Final Presentation

Creative Report

Life's A Pitch

OUIL502 End of Module Evaluation

Presentation | Slide Explanation

Here is the explanation of each slide and the relevance of it's content, this will form the basis of my script for when it comes to presenting however it will be edited down.

Presentation | Alt vs. Accessibility

I'm slowly gathering a lot of bits and pieces to talk about in my presentation. However when I was drawing the mind map I realised another potential area to talk about.

Throughout the year two subjects have continuously cropped up alongside each other, and it has been an ongoing dialogue with myself. I don't think I can fully pick apart this idea yet, but maybe I can just touch upon it within the slides I put together:

The 'Alt' and the 'Accessible'

I enjoy things that are non-exclusive, made for everyone regardless of who they are, however a lot of the references I've made on my blog and my areas of interest encompass 'alternative' aspects of visual culture or ideas of illustration.

It's hard for me to articulate, but this is how I tried to do it:

ACCESSIBLE - for everyone, all ages, genders, classes, ethnicities, etc.

ALT - 'relating to activities that depart from or challenge traditional norms' (unorthodox, unconventional, unusual, irregular, offbeat...)

- a smaller following, but often much more diverse content. tends to be bolder, takes more risks, non-homogenised (e.g. with alt-comics; auto-biographical, surreal, fiction, factual, different narratives, subjects, view points - life, mental health, dreams, etc etc)

....in some ways, I would like to marry these two concepts together in my work. Like "this is for anyone" but it's not pandering to a mass audiences, or trends.

My work isn't on-trend or trendy, but that doesn't mean it can't be commercial.

Presentation | Mind map

I started to make a mind map, hoping that it would help me to generate some content for my presentation. Also, the diagram is a good way of showing links between subjects and thoughts, so it could also help with the structure of the presentation.

Ideally I would like my presentation to be a mixture of personal and academic subjects, because I think these two things are very closely linked. The most important thing is that it flows and makes sense to others.

Here are some notes on the main bits of the diagram:

RESEARCH

• 504: William Burroughs - a heavily researched module

• Polish poster art - has informed my practice in some ways

PROCESS

• Monotype - immediate, lo-fi

• Cut-ups and collage (links to Burroughs)

• Sketchbook - thinking, writing, rough sketches, notes

PROFESSIONALISM

• Do I fit into this? I don't feel comfortable with it

• Don't see myself being a successful commercial illustrator. Can I redefine professionalism for myself?

• Instead of shoe-horning my work into industry niches, can I find places that fit my work naturally?

• TIME - I don't think the aim is to leave uni as a pre-packaged, fully-fledged practicing illustrator. That's not the point. -> Take time to develop, it's an ever-changing thing

EXHIBITIONS

• The idea of curating work or a theme. Could I do this?

• Stedelijk Museum visit - really inspirational from 2016. Found it to be an accessible place with a lot on offer.

        -> Willem Sandberg: Director & Designer - posters as framed pieces of art, museum             branding, simplicity, process-led

        -> Jean Tinguely: Machine Spectacle - explored drawing as a process, drawing                  machines, involved the audiences, fun, open to everyone, multi-disciplinary (books,              drawings, machines, audio-visual, recordings...)

• Experimental Jetset - innovative, organising events and exhibitions, involved in the ideas as well as the art direction.

• Mark Beyer: With/Without Text - all of these different artefacts and pieces of art under one roof, looking at one person's career.

• How do exhibitions begin? Who what where how why? Is it achievable?

PUBLICATIONS

• Zines, 504 publication, Batsford Prize, I enjoy collating works into a finished publication. Something I'd like to expand on in future and possibly work towards.

• Alt-comics - Mark Beyer, AX Manga, Seth, Chester Brown, Breakdown Press. All very inspiring to me this year. Some great narratives as well as how they can be visually portrayed.

Mark Beyer

I ordered this book to the library a while ago. Finding out about Mark Beyer's comics and artwork has made a big impact on me. Everything he makes seems to be entirely his own, and comes from a place that has a feeling of true originality.

Beyer's work appeals to me in terms of its aesthetics, and the bizarre tone of voice, but I'm also drawn to the work because it is shrouded in a fair bit of mystery and is boiled down to a few commissioned projects he has pursued over the years. I enjoy the work because it doesn't seem to be about commercial success, but more about authenticity. 

He also did a few animated shorts for Liquid Television, which was aired on MTV in the 90's. The short was called 'Thomas and Nardo'.

The odd exhibition or project carried out by Beyer was most likely done not only because he was willing to create artwork for that purpose, but the client must have been interested in what he does.

'Mark Beyer: With/Without Text' (2013) was the first Mark Beyer retrospective, which exhibited Tom Wagner's personal collection of his artwork. The show featured early self-published books, objects including trading cards, dolls, as well as silkscreen prints, plexiglass paintings, posters, and magazine covers.

