Portfolio Visit 2: Part 2

So the second half of my portfolio visit with Synergy Sheffield went slightly different to how I was expecting it to go! Taz had the idea to give me some more advice in actually selling ideas and pitching to clients, as that is what the future may hold for me.

As I had already told him that I had an interest in comics, my brief was to give them a 60 second pitch on a new direction for the next big Marvel comic. They gave me about ten minutes to plan my pitch an idea to them, which was really nerve-wracking because I’d been put entirely on the spot.

After I gave my pitch, in which I explained the art direction of the comic, the new characters, writing and themes, they asked me questions like what would I bring to the table, and what would make me stand out from the other applicants? I held my own and answered with some confidence, and they seemed impressed with what I had to offer.

Although it was only a quick workshop I felt like I learned loads, about handling myself under pressure, acting with more confidence and coming up with ideas on my feet better.

Finally, the guys wanted to know what project I was working on currently, so I showed them what I had done so far with my FMP, the original prints and some colour prints. I explained that the new direction was aiming to be a mix of all the good parts of my current portfolio and they seemed excited by the prospect of what might come. They told me that they see potential in the idea and as long as I worked hard for the next few weeks I’d be fine getting it all done, which made me feel better about my work.

The Synergy guys were awesome, and told me to keep in touch, so I will! They’re also interested in coming to the end of year show, so I will be aiming to please them with my final work and portfolio.

Portfolio Visit 2: Part 1

Recently I went to Sheffield for my second portfolio visit. It was with a collective called Synergy Sheffield, who are a group of six graduates from Sheffield Hallam University. The reason I chose to show my portfolio to a collective was because I was thinking about what might benefit me the most after I finished the course, and asking recent graduates who had successfully begun to establish themselves seemed like a good idea.

When I got there, I was welcomed by Paul and Taz of Synergy, and it was a very relaxed visit. I only expected to be there for about half an hour to talk about my portfolio, and ask a few questions about the collective after, but they very kindly gave me about three hours of their time!

First we had a conversation about what they did and how they survived in the world after they graduated. They noted that keeping in touch with your fellow classmates was a great way to keep yourself in the design world, and networking was paramount. They also said that there were people who had graduated who hadn’t done very well in terms of getting their work out, and that was mainly due to the fact that they simply weren’t bothered. It takes effort and care to get yourself known, and you have to enjoy what you do if you want to be successful.

Then I showed them my portfolio, which I was slightly nervous about. I decided that I would be perfectly honest with them instead of selling myself, and after they had looked through I told them how my confidence was quite low. Paul said that this was quite apparent in the work, and assured me that I had nothing to worry about, but that the work in my portfolio was quite good.  He also said that I had to make sure that I kept myself absorbed in other artists work to keep my work informed.

Portfolio Visit- Lucy Wilson

Lucy came in again on Tuesday to teach the 3^rd year graphics her bookbinding class so I took the opportunity to catch her afterwards and ask for a quick portfolio visit. I know Lucy’s work is nothing like that of mine in the portfolio but I had a feeling that I’d be able to get some valuable information off of her anyway, and I was not wrong!

Lucy gave me quite a few good pointers that I will take on board. The most basic one was to keep my portfolio clean, which is obvious but necessary, and that she didn’t think that my best piece was at the front. I need to do a bit more work to get a decent piece at the front but I know where she was coming from. Maybe I should do some more editorials and see where that gets me.

One piece that she was particularly drawn to, and it’s a piece that a lot of people seem to get drawn to as well (it is quite different to the rest of the work inn the portfolio) is the James and the Giant Peach book cover I made last year. She said that I had a good concept going on with my main typeface on there and it’s a strong point to move forward with. She also liked the texture o the piece. There was some points that she said could have been improved upon, like composition and my handwriting type, but she couldn’t see why I didn’t work on this a bit more.

I’ve been getting told to “just make stuff” for ages now and I think after Lucy has shed light on this piece it’s time I listened to what everyone around me is saying and jump in. I think I’ve just been a bit worried, my confidence has gone out of the window a bit but after the advice I’ve been getting this week it’s high time I got it back!

Portfolio Visit-- Thoughtful

Today I headed down to design company “Thoughtful” to show off my portfolio for the first time ever! After giving us a helpful and portfolio-inspiring talk the previous week, Stuart, who is part of the company agreed to let me come visit.

Before my appointment I have to admit I was really nervous. It was my first time showing this portfolio to anybody outside the classroom; in fact, after I’d made quite a few changes in the morning concerning the layout and presentation, Stuart was the first to see this version. So for me this meeting was a kind of personal test of how well I’d accomplished so far in the year.

After brief introductions, I put the nerves to the back of my mind and presented, keeping in mind all of the advice Stuart mentioned in his talk. He made some great comments about my work, both on what aspects he liked and what he’d like to see more of. I was happy to hear that he was a fan of my developing style and would like to see what the future holds as he could tell I was still growing. He also mentioned that he could see a commercial aspect to my work, was fantastic to hear! We looked through each piece and I talked him through each piece, which I found was a lot easier than I thought it would have been for some reason.

On a portfolio-inspecting level, he liked that I’d kept it simple. He liked that I’d cropped my work and added it to the bottom of each page with a small description, to which I could then elaborate. Advice he gave me (which I have avidly taken on board) was to maybe make an introduction page instead of sticking an image there, and that it would be good to see more of my work in context; spread it out more to give it all room and let it speak for itself!

Thanks Stuart!