PP3: Final Presentation

S C R I P T

Slides

1. Introduction. Hi, hello.
2. Background story: I initially thought of going into an academic degree and become a psychologist. Growing up, I studied fine art and knew nothing about illustration. I knew I liked creative subjects and drawing but doing fine art just didn’t sit right with me. Event organising was also something that I have always taken part in since high school. I have always liked the hands-on activities and managing people.
3. Reasons why I took an illustration path: I always enjoyed the creative side of things and wanted to do art as more than just a hobby. I didn’t know what ‘illustration’ was (I still don’t know what it is), though I kind of grew into it. The concept of image-making and visual communication was something new to me. 
4. Storytelling & visual narrative: COP3 helped me realize my interest as I did my topic on visual language and communication. I personally think that illustration isn’t just about making pretty pictures and drawing, but the message and context that can be conveyed through imagery.
5. Inspirations: As cliche as it sounds, I get inspired by everything around me; listening and observing the world around me. Music videos, playing music, film, video games and comics are also things I seek and inspire most of my practice (as it also helps keep myself sane). My culture has also greatly influenced most of my work, I started to realize that this is an integral part of my identity -a person of color, female artist. 
6. Experiences: I did my summer internship with a startup company and made a teaching material for local students in Bali. I was then contacted to create a character/mascot for the startup company. I also have been reached out to help create the branding for an independent retail shop
7. Clients: Working with a client is quite challenging, especially when they are not used to working with an illustrator. I had a few issues regarding communicating ideas. I initially thought that they wanted me to strictly follow their set guides and ideas. The work I did were very graphic design-based (lots of photography, layouting and typography). Though when I pitched in my opinions and input, they are very accommodating and I felt reassured when they trusted my judgment. Pricing work has also been an issue, as I wasn’t too familiar with it. I had asked around freelancers back in Indonesia as rates and copyright policies differ from the UK, so I had to charge them a local price instead of a UK rate. 
8. Gifs and Animation: I wanted to try new things out as I really enjoyed creating gifs since my second year. I was feeling confident at that time and wanted to create a full animation. I am genuinely fascinated by creating moving illustrations -making stills come to live. I think that this is something I would like to continue on with my practice. I also have come to realize that creating my original work is a good output of my creativity as sometimes working towards live briefs and client-based work can be draining (603 experience).
9. Teaching: A main reason as to why I haven’t been proactive in searching for jobs as an illustrator is because I have found a passion for teaching through my student ambassador job. I have always enjoyed working with kids since I was in high school, doing several volunteer work and outreach programs.
10. Making friends: Connecting with people is probably a skill I will take with me after university. I realized that from reaching out to people and discussions during the symposium that networking is helpful and could speed up the process of landing jobs. Though it is that idea of building relationships with individuals, professionals is also a good way to delve inside the industry.
11. Online Presence: A website domain is something I am considering to invest on (for the long term). I think that it is a useful platform for an online portfolio as I realized when people reach out to look at my work, I would just redirect them to my website. Instagram is useful in terms of free promotion, but that is if it is used right. Though I personally find Twitter the most beneficial as I am also able to keep up with the news or happenings (worldwide). There is also a large community of artists in Twitter. It is a good platform for reflecting upon my thoughts as a practitioner AND a human being. 
12. Hello, Anxiety (thinking about the future): Struggles in life. Finding jobs; opportunities and circumstances are different for an international student. We have visas to consider. Being a freelancer might not be possible if I plan on staying in the country as I am required to have a sponsorship. Working in-house and other job opportunities with larger companies are the only solution to this problem as they are most likely the ones to provide visa sponsorships. I am personally not keen about freelancing, as I personally am looking for a stable job, even if it means working in a ‘corporate’ environment and creating ‘commercial work’ (This matter of visa sponsorships causes unnecessary anxiety)
13. Intermission (short breather)
14. What's next: The future & my career 
1. Looking into getting a teaching certificate and stay in the country (as they don’t have these kinds of programs back in my home country). 
2. Working in-house, managerial or events organising, anything to do with the creative industry but not as an illustrator. I honestly have no intentions of becoming an illustrator. I don’t mind doing client-based work or creating ‘commercial work’ as I myself realize that I don’t have a strong personality or body of work to stand out. I find myself to be quite a realistic person and I would prefer to have a steady job, if it means giving up my tone of voice. 
3. Get that damn foot in the door and be open to opportunities
15. Any questions? 

