THOMAS NORMAN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
‘If you wait, all that happens is that you get older’.
-Mario Andretti
CONTENTS ELVENSØ ABOUT ME INSPIRATION FINAL MAJOR PROJCT ONLINE PORTFOLIO AOI SELF PROMOTION COMPETITIONS GETTING OUT THERE MOVING ON
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For promotional material and merchandise to be effective I needed a recognizable, consistent identity. I felt it was important to create something that would set me from any other illustrator so I decide to rebrand myself and create an identity that can used almost as a company. I decide to take my mother’s maiden name, which is Elvensø. This is very personal to me and thought it was a strong name that would stand out. Also I really liked the image of the last letter Ø, so based my branding and logo around this, which I think worked very well. It is a strong iconic symbol that draws the eye and intrigues the viewer. I would say the banding reflects me as an illustrator. It is very simple, but clean and bold as it stands out.
‘We communicate through art with symbols that transcend the boundaries of time and culture’. -Richard Clar
ABOUT ME Colour is a very important part of my illustration, which often draws upon the natural world, botanical and scientific exploration. I can be found working with a mixture of watercolour, ink, pencil, graphite and pen and maybe using a computer as a final editing tool. This mixed media approach allows me to experiment with mark making, keeping the energy within the illustrations. In an attempt to energize and free up my work, I like to be messy in the initial stages of a drawing where I use my sketchbook, when I need to develop the idea or technique then I like to refine the image for the final piece of work.
I have tried to move away from my old methods of working with a fine liner. I believe I work best with mixed media often watercolor and pencil or pen. I start quite free with the paints trying to keep the brush flowing around the page, highlighting and boosting the colours, then work back into the image with pencils or pens, adding definition by crating bold marks which create a space of space and texture that bring the image to life. Developing my technique and idea generation has been a journey of understanding what I want from my illustrations
INSPIRATION
‘When inspiration doesn’t come, I go halfway to meet it’. -Sigmund Freud
INSPIRATION When I think about what inspires me as an illustrator, I can easily say that is the most obvious answer, my experiences. This can include anything from things I see walking around or events that happen to me. This is perfect as they are forever changing and will happen wherever I am. It was not until my third year on this course I accepted and appreciated this. I was always determined to find something more impressive or fascinating and this was affecting my work for the worst. I realise now, that my documentation and exploration of the simple things I experience intrigue others around me. I have grown huge amounts as an illustrator during my time as a student at AUB. Just by accepting my work for its simple nature, and embracing my traditional methods and techniques, I have seen others can enjoy it to and this has pushed me on to improve my illustrations and myself. This is the perfect time to discover this, as my confidence levels have increased dramatically and will spur my on through my final major project.
FINAL MAJOR PROJECT My final major project has been a long journey that I have enjoyed every step of the way. Discovering new outcomes and techniques, which I have constantly adapted through out my experiences, so I did not land on a final outcome half way through the project. My project is based loosely around the idea of beauty in nature, including the common species around us, which we don’t tend to notice, to the more extreme round the world. By choosing a theme that inspires me ad one that is so accessible wherever I am I have given myself instant access and inspiration to create work. I love going out and exploring and documenting things I see around me and this gives me endless inspiration. I want to also relate theses drawing to information that informs me and helps me gain knowledge. Displaying the work professionally become more apparent for this project. Simple things like using the same paper for the drawings and presenting the work in a special way were taken into consideration and applied to a professional level. Drawing on location affected my style compared to when I was behind my desk. The illustrations become freer as I would work faster on them, using bold marks to emphasis direction and texture making them come to life, where as they would be more prÊcis and two dimensional. Not all of my time went to my authorial project. I had a few commissions that broke up my time. I found it challenging to balance both at the same time but enjoyed to whole experience and made me learn a lot whilst doing so.
‘Too often tod business, whi nity to bring c
day, art is treated as a ich misses the opportuchoice to the public’. -Kenn Backhaus
ONLINE In the digital age it has never been so important for an illustrator to have an online presence that showcases, markets and interacts on a variety of different platforms. With this in mind it is vital my work was considered. The Internet is a powerful tool and understanding how it can be effectively used is important.
WEBSITE My website will function like an online portfolio. A place to showcase strong pieces of my work in a clean and simple format. I have enjoyed learning coding skills in order to present my images the way I want them. I chose Cargo collective as my web host as it has a strong reputation amongst the design world, by only taking on artists, designers and photographers.
BLOG I use my blog to upload work in progress, experimental pieces and things that haven’t made it to my website. It is an insight into how I create my images. People can also leave comments so it is slightly more interactive
than
a
website.
TWITTER A place to network, share ideas and interact with other creative. People can see who you follow, what you are talking about, interested in and what type of person you might be. It visually relates to my website using the same branding.
PINTEREST I use pinterest to easily store all my online inspiration. I can easily look back for reference but it also allows others to see what I am looking at. You can tell a lot about a person by their pinterest pins and it has also told me a lot about myself.
