Positioning Statement

In the space of a year, my work has progressed in ways I could never even have pictured. A few months ago I was unhappy with the quality of my work and lacking a strong tone of voice and direction within my practice. Even though we had been taught in depth about the various different sectors of the creative and illustration industry, I was unable to see where my strengths lay and my knowledge was not translating into any plans for the future. I was terrified of graduating and the industry that lay ahead of me.

PPP, Extended Practice and COP all pushed me in ways I didn't expect. COP taught me about the quality of good research and how it can contribute to the production of a considered and communicative piece of illustration. PPP helped show me where my interests lie, and how I can harness these interests into creating work that is interesting and eye-catching. Research and an awareness of typography is continuing to grow, broadening my skillset and opening up other career opportunities that wouldn't be available otherwise. Extended Practice pushed me to explore paths in image making I hadn't before, drastically improve my drawing skills and plan my time effectively.

My work now has a bold and bright tone of voice, focusing on the use of interesting shapes, printed overlays and bright colour palettes. I can see it working best within the publishing, product/packaging and environmental sectors of the industry. I am now confident there is a place it can successfully exist and that people are interested in it. 

I plan to stay in the north of England and try to establish myself here successfully as a freelance illustrator. To do this, I have a list of agencies and studios ready to contact when my Extended Practice work has contributed to my final portfolio. I would like to apply for an internship at TigerPrint in Bradford to explore product/packaging in real life. I am going to invest in a membership at the Leeds Print Workshop and continue screen/mono printing. I plan to continue expanding my portfolio by setting personal briefs and really getting stuck into what I enjoy and what I am good at. I just want to enjoy it and work as hard as I can; I'm excited to get going!

Final Presentation

End of Module Evaluation and Self-Assessment form

End of Module Student Evaluation

BA(hons) Illustration

Module Code: PPP3OUIL602

Name: Charlotte Curnick

Student ID: cc255936

Please identify where the evidence for each of the learning outcomes is within your submission and how well you feel you have met the learning outcomes. Please also grade yourself in relation to the learning outcomes using terms:

>poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent (Note- This is so that the team have an understanding of how well you feel you have done. It is not an indication of the actual grade you may receive)

Learning Outcome	Evidenced where? Blog, Sketchbook, RoughsFinal Illustrations, development sheets etc. (No more than 75 words)	Your grade Using words: >poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
6A3 Demonstrate specific knowledge and specialist understanding of the professional and contextual location of their practice. Knowledge and Understanding - RESEARCH	Research into design studios and illustration agencies, visits to contemporary galleries in different countries, visits to parks, collecting contextual research from online resources, research into potential career and internship options, considerations of where my work could exist (galleries, print fairs, product/packaging, publishing), research into opportunities in different cities. BLOG	Very Good
6B2 Undertake research to identify and evaluate their personal and professional skills and the career or progression opportunities available to them. (Cognitive Skills - EVALUATION & REFLECTION	Research into design studios and illustration agencies, research into opportunities in different cities, took part in varied live briefs/competitions (of which some were successful), research into external print and studio facilities, considered what I can afford on a graduate budget. BLOG	Excellent
6C2 Develop and implement a personal promotion strategy to communicate to relevant organisations.Practical & Professional Skills - VISUAL QUALITY)	Developed a strong creative presence both physically and online. Created a logo and recognisable images, a creative CV and invoice template, mockups of physical mailers and considerations of what to send to relevant organisations, created stickers. Set up LinkedIn, Behance and The Dots accounts and regularly updated. Has an Instagram account with a good following (including creative contacts/professionals) which is regularly updated with work.	Excellent
6D2 Use a range of appropriate communication methods to present themselves as a professional practitioner to a relevant audience. Key Transferable Skills - PROFESSIONALISM & COMMUNICATION	Has a good starting set of professional contacts from a varied background (design studios, publications, illustration agents, illustrators). Has a creative CV and portfolio ready to send to professional contacts. Refined social media to look more professional.	Very Good

Evaluation(See guidance below for more information)

You are required to write a 500 word evaluation of this module.

This has been a very useful module in the sense that it has helped me realise who I am as a practitioner and where my work could sit in real life after graduation. At the beginning of the year I had little confidence in my work and didn't believe I really had a chance of illustrating for a profession. I also had a limited understanding of where my work could exist and what was out in the real world that had something to offer me. Personal research into various career options, design agencies and freelance work has helped me make informed decisions about where I want to be with my future. Conversations with my tutors helped me work out what options are realistically available for me. I have now realised freelance work is probably going to be primary career option and I now know how I can go about promoting myself after graduation in a positive and professional manner. Contextual research through gallery visits, online research and watching documentaries helped me see which sectors of the industry my work could work well with, and work out which areas I find the most interesting and enticing to work for. I most likely won't have much of a choice initially while starting out and it's likely my interests will develop and change with my work, but I feel much more comfortable now that I have clearer personal goals. My work could fit best in publishing, environmental (murals/galleries) and the product/packaging sectors. I also am now interested in how my work could fit in with advertising, as advertising is such a broad industry with so many areas to explore. The module pushed me to creative a strong and interesting creative presence to help this positive professional promotion that I most likely wouldn't have done otherwise. It has taught me about self-branding and how I could create a logo and set of professional documents that sit alongside and compliment my work. Initially, I found the branding extremely difficult, as it meant dealing with type and other elements of design I haven't had to before. Once I got into the swing of it and collected contextual research to help with its development, I really enjoyed the branding side of things. It has actually taught me skills I can use for the future in other projects that might help me branch out from illustration a little. My work has progressed more than I could have hoped for this year, and PPP has taught me how I can use it to make a living. This is an invaluable lesson that I will always be grateful for! I want to keep progressing at the same rate and changing my goals and interests alongside my work. This is an exciting and difficult industry to be trying to break into, but I am no longer afraid and ready for the next step of the way. Whatever happens career-wise will happen and I am ok with that. I do however always feel I will be involved in some sort of creative job; this degree has shown me that this is what I really want to do.

