Change of idea

I have decided to no longer use acetate overlays and instead do paper overlays as I feel that this would make the images flow better together. I will test how they look in different positions before i decide on a final design. I will experiment with the positioning of the cut out image.

Mock book

I made a mock book to see what my final idea could possibly look like. It was bound using the japanese stab stitch and ended up as a success

Website Link

Here is the link to my website:


www.vickykempillustration.co.uk

Peter Ainsworth Feedback

Here is the feedback on my work I got from the art director of Esquire Magazine:

Hello vicky,

The work looks really good. Its impressive to see someone still cutting things and making images the old fashioned way.

As for Esquire. Im not sure at this point its a great fit. But that’s not to say in the future we wont have a project the needs a more hand made element. Keep building your folio and making as many variations in style and subject and maybe get back to me in a year when you have a bit more to show.

Good luck and look forward from hearing from you or of work in the future.

P

BBC Wildlife Magazine Feedback

Before the study trip to London, I secured a portfolio visit with the art editor of bbc wildlife magazine . During the visit he told me that he liked my style, in particular the animal portraits . He gave me  his email address and told me to get back to him when I had built up my portfolio.

Guru Feedback

Here is the feedback I got from my guru on my portfolio:

Hi Vicky,
Terribly sorry for the late reply, hope you’re enjoying for the last few weeks of uni!
Anyway, onto the important stuff: I love your portfolio! You seem to have mastered the lino cut medium and developed a strong sense of style to go with it.  I really admire this, when I was at uni I was also a big fan of printmaking, but I never got close to the high standard that you’ve achieved here!
My favourite pieces are from the ‘Endangered Animals’ project. I think that these pieces best show your skills at printmaking, with your strong sense of colour and good composition (I like the gorilla print in particular, he’s awesome!).
To have such a professional and unique portfolio at this stage is a real achievement, so well done! The best advice I can offer is: to keep up the good work. Your illustrations are of a high standard already and if you keep on producing work regularly and continue to develop your craft, you’ll only go from strength to strength.
There are couple of Stockport graduates whose work I would recommend checking out. The first is Ben Jones, who like you is a master of printmaking. The other is Alan Dalby, whose illustrations of wild animals, I think you’d really like.
Hope all this helps, best of luck for the future.
Cheers,

Matt

Hopes, Fears and Opportunities pt 2

I hope that I will get all my work done by the deadline and that I will make it as an illustrator.  I also hope that I will be able to motivate my self to produce work after I have left uni.  I will most likely have to make myself a schedule to keep on top of things.   I fear that I won't be successful as an illustrator and that I will fail the course/not get a decent grade.  I also am worried about my future expenses in terms of materials needed to produce my work.  I will need to plan out the best way of getting lino cheaply to ease this worry. I will probably have to get a part time job to fund me at first, and hopefully if I do well enough in my first year as an illustrator, I will no longer have to have a part time job and can work as an illustrator full time. In order to be successful I will need to promote my work as much as possible, via social media for example. I plan on becoming a member of the Association of Illustrators, for at least a year after I finish uni, to help with the promotion side of things.  I am planning on buying a printing press after I finish uni so I will be able to make prints from my own work space.

London pdp

We visited a london  based illustration collective called day job.  They had a look at my portfolio, I told them I was planning on buying my own printing press. They said i should set up my own print workshops/ charge people to use my press so that I could fund the materials for my own illustrations. They also said that they preferred my  pure lino prints compared to the photoshop edited ones. Prior to this we also visited a design agency.

major project progress

Mortons media group

 I attended a lecture by Steve Scott , the contract print sales manager for print division of Mortons media group ltd.
He said that he had Worked in newspaper production since serving an apprenticeship as a compositor at the hull daily mail in 1970.

Also he Spent 10 years with the hem before moving to the times.

He worked for a Free press group in Middlesbrough , before he moved to Morton,s of horn castle in 1994  as sales manager for their print division.

