THEIR HELP AND SUPPORT DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, I HONESTLY DIDN’T THINK UNIVERSITY WAS GOING TO BE AS MCH FUN AS IT HAS.
THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE SUBMISSION OF JESSICA DURDEN. WWW.JESSICADURDEN.COM
ADVENTURE, RETURN, REPEAT.