‘Quality is never an accident; it is alway
PORTFOLIO The quality and personality of a portfolio is a clear sign to any potential client what they can expect to receive from you. Everything from layout, balance and quality of print all portray what standards you will offer any future work. Digital – A PDF format that can easily be sent and downloaded. Analogue portfolio – A digital portfolio should not overshadow the importance of a good print based portfolio. Nothing is better than the quality of a well printed illustration. I have a black A3 Prat portfolio that can be taken to interviews and clients meetings that showcase the best of my work.
ys the result of intelligent effort’. -John Ruskin
AOI The 2013 Pick Me Up event was a great opportunity to sign up as a member of the Association of Illustrators. This allows me to access business advice and assistance as well as discounted rates for events and art supplies. Also by being able to pace the logo within my website, this will provide clients extra assurance that the legal side of the business is considered. I have subscribed to a number of illustration magazines as I hope to keep to date with the ever change industry and the requirements that are needed.
SELF PROMOTION Self promotion is key in becoming a successful freelance illustrator, if nobody knows about you, you do not get any work. As both technology and illustration develops and changes over time, my promotion will become and ongoing activity in keeping up to date with the modern trends. I wanted some advice on the best way to push my branding through to its full potential. After a meeting with The Observatory, an interactive agency with a dynamic blend of marketing strategy, design and technology based in Jersey, they suggested and number of simple and effective that would help do so. I have recently had my first business cards printed at Moo.com and I am very pleased with the results. The cards have a lovely finish and feel very professional. I chose images from my recent projects as I wanted them to be current highlighting my best work and also with my branding on as well. Other items of self promotion include t-shirts, stickers and stampers, that all push my brand I created for myself, so people will be able to indefinitely my work easily. Organisation – I am in the process of building a database of contacts too send mail-outs too and stay in touch with. This needs to be maintained so I can stay in touch with old clients and market to new ones. Limited Edition Postcards – Producing something that people will not want to throw away or think of as junk could be a clever idea. Producing a limited edition set of images means that I can show off my work as well as encourage people to keep and hopefully use for future work.
COMPETITIONS I believe I had some success this year, although not winning I achieved a runner place up in the Ormerland creative finds competition. The brief was to submit some current work for a attest brief or project. Although I did not win, its good to know my work is getting recognized, which gives me confidence in my own practice. I am looking forward to presenting my portfolio to Gina Cross, who was the Art & Design manager at The Guardian and is now the Director at GAS Art & Design, give
me
advice
to
who will advise me on my practice and help kick
start
my
career
as
a
freelance
illustrator.
Having meetings with interactive agencies such as The Observatory, professionals like Gina Cross, guest lectures and tutors have all helped bring fresh opinions to the table and make me understand my work from other perspectives.
‘Remember, your definition of success doesn't need to be compared to someone else’. -Lorna Dockstader
GETTING OUT THERE Having work out in the public domain is the best way for my work to be seen by companies and agencies that are looking for fresh, creative talent. I have been lucky enough to be approached by a number of clients that either want to display and sell my work. These are still being negotiated and planned but will be displayed by June. The award winning company, 365 tickets, commissioned me to illustrate some of their best selling attractions, as they wanted a more personal feel to their images. This was a great experience as it taught me so much about professionalism, commissioning, meeting deadlines and the overall experience of seeing a commission through from start to finish. Placing my work back into an environment gives the illustrations another dimension.
By allowing people to discover these items, it creates a
sense of realism over them, intriguing the viewer for a closer look. By doing so they a random audience, create a talking point and bring them together.
‘It’s not where you take things from – its where you take them to’. -Jean Luc Godard
MOVING ON It is now time to finish my degree and move on. The future is uncertain but yet full of possibilities and I feel confident to tackle them head on. I am pleased with what I have achieved in my final major project and it had provided me with a number of new idea to take forward after I have graduated. Looking back at how my work has changed, I am extremely excited with the possibilities of my future work. University will soon be over but I believe this is the beginning not the end of my practice in illustration. After graduating, I have gained some industry experience with a local design agency back in Jersey. I am always looking for ways to push my practice in different directions as I hope to gain more experience not just in illustration but across the creative field from photography, film and graphic design, as this will increase my potential to gain work. A focused effort in marketing, mail outs, competitions and exhibitions will help get me name out there. After work experience I plan to move to Copenhagen to continue my practice in a new environment. This will provide me with a set of new challenges and a completely new experience, which will continue moving my practice forward. I enjoy being immersed with like minded creative people who inspire and encourage me to develop my work. My technique in my work has become stronger as I have slowly moved away from the safe style I had when I arrived on this course. The concept behind my work still needs improving but I feel that will come sooner rather than later. I finally feel that my illustrations have a completeness to them and my working process is more concise. I do not wanted to fall back into my old ways of relying of safe illustrations after graduation and I feel I can use it as a time to move forward and step up the level of my practice.
‘Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.’ –Norman Vincent Peale
www.elvensoillustration.com