He told us that mortons had
Been around for over 100 years

And boasted a 22 publication portfolio

Classics heritage

Demand for  printed word diminishing

Due to Internet and 24 hour news channels  to name but two

Mortons have moved to into the events and trade shows And  from own four 12 months ago
The portfolio has  grown to 17 with new launches and acquisitions

 The growth of this sector of business  has resulted in a new department who spend their time planning

Since 2012 new CEO Ian fisher  brought all of the divisions back under the one umbrella with the aim of streamlining the operation to  meet the demands of the 21st century

The way forward has to further the multimedia company they are today

As an independent print we have continued to challenge the might of the contract printers in the uk. We continue to thrive in a competitive  market that has seen many  of their competitors exit the manufacturing side of the business

Had a press installation in 2006

Their secret
Markets are diverse they print over 120 different titles each week

Their portfolio numbers over 300 publishers annually

Daily regional newspaper

Twice weekly titles

Weekly

Fortnightly

Monthly

Occasional

Heat set

The product mix is their uniqueness and their strength
They go that extra mile and endeavour to ensure that the presentation of artwork Is going to be uploaded onto their servers in the correct order so it prints first time every time.  They are not just printers and to rely on printing alone would be limiting . They can stitch and trim, in line or off line  they also offer a full mailing and fulfilment  operation, not only do thay print customers papers but they can post them out to  their subscribers they can dispatch anything from council tax bills  to university hoodies , the list is endless  their largest weekly customer prints 700,000 copies in sections and they stitch and trim them into  weekly newspapers  they offer a digital printing service capable of printing SRA3 single sheets to booklets  print production and technology printing technology that went hand in hand with hot metal typesetting was letterpress. This involved a cast plate of the  original page created from the hot metal slugs and halftonr pictures etched into a metal plate. This was placed around a cylinder and  alongside other pages that made up the newspapers   the production process - talked about the change in production process  talked about the decrease in uk/ Ireland 10 ears ago numbers were more than double  why the decline - faster more efficient equipment  reclining circulation , markets
challenges to the printed word- newspaper sector,  financial meltdown, the internet, the recession, slow recovery , change of reading habits
The future - newspaper will be arounf for many years to come but in a reduced format, micropublishing  will probably become focal points for local community  more peoducts but more controlled  targeted circulation and distributinon  digital printing giving the reader the opportunity to select what they need

Portfolio advice

Exhibition

Holden and Sons Lecture

got into advertising in the late sixities , started drawing lettering he said it was a good way to get into typography

worked for sports international who supply schools with sportswear

24:7 theatre festival -redisgned logo, branding and colour palette

Royal Exchange theatre

Manchester United

The School of wine manchester - Brand identity and design, wanted it to be friendly and be involved in the client process.

Persona- Interactive motion graphic novel


Wham

- Tv commercial and product 3d modelling
- supported tv campaign
- Help raise profile of quality brand
- Bringing type to life in an interesting way


They designed an exhibition for a companys stand
10 people - the importance of collaboration

he talked about where do good ideas come from
he said as creative thinkers and ideas people we are standing on the shoulders  of those that have gone before us

people get stuck in a rut, which inhibits creative thought and ideas, we all need a whack on the side of the head from time to time to help with our minds motivation

structure your thought process/ run it for a set time ,  aim for a maximum number of ideas, categorise and  regroup

seven secrets to having ideas- warm up your mental muscles ,  what is beethoven doing now? decomposing

it is about seeing what everyone else is seeing but seeing something different

In hind sight  every idea seems obvious
Define the focus
set a target
number your ideas
get visual
suspend judgement
dont inhibit your thinking either in a positive or negative way
one conversation at a time
'the ultimate inspiration is the deadline'
being a designer is about being an individual
'learn to love questions not answers'
dont go to university go to work
be clever but dont be too clever
astonish your audience and never lose your capacity to be astonished
steal- its not where you take things from its where you take them to
they did some work with mofilm
'it's a job keep the craft alive'
he talked about the book type matters

Final Major Project