Beyer was also a common contributor to Art Spiegelman's comics anthology RAW magazine, his work being featured in nearly all of the issues.

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Escape Magazine Interview [link]

With/Without Text - Mark Beyer Exhibition notes [link]

Outsider Art Now - Mark Beyer [link]

SB2 Creative Presence | Creative Report

Presentation Notes

CONTENT

•  A response to PPP and 503 and how they have reshaped your thinking

• A self-audit. What did you enjoy? Successes and failures? What interests you?

•  Skills, what's happening within your practice -> practitioners, references, industry areas•  What would you like to do next year? Play? experiment?

•  Wishes you want to achieve - contacts, projects, ventures, can be broad

•  Reflect on your work, break your practice down

•  Tell us something about you -> experiences, condense your practice into words, find something about you, identify what you do and what you like, your unique standpoint, what type of work you like making

•  Where your work could appear, contexts, experiences, projects

• NOT an action plan, more about proposals "may do this" "would like to do this" etc.

•  INFORMAL

• Images

Creative Presence | Contact

Here is evidence of my contact for the Creative Presence brief:

Left: 1st reply   Right: Questions

Unfortunately, despite sending a further email I've had no response. When it comes to writing my report I will focus on why I chose to contact them in the first place, as well as what they do as a company. This is a little disappointing however my reasons for contacting them in the first place still stand.

Creative Presence | Contacting Breakdown Press

Email

Here is a copy of the email I send to Breakdown Press...

Questions

If they respond to me, I have some questions lined up that I could ask them. I still have time to revise/reword these questions if necessary, but here is just the basic idea:

1. What is your experience of running an independent publishing company? Do you enjoy the collaborative elements of what you do?
2. The graphic novel/comics industry can often be very U.S.-centric, so I enjoy that you are a UK-based publisher that also works with international artists. How do you find new and exciting work from different places? and what do you make of the alternative comics scene in the UK?
3. How did you progress to the stage you're at now with the publishing business? Did you set out with this in mind?
4. What duties does running an independent press entail?
5. Discovering and reading graphic novels and sequential illustration only began for me when I started university. There's so much scope for what can be done both aesthetically and in terms of storytelling, and some of them are particularly memorable (Mark Beyer, Seth, Anna Haifisch, and Kramers Ergot to name a few!) What is the selection process like for deciding to publish a piece of work, and what makes you want to work with particular artists?
6. I read that Breakdown intends to expand into other kinds of publishing (photography, and other types of artist books, for example) - why do you think embracing many different creative disciplines is beneficial?

Life's A Pitch | Final Presentation

Here is our final presentation which will be delivered tomorrow. We're all pretty happy with our concept, and have practised running through the slides as a group in preparation for tomorrow.

Life's A Pitch | Collective Meeting

Last week we met as a group to devise our collective name, and what sort of creative venture we would propose in our presentation.

We wanted it to be interesting, lighthearted, with an element of humour. Here are some of our notes from our meeting - brainstorming names, contexts, and potential ideas for the proposal.

Eventually we came up with the name FIELD TRIP. We all like finding things out and discovering, and this is what you do on a field trip. Our proposal will involve a quarterly art publication, also called Field Trip, that takes the reader on an adventure that's full of learning, and visuals. Cabinet Magazine was very inspiring to us, as well as the collaborative nature of No Brow magazine, which frequently has contributors.

Though this is not an educational publication, it's more about illuminating different topics and themes from the world around us (real or otherwise) - much like in our discipline of illustration.

Life's A Pitch | Inspiring Publications

Analysing some existing examples of art-centred magazines that have interesting content, aesthetics, or both, as our collective plans to propose the idea of a quarterly publication that is grounded within the discipline of illustration.

CABINET MAGAZINE

"Its hybrid sensibility merges the popular appeal of an arts periodical, the visually engaging style of a design magazine, and the in-depth exploration of a scholarly journal to create a sourcebook of ideas for an eclectic international audience of readers, from artists and designers to scientists, philosophers, and historians"• Broad topics, but rooted in art and culture.
• However, they operate "with the most expansive and inclusive definition of culture possible"
• The magazines content is so broad, and presents the themes and information of each issue in interesting visual ways (photographs, drawings, ephemera, diagrams, etc...)
• The magazine aims to "foster curiosity" about the world we live in
• Cabinet also publish books, CDs, organise exhibitions and events, panels, workshops...

FRANKIE MAGAZINE

• Encompasses design, fashion, art, music, travel, and lifestyle

• Their whimsical, playful tone of voice draws all of these elements together

• They clearly have an idea of their target audience - predominantly female, interested in visual culture and lifestyle, probably the ages of 16 to 24?

NOBROW MAGAZINE

• Not strictly a 'magazine', but more of an art/illustration/design publication.

