http://cargocollective.com Michelle Siddall Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:09:15 +0000 http://cargocollective.com en http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/American-Apparel-Print-Shop-Design-Contest http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/American-Apparel-Print-Shop-Design-Contest Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:09:15 +0000 Michelle Siddall 3947994 T-shirt and tote bag designs for entry to the American Apparel design competition. I created a summer flower, bones and studs vector illustration based on todays current fashion trends and the UK's love of graphic prints. <img src="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947994/T-shirt.png" width="640" height="421" width_o="1134" height_o="746" src_o="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947994/T-shirt_o.png" data-mid="20630754" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947994/Tote.png" width="640" height="588" width_o="807" height_o="742" src_o="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947994/Tote_o.png" data-mid="20630756" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947994/Summer_Flower_Stud_Bone_Tote1113.jpg" width="640" height="647" width_o="2048" height_o="2070" src_o="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947994/Summer_Flower_Stud_Bone_Tote1113_o.jpg" data-mid="20630201" border="0" align="left"/> T-shirt and tote bag designs for entry to the American Apparel design competition. I created a summer flower, bones and studs vector illustration based on todays... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Hill-Holme-Gourmet-Apple-Juice http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Hill-Holme-Gourmet-Apple-Juice Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:26:26 +0000 Michelle Siddall 3947952 Freelance design project with client Hill Holme finalists of the 2012 food and drink awards in Essex, creating a brochure to emulate their brand and provide information about their services, history and products <img src="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947952/Hill_Holme_Brochure_Final_2_a.jpg" width="640" height="452" width_o="2048" height_o="1447" src_o="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947952/Hill_Holme_Brochure_Final_2_a_o.jpg" data-mid="20629826" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947952/Hill_Holme_Brochure_Final_2_b.jpg" width="640" height="452" width_o="2048" height_o="1447" src_o="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3947952/Hill_Holme_Brochure_Final_2_b_o.jpg" data-mid="20629860" border="0" align="left"/> Freelance design project with client Hill Holme finalists of the 2012 food and drink awards in Essex, creating a brochure to emulate their brand and provide... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/ISPS-Buckinghamshire http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/ISPS-Buckinghamshire Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:46:49 +0000 Michelle Siddall 3941560 An illustrated vector map created for the ISPS Buckinghamshire golf tournament to aid information to golfers about the course and the tents. This is one of the projects created from my Freelance design and art working position at Velvet Consultancy at WSM alongside various other typeset, illustration, advertising and publication work for such blue chip clients as ISPS, Holly House and Highgate Hospital, CMC markets (active trader publication), ON protein shakes and The Alzheimer's Society. <img src="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3941560/ISPS MAP.jpg" width="640" height="456" width_o="2048" height_o="1460" src_o="http://payload82.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3941560/ISPS MAP_o.jpg" data-mid="20594970" border="0" align="left"/> An illustrated vector map created for the ISPS Buckinghamshire golf tournament to aid information to golfers about the course and the tents. This is one of the... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Logo-design-for-GSOH-Live-Radio http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Logo-design-for-GSOH-Live-Radio Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:19:55 +0000 Michelle Siddall 3591054 Logo design for GSOH (good sense of humour) Live Radio, who delve into topics on feminism, comedy and dating. The main basis of the project was to create something falling upon all related listener topics discussed on the radio with a modern take on a 40's and 50's wartime poster look. Blog Page Twitter Page <img src="http://payload64.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3591054/Picture 1_640.png" width="640" height="545" width_o="792" height_o="674" src_o="http://payload64.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3591054/Picture 1_o.png" data-mid="18588168" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload64.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3591054/GSOH_Live_Blog_640.png" width="640" height="615" width_o="730" height_o="701" src_o="http://payload64.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3591054/GSOH_Live_Blog_o.png" data-mid="18760675" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload64.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3591054/GSOH_Live_Twitter_640.png" width="640" height="480" width_o="886" height_o="665" src_o="http://payload64.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/3591054/GSOH_Live_Twitter_o.png" data-mid="18760698" border="0" align="left"/> Logo design for GSOH (good sense of humour) Live Radio, who delve into topics on feminism, comedy and dating. The main basis of the project was to create something... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-Becks-Green-Box-Project-Review http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-Becks-Green-Box-Project-Review Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:39:00 +0000 Michelle Siddall 2782360 Review of Becks' Green Box Project for Flamingo Magazine. <img src="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2782360/becks web2.jpg" width="640" height="438" width_o="670" height_o="459" src_o="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2782360/becks web2_o.jpg" data-mid="14121018" border="0" align="left"/> The Green Box Project is a further addition to Beck’s art-filled portfolio – a three year project to change the way we look at art and, apparently, the way we also look at metal gates and brick walls. A few weeks ago I began the search for the first set of giant, luminous green cubes, unaware of the general confusion that awaited me. Although the project aims to facilitate the use of augmented reality in the art world, their website creates a number of problems. Upon visiting, you’re given a series of pop-up windows: one repeatedly asks for your date of birth, while the rest offer a random selection of locations. Sadly, they don’t seem to have perfected the art of making their content clear and accessible: you’re given little explanation and, more importantly, no clear indication as to where the project actually is. I finally found a faint trail of online breadcrumbs leading me to “The Beck’s Key” – the brand’s smartphone app created to bridge the gap between the real and the virtual. After once again providing my date of birth, I now had a map showing me where to go. Thankful for my new sense of direction, I then spent every evening for a week wandering the capital with the ever-crashing app. At Hoxton Square, a carrot was dangled in front of me in the form of a Beck’s plaque. It asked me to scan the green box which, well, didn’t exist. The only physical nearby box seemed to be the logo on the plaque itself, which I then hopefully scanned with little luck. With egg on my face, I then made my way down to the second box on my map, on a road near Shoreditch station, only to find some lonely graffitied wall, and again no box. Finally sick of looking like a lost tourist, by Friday I’d aborted the plan and found myself a much more locatable landmark – a local bar to soothe my battered pride, with Beck’s definitely off the menu. Before I wrote this article, I did wonder why every person I spoke to about this project knew nothing about it. A good-looking website they may have, but with only an abundance of vague advertising to go on and little solid information, this potentially promising addition to Beck’s 25 year history suffers with being just a little too mysterious. Words by Michelle Siddall Published by Flamingo Magazine Review of Becks' Green Box Project for Flamingo Magazine. The Green Box Project is a further addition to Beck’s art-filled portfolio – a three year project... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-Alan-Baker-Interview http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-Alan-Baker-Interview Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:13:15 +0000 Michelle Siddall 2782003 Interview with Illustrator Alan Baker for VultureHound Magazine <img src="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2782003/Alan web2.jpg" width="640" height="718" width_o="670" height_o="752" src_o="http://payload24.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2782003/Alan web2_o.jpg" data-mid="14120578" border="0" align="left"/> Slowly driving up a bumpy farm track across a very desolate area on the coast of East Sussex, feeling like I’d some found myself a luck part in lord of the rings sequel, I made my way up to an isolated group of tree’s that surrounded a white fantasy lead mansion where the illustrative genius behind the likes of ‘Williams Dragon’ and the ‘Little Rabbit’ book series lives. From walking into the very highly hand decorated house of baker and sitting down with a cup of tea you instantly can see that his life has been completely consumed by the art world with every single room having been decorated to in its own theme, with the outdoors being a main inspiration. When Alan was approached with my main question as to why he got into illustration he spoke of a very long personal whirlwind journey of discovery and intellectually painted his picture of how he found himself at a young age, “I was never very good academically at school and really struggled with life and the world and what was in it and then one day I woke up and finally realised I had control of my life and had a choice of what I wanted to do” Although like every child Alan struggle knowing who he wanted to be, it was obvious that he had a very intelligent business mind and although a vocational direction was at his heart, he humbly spoke about the sense of a career that was always firmly bolted to his direction of movement as well. “During the 60’s it was always about getting a job and having a job for life and making your way up, a sensible route to take” “I studied physics, chemistry and zoology because they’re academic and will lead to a good job, I studied a levels in those subjects and then went to university studying zoology. I did a year of that and struggled and it was obvious there were people there that would just leave me behind, and were a lot more intelligent than me in that area” “I then decided to go travelling and made my way to Afghanistan and while I was there it gave me a real time to think of what I seriously wanted to do” “I spent most of my spare time drawing and so applied for a foundation course in Croydon which was absolute paradise, and found a group of people I could really relate to” Taught by Raymond Briggs found his way to doing the career driven down the much more “sensible and secure” path of illustration after being heavily influenced. By living by what he quoted to me; “If you are determined, you’ll make it”, Alan has a huge variety of skills he has molded and adapted together to create some absolutely staggeringly detailed work. Engrossing his whole world in his work and spending around 2 days to comfortably create an A4 illustration and composition wise using the age old program of Photoshop to adapt to the hungry need for faster and faster production of work, it was interesting to find Alan’s opinion of the movement into the digital age, how he produces his work and whether he thought it was fair to say the only jobs around were going that way. “My process starts traditionally with a rough on tracing paper and interestingly I’m not very good at drawing.. In the straight way, so I’ll often draw something and say its like a figure and the arm isn’t right, I’ll cut the tracing paper and move the arm until it feels right, cello tape and then re-draw it. I’ll also take it and manipulate it on Photoshop so the whole process is very much cut, stick and re-do.” “I then produce the colour with rotary pens and spray paint, sometime crayon and pencil. The last part is that I scan it into Photoshop and use levels and other processes to alter colour, and in this decade of Photoshop I introduce photos for background, like sky is fantastic to use and is better that I can paint!“ “I’m definitely going more digital, in fact the last time I did an illustration as an illustration would have been maybe 10 years ago. What I now use is Photoshop as a tool like you use paint or crayon, and now I think in terms of the last process, I’ll make it all and then piece it together digitally” “It’s a fantastic process but what I don’t like is how, like you were talking about in-design, hours go by and you still feel like it that same thing even its been altered several times” “I would definitely say that everything is all moving that way, not a bad thing as you still have the old ways of doing things. Although there are tighter deadlines now due to technological advances it was still the same back then apart from you’d have to send your work by motorbike and wait for your employer to contact you so there was just a lot of dead time in between, so not a lot has really changed” Whilst completed surrounded by such a hand produced décor full of prized possessions, work and in a thrice extended mansion I couldn’t help but ask due to his success my last question for his advice for any artist breaking the industry, and he answered in a very honest, direct but the most useful way to any artist and telling anybody in any frame of occupation that hope is on its way if it hasn’t already found you. “Being obsessive. If you’re not obsessive about what you’re doing, its going to be tough, and being bloody-minded, thick skinned and just doing it. If you keep doing something you can’t fail, even if sometimes it’s difficult it will happen. Self belief’s a big thing and almost being scared about money and making it work makes it work” Words by Michelle Siddall. Images Courtesy of Alan Baker Published by VultureHound Interview with Illustrator Alan Baker for VultureHound Magazine Slowly driving up a bumpy farm track across a very desolate area on the coast of East Sussex,... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Eastern-Plastics-Machinery http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Eastern-Plastics-Machinery Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:29:40 +0000 Michelle Siddall 2767415 Working on a project by project basis with Eastern Plastics Machinery on a variation of their in-house brochure design, newsletter layouts and magazine covers. As part of one of the companies projects I was commissioned by the company to go out and work with overseas clients in Japan and attend the annual IPF plastics show to collect data, images and work with their teams to create a new brochure on their currents products for companies here in the UK. <img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/Reports Eastern Plastics NewsletterWEBSITE.jpg" width="640" height="453" width_o="670" height_o="474" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/Reports Eastern Plastics NewsletterWEBSITE_o.jpg" data-mid="14042747" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_1.jpg" width="640" height="905" width_o="670" height_o="947" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_1_o.jpg" data-mid="14043643" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_2.jpg" width="640" height="453" width_o="670" height_o="474" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_2_o.jpg" data-mid="14043644" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_3.jpg" width="640" height="453" width_o="670" height_o="474" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_3_o.jpg" data-mid="14043648" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_4.jpg" width="640" height="453" width_o="670" height_o="474" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_4_o.jpg" data-mid="14043650" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_5.jpg" width="640" height="906" width_o="670" height_o="948" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/A Guide to Seiki Brochure_Page_5_o.jpg" data-mid="14043655" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/IPF pic 1_640.jpg" width="640" height="428" width_o="2048" height_o="1370" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/IPF pic 1_o.jpg" data-mid="16573925" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/IPF pic 2_640.jpg" width="640" height="480" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" src_o="http://payload23.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2767415/IPF pic 2_o.jpg" data-mid="16573930" border="0" align="left"/> Working on a project by project basis with Eastern Plastics Machinery on a variation of their in-house brochure design, newsletter layouts and magazine covers. As... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Players-Publishing http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Players-Publishing Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:37:27 +0000 Michelle Siddall 2226806 Eight month Junior Graphic Design assistant role at Players Publishing working heavily with typography, photography, vector art, illustration and iPad to create entertaining and engaging layouts for business to business magazine ‘Gambling Insider’ and consumer magazine ‘WPT Poker’. I worked with all areas of the design section in the company and on top of creating layouts I have also been involved with in-house advertising, subscription pages, market packages, attended publicity events as Players Publishing’s official photographer and created spreads for the re-design’s of both company volumes. I have also taken the reigns as Senior Designer covering John Williams when away on holiday and single handed completed and collated WPT Poker into PDF’s ready for print. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Michelle.jpg" width="140" height="148" width_o="140" height_o="148" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Michelle_o.jpg" data-mid="16329641" border="0" align="left"/> <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 1.jpg" width="640" height="442" width_o="670" height_o="463" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 1_o.jpg" data-mid="11154102" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Racing.jpg" width="640" height="442" width_o="670" height_o="463" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Racing_o.jpg" data-mid="13149047" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 4.jpg" width="640" height="442" width_o="670" height_o="463" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 4_o.jpg" data-mid="11154106" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 5.jpg" width="640" height="442" width_o="670" height_o="463" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 5_o.jpg" data-mid="11154107" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 6.jpg" width="640" height="442" width_o="670" height_o="463" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 6_o.jpg" data-mid="11154108" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 9.jpg" width="640" height="435" width_o="670" height_o="455" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 9_o.jpg" data-mid="13089836" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 10.jpg" width="640" height="442" width_o="670" height_o="463" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 10_o.jpg" data-mid="13089840" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Paddy Power freeroll.jpg" width="640" height="441" width_o="670" height_o="462" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Paddy Power freeroll_o.jpg" data-mid="14044000" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 7.jpg" width="640" height="828" width_o="670" height_o="867" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/Players 7_o.jpg" data-mid="11154109" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4661_640.JPG" width="640" height="427" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4661_o.JPG" data-mid="16329047" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4743_640.JPG" width="640" height="427" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4743_o.JPG" data-mid="16329161" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4822_640.JPG" width="640" height="427" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4822_o.JPG" data-mid="16329437" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4922_640.JPG" width="640" height="427" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2226806/IMG_4922_o.JPG" data-mid="16329536" border="0" align="left"/> Eight month Junior Graphic Design assistant role at Players Publishing working heavily with typography, photography, vector art, illustration and iPad to create... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-Lauren-Mann-Interview http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-Lauren-Mann-Interview Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:01:19 +0000 Michelle Siddall 2161121 Interview with character designer and illustrator Lauren Mann for Vulture Hound <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2161121/loppiart2-1.jpg" width="590" height="661" width_o="590" height_o="661" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2161121/loppiart2-1_o.jpg" data-mid="10792713" border="0" align="left"/> After Graduating from the University of West England with a BA honours degree in drawing and applied arts, Lauren Mann creator of Loppi art has stormed the illustrative design world creating experimental fantasy nouveau based digital characters, all with equal amount of personally, wit and suspense. I was luckily enough to grab her from her busy schedule at Playfish to have a chat about her life, work, current schedule and the current industry climate. Hi Lauren! Its really nice finally hear from the brains behind this collection of characters. We know you gain a lot of inspiration from video games, comics and anything in that sort of realm, but what would you say is the most specific resource you use for a boost of imagination on a regular basis? I own quite a few art books. Their subjects range from things like typeface design and monograms to classical art and concept art. I find these to be a really invaluable resource for sparking whatever dormant creativity is lying about in my mind. I make sure to collect resources on many subjects that interest me so that when I’m experiencing a creative drought or need to try something new there’s always something there to look at. I’d definitely recommend it! Your character designs are extremely life like and very powerful in creating a sense of a real human personality. Do you base your characters on people you know? I don’t really base my characters directly on anybody I know, but they do tend to be firmly grounded in realistic personality types that fascinate me. I don’t believe in ‘good’ or ‘evil’ as a black and white concept and I try my best to get their personality across in as few words as possible as I want people to interpret what they may be like by looking at their design, poses, expressions, and actions rather than by reading a huge explanation. Did you know you always wanted to be an artist? Like many artists I have had the compulsion to draw from a young age. Admittedly I never considered it a viable career choice beyond a hobby and initially was more of an academic student at school. For a while I considered becoming and architect but eventually settled on web design as making websites was also an interest of mine. After the first year of my degree in web development I finally gave in to myself and transferred onto an art degree. I’m very lucky to have supportive parents who backed me completely in my decision to become an artist. After graduating I dabbled in some freelance work and did a few internships as both a traditional illustrator and designer, before applying for a job at Playfish games, where I currently work. Some of your work has a heavy fine art base to it. Did you already have a background knowledge of art history and fine art before university and did this help you in creating a deeper presence of era in your artwork? I’ve been enthusiastic about classical and fine art since a young age, so it has had a big impact on my understanding of form, light and colour. I’ve spent a lot of time in art galleries (The National Portrait Gallery in London being one of my favourites) admiring the paintings and I’m currently learning to paint using oils to get a better insight into the style. I wanted to subvert a simplistic illustrative style with deep, tangible colours and heavy detail. I feel like it adds a unique and unusual element to my illustrations. I’m also fascinated by more graphic historical elements such as heraldry and monograms which feature in my design work. We know your currently working for Playfish, which must be really exciting! Do you have any other plans in mind for any more personal work or further work with another company? It’s important for me to keep on my toes despite having a comfortable and secure job. While my main focus is my job, I like to take on commission work and personal projects outside of work. I’m working on a comic project that one day I’d like to share, but with my limited spare time it may not be for a little while yet. I’m currently very happy and