Portfolio <(￣︶￣)>

I wanted to show a breadth of work that I particularly enjoying doing. I want to show that I am adaptable and comfortable working with both analog and digital media. Though I would like to emphasize more on creating work for advertising, branding and marketing. 

Portfolio plan:

• include more work from my self-initiated projects
• strongest work first and last
• be selective. show work that I am most proud of and want to be hired for

Making Friends

Building connections and put myself out there

Grown-up Stuff

C o m m i s s i o n s !

Roughs for Start Me Up's branding

I have been commissioned by my previous boss from a summer internship in Bali. It is a very exciting yet daunting experience -but mostly the latter. I am learning little by little throughout the process. Though I have been particularly stuck with pricing mostly for the reason that I am not confident with my work and thinking that it wouldn't be worth a lot. But I feel that I should change this mindset quite quickly. 

Working remotely can be challenging in terms of giving and receiving prompt responses due to the time difference (7 hours). Sometimes emailing back and forth, asking for design changes can be difficult at times, causing delays in the work flow. Though setting due dates and times helps with the communication.

Hanbury Symposium

Showreel group chat

Showreel slide sample

I signed up to help set up the showreel, which would be projected during the talks. It wasn't too difficult of a task and we worked well together as a team. I think that it is also packages everyone's works together quite nicely and coherently. The only challenge we faced were chasing after people's work and effective communication with the cohort and between management teams.

Business card set-up

Showreel projected whilst the panels run, to showcase
students' works

I personally think that this symposium was a new experience for me. I particularly liked Nicola's (Anthropologie) talk, mentioning crucial points about having authenticity and professionalism. I was inspired by her advice: "Be guided by your authenticity and not let it guide your circumstances". Other useful points that I gathered were about finding 'side jobs' within the industry, such as publishing, copywriter, managerial jobs, agents etc. There are plenty of opportunities aside from being a freelancer.   

Though I would honestly have to say that it wasn't too beneficial for an international student. I had a few questions about visa regulations or hiring process for foreigners, though the panelists talked about freelancing and not much about in-house opportunities. I had hoped there would be more talks about in-house as they are job positions that would most likely provide visa sponsorships. After being there, my only feedback towards Handbury is mainly about the guest speakers. I think that it should reflect more of the student body; invite more women (as there are majority female students in the course) and people of color to get a more diverse input about the industry. 

Promo Pack - Everything else

black and white | back page

printed creative CV

business cards (stickers) & postcards 

I tried to incorporate my brand and name for the CV, stickers and postcards to keep a consistent theme. It also ties everything in together, indicating my visual identity as a practitioner.

Promo pack - Creative CV

Standard CV (page 1)

(page 2)
The information isn't fixed as I would perhaps 
tailor the content to the job/role I will be applying to.

Rough layout

I wanted to make creative CV quite simple and coherent. I thought of placing my logo as it now has become a part of my identity as a creative practitioner. The main concept of the CV is generally based on a restaurant menu as I wanted it to suit the blurb -a little taste of my practice. Since this is just a proposed idea, I would need to consider production costs and paper stock. This CV is designed for print. I would also need to think about keeping the design black and white, as it would be more efficient in terms of printing. Size wise, it is a standard A4, which wouldn't cause any problems in terms of reading the content and printing.

Online Presence & Brand Identity

My main brand/logo 

Screencaps of my website

link to web: https://www.diandramani.com/

I think having a website is a good investment for an online portfolio. This would be where people could find me and see my work. Dividing my webpage into section also helps with the navigation since I have different types of work (gifs and still images). It was difficult being selective and this year changed the way I would present my work. I would only show the work I am most proud of and enjoyed working on but also work that I want people to hire me for.

Instagram - I made a separate instagram account of my work
and practice. It is a useful tool for free promotion. 

Though I don't update as often as my other platforms. 
I think keeping my online presence to a minimum would be best.

Twitter - I think it is a useful social media platform to show my
working process and reflect on my thoughts as a practitioner
and a normal human being. It is also a good place to find
latest trends and news.

Promo Pack - Business cards!

Eventually I plan on printing stickers out of these
business cards.

I was actually inspired by the co-working space where I used to intern/work in. They give out free stickers of their branding while promoting. It is a simple circle with the name of the co-working space, usually accompanied different designs. I feel like its clever marketing as well (and stickers are always fun to have!)

Dojo Bali sticker!