• The publication aims to tell stories and showcase the new and existing talent of international creatives

• Their focus is one art, design, narrative, and production. Creating publications that are beautiful as well as full of engaging content is important to them, aiming to raise the standard within "visual publishing"

Life's A Pitch | Collective Research

Looking into collectives to see what different kinds there are and how they operate and create work together under one name.

NOUS VOUS

Jay Cover, William Luz, and Nicolas Burrows working together on illustration, graphic design, publishing, and exhibition work. I like how their projects span a range of contexts and purposes. I suppose what unites their individual practices, making it work so well together, is the naive and playful tone of each of their illustrations.

Their collective is sort of split into two sections - the studio (which consists of their zines, drawings, paintings, and other physical artworks), and Nous Vous Press (books, prints, editions). Having these two designated areas allows their collective practice to remain organised, and everything has it's place.

PUCK

Puck Collective originally started in 2010 with just 5 illustrators and artists, but has grown into one of the largest UK illustration collectives. Although they are UK-based, their members are from around the world.

They also founded Puck Studio which acts as a print studio and also puts on exhibitions.

HUNGRY SANDWICH CLUB

H.S.C. is a Leeds-based collective working in animation, motion graphics, and illustration. Because of their interest in all of these disciplines, their work seems to fit a range of contexts and purposes. From publications, web content, branding, to advertisements, murals, and decals.

Out of Order | Level 6 Show

Last week we briefly visited Colours May Vary to see the work that level 6 had exhibited. There were some really good prints, and it was interesting to see all of the varied responses to the title of the show/theme. 

However what I liked the most were the smaller personal touches, such as business cards, and zines/publications that people had also displayed to look at and/or sell. I found this interesting because I think they are more likely to be picked up, and can be memorable and a unique feature to a show that is predominantly made up of printed work on the wall.

Publications allow the reader to engage with something, have a look, flick through the pages. Maybe this is something I could consider for our own show in May?

 

Introduction to Presentation Skills | Rick Ferguson

• Presentations can be professional, engaging, and memorable

Looking at the following in a presentation:

• Behaviour
• Structure
• Content

Why would you like to improve your presentation skills?

• As part of PPP so I can successfully complete that part of the module, as well as any required presentations, briefings, or pitches I may need to deliver in future.

BEHAVIOUR

Three ways we communicate:

• How we say the words
• Non-verbal (body language)
• The words we use

...body language and the way we carry ourselves is arguably the most important.


• When speaking, we can alter our pitch, volume that we speak at, and the speed

• Don't rely on crutch words (er, okay, right, um, y'know...). Instead, use pauses to emphasise certain words or phrases

• Appropriate eye contact

• Be aware of tics or gestures which we may rely on. Instead, use gestures that reinforce the words you are saying

STRUCTURE

• Bookending - introducing something at the start of the presentation and returning to it at the end. Could be a picture, idea, quotation, story, anecdote...

• Power of 3 - using clusters of 3 things in a speech because it tends to be more memorable. Usually in a sentence, quote, or story. ("I came, I saw, I conquered...")

Example:• Introduction (bookend 1)
• First section
• Second section
• Third section
• Conclusion (bookend 2)

CONTENT

• Head ( where, what, how)
• Heart (why, who, who else)

Logical levels:

1. Environment
2. Behaviour
3. Skills + capabilities
4. Values + beliefs
5. Identity
6. Mission

———

For the sessions after easter...

Prepare and practice a short (1.5 - 2.5 minute) presentation about you.
Consider: Behaviour, structure, content

Work on over the next 3 weeks, practice....

Association of Illustrators Talk

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Creative Presence | Questions and Contacts

I'm thinking of contacting Breakdown Press as part of the interview task for this brief. I think they are an interesting publishing company, and it's a bonus that they are based in the UK. Also they are a little more different than if I was to just get in touch with another illustrator for example.

The reasons I am choosing to contact them are due to their involvement in publishing, comics/graphic art/illustration, as well as their values as independent publishers - only putting out work that they view as important, either in its aesthetic or communication.

Also the company started out of a personal interest in these forms of visual art, and some of them are artists in their own right (Joe Kessler).

          Contact Information:

          editors@breakdownpress.com

          Breakdown Press, 1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR

Although I would like the actual interview to be conducted via email so it's all in one place, I'm considering posting something to them. I think that would be a nice personal gesture, and is more likely to be picked up and read than a message sat in an inbox. As well as that, a letter or package can be visually engaging as well as it having some personality.

I'm quite nervous about the idea but I think being able to do this would be beneficial for me.

          What questions could I ask?

• What is the most important or appealing aspects of comics for you?

• In terms of work, what kind of thing stands out to you the most?
• Where do you see comics/graphic art/illustration progressing to next?
• How did you get to where you are now?
• What duties does running an independent press entail?
• How do you discover new and exciting work?
• What's the most rewarding part of what you do
• Collaboration and working with others. What examples of this happens in the line of work you do?