UWIC Career Development Services
Careers Information for Artists Artist’s CV This is usually written by fine artists but may also be relevant for creative practitioners from other disciplines. You send an artist’s CV to a gallery, exhibition or competition organiser and normally either include quality slides, CDs or photographs of your work, or signpost the reader to a website where examples of work can be seen. Presentation is important; the CV can for example be included in a booklet or folder format with illustrations of work. The key difference is that an artist’s CV focuses exclusively on your artistic achievement and training. You will need a good understanding of your skills, influences and course work to compile your artist’s statement. Personal details Name, address, studio address (if applicable), telephone number/s, email, fax, website. Artist’s statement This is a short, clear description of your work and philosophy as an artist. As your CV will be viewed by professionals, you can use relevant, industry terminology to describe your work. Remember that a fine line exists between developing an accurate, clear description of complex creative ideas, and writing a long, pretentious and confusing artist’s statement that people may find very difficult to understand. Statements can include any of the following: • • • • • • • • • •
Key themes in your work Materials you use Skills Direction of your work Influences Personal reflections Meaning of your work Personal and professional beliefs/ ethics Intended market Ambitions
Don’t be too long winded. Look at www.axisartists.org.uk www.britart.com www.numasters.com or similar sites for examples of artists’ statements. Your professional art education Postgraduate, BA or HND, Foundation (if wished). Dates attended, college, course title and qualification gained. Artistic achievements Exhibitions; awards/ scholarships/ prizes; work in collections; reviews and publications. Art related employment Teaching, commissions, residencies, workshops etc. If you do not have any experience of art related employment remember to include details of any work placements. Agent/s If you have one.
Creative CVs As a creative professional it is particularly important that you produce a CV that represents your particular skills. Pay attention to the design of your CV. Try to achieve the highest quality presentation in terms of printing and paper. Ensure there are no typing errors. If you have headed notepaper or a business card, use them. However if you do not feel a high level of graphic design is appropriate to your field just concentrate on accuracy and attention to detail. Some art, design and communication students like to demonstrate their creativity by producing a CV in a creative format. This demonstrates their ability with graphics. Aesthetically one individual’s appeal can be distasteful to others. The idea of a creative approach is to ensure that your CV stands out from other applicants, has strong visual impact and shows your ability to be innovative. We have encountered a variety of creative CV formats. Portfolio Also up to date to show types of work and progression.
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Showing examples of your creative work These CVs often use a fairly traditional CV format, but show some examples of work in white space or as a background. This does need to be done carefully so that the inserted graphic or artwork is of a high definition and complements the overall look of your CV. Think carefully about your choice of work and select material that reflects your abilities and art and design styles. While plagiarism occurs in the creative industries, do not let his prevent you from including visuals in your CV that will enhance its impact. One of the benefits of becoming a student or graduate member of many professional organisations, such as the Chartered Society of Designers, is that you may be able to access professional or even legal advice on how to copyright your work. Detailed information and advice is also available from ACID (Anti Copying in Design) www.acid.uk.com Branding Many design students with strong illustration or graphic communication skills will develop a house style that they use in their CV, covering letter and business card. Adopting the same design identity helps link different promotional materials to the same person. Opinions regarding the benefits of branding your CV vary throughout the creative industries. Branding yourself successfully is seldom easy. The best examples can work well but on the other hand it can be very challenging to develop a logo that clearly communicates your strengths. Creative use of language While the graphic and interactive elements of CVs are important, do not focus on these to the exclusion of the written content. Language obviously plays a central role in communicating and reinforcing your messages to potential employers and can be of particular importance if you are applying to work in a field where you will be judged on your written skills. While people make creative use of language in a variety of ways, it is vital to write clearly and concisely. Busy employers do not have time to read confusing, longwinded CVs that are irrelevant to their professional needs. Some CVs have tag lines that link with other images and CV content. We have seen examples with wording like “There are plenty of fish in the sea….” or “Creative solutions in…..”. One graduate (imagine her name was Victoria Walter) used the tag line “Ten reasons to try this VW” in her CV and also made use of the Volkswagen symbol. We do not know if she ever encountered any copyright issues with this approach!
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Ensure that you own the language used in your CV. Don’t just copy what someone else has written. Careers advisers and employers can often tell when there is a real difference between the spoken language of a person and the actual CV they present as their own. Whatever wording or ideas you gain from other people’s CVs, edit the text until you have your own CV content that you can talk about truthfully and confidently. Folding your CV Some people post their CV in a large A4 envelope to avoid having to fold it. However, the inventive way a CV is folded can enhance it presentation. We have also seen examples of business cards that unfold to reveal an actual CV on the inside. Self portraits Sending a photograph of yourself on your application can have a negative effect and most employers normally advise against it. However, on some occasions it can be worth considering. For example one student included an illustration of herself to help demonstrate her illustrative skills. Three dimensional CVs Three dimensional CVs obviously have a more substantial feel to them than an A4 sheet of paper and can have a clear link with the intended area of work, e.g. for packaging designers. However, as many CVs are filed away for later use, 3D CVs can have a distinct disadvantage. Really wacky examples Some creative CVs have taken a more extreme approach. We have heard bizarre accounts of CVs sent attached to a brick or hammer. Apparently the hammer was linked with the idea of the person making an impact in the organisation. We have also heard of people developing CVs that rely on gaining specific insider information about the company, or someone in the company. A packaging design graduate learnt that a Creative Director had a passion for a particular variety of pizza and had one delivered with his CV attached to the underside of the lid. The Creative Director was so impressed that the graduate was invited for interview and apparently was offered a job!
Source – “Creative CV Guide” Cole & Whistance, Surrey Institute of Art & Design.
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