Professional Portfolio

Creative Presence Boards

Concise notes for presentation (to remember not to read out!)

Slide 1 - Hello and welcome. 

Slide 2 - Examples of what I have created for my creative presence. I wanted something fun, bright and eye-catching to fit my work and stand out. The jelly and hotdog idea was something that popped into my head after seeing some old Sainsbury's packaging (colours and shapes and weird printed/flat texture), and when I tested it it looked good so I just went with it. The business cards have gone down really well and always all go wherever I've left them (for example Colours May Vary). I've made stickers to stick around and give out. The mailers are a mockup but I would screenprint the envelopes to send out to various agencies, including my CV, a couple examples of my work and a sticker with a hotdog or jelly logo. 

Slide 3 - CV and Invoice - creating more things to work as a set/pack to enhance my brand. I wanted professional documents ready for graduation, especially the invoice as I am getting commissions already.

Slide 4 - Online presence - how Instagram has helped boost my creative presence and get my work noticed. Independent Leeds is one great example - they followed my work after I assisted George with the mural painting, and after a while asked me to do a header illustration for the with these hands feature. Without my account, they probably wouldn't have seen my work and asked me to do it.

Slide 5 - Colours May Vary - another successful live brief that really boosted my self belief within my work. It was really great to see people wanting to spend their own money on my prints, and they weren't even that cheap! Colours May Vary also posted my work, which is good recognition as they are well respected within the industry and many creative professionals follow them. It made me believe I can actually get by in this industry and there is an area my work can successfully fit into. 

Slide 6 - Wellington Place - This is one of my design boards from my presentation for the Wellington Place brief, which was successful. Presenting to a board room of scary executive people in suits is something I've never had to do before and it was hard working out how I was meant to present it. I settled on three concise boards and the feedback for them and my presentation was great - the managing director said "I have a great career ahead of me". It was also interested working for such a different kind of brief - very large scale and for such a corporate audience. I managed to make my work fit the brief and the outcome was a success. The money will help set myself up after graduation.

Slide 7 - Pump'N'Grind - a live brief that wasn't so successful but a great learning curve. It was my first time experiencing people trying to rip me off and I had to stand my ground and in the end take a gamble and turn it down. Free work is something that unfortunately I will have to do here and there to make the right contacts but a mural was a step too far. It was interesting trying to fight my corner and daunting trying to defend my work to that extent, but I'm glad I had the experience now rather than later.

Slide 8 - Recent work that I believe is aesthetically successful. Ben Cox said he really liked the "Jungle" piece and that my work is eye-catching and would grab his attention from across the room, but it needs more obvious context for external viewers who didn't know the brief like himself. I have managed to develop a strong contemporary tone of voice over the past year and my work has moved miles.

Slide 9 - An example of my progression from first year the third year. My drawing is what has improved the most, which is great. I no longer spend ages refining and practicing a drawing and stressing it's not good enough - I am much more confident. Composition and understanding shape/colour has improved the most.

Slide 10 - I am now interested in expanding my work from purely illustration into more illustration/design. If I understand how to effectively use typography it will open up doors to jobs and clients I won't have otherwise. I want my work to continue progressing at the rate it has the past few months. I have been constantly contextually researching to find examples of illustrative typography/type and illustration that I can learn from. If I never look around, I'll never learn.

Slide 11 - Plans for the future - I never wanted to freelance but a conversation with Patrick made me realise it's pretty much the only option. I've found an agency I feel my work would sit well in (Agent Pekka) as the represent practitioners who's work is contemporary, colourful and varied. Internship at TigerPrint could teach me a lot about Product and Packaging and get some good experience under my belt. Another internship at Winkreative in London would be great (3 months and paid) but they might want someone with more of a design background. Nine Sixty in Manchester is a design studio that deals quite heavily in illustration so they could be interesting to work with. 

Slide 12 - in the meantime I plan to stay in Leeds and develop my freelance work. I will continue drawing and NOT GIVE IT UP! I love Leeds so until a solid option arises elsewhere I'm staying. 

Thank you and I welcome questions.

Professional Contacts - A Summary

Ilona Tarr - children's book illustrator based in Singapore.

Ben Cox - head of the Central Illustration Agency, London.

Grammar Studio (Adam Gill/Peter O'Toole) - graphic design and illustration studio based in Huddersfield.

Colours May Vary (Becky and Andy) - gallery and specialist design shop based in Leeds.

Independent Leeds (David Laycock) - Art and Culture magazine based in Leeds.

Lou Bones - Association of Illustrators, based in London

MEPC (Dominique Simcox and James Dipple)- Head of Marketing and Chief Executive of MEPC, Wellington Place, Leeds

Patrick Holley/John Watters/Matt Hodson/Fred Bates/Teresa Flavin/Ben Jones - Even though you are all my tutors I suppose you are professional contacts?! 

Pump'N'Grind - even though they weren't very nice and it fell through, they said they'd keep me in mind for when they can afford to pay someone for their mural. It was a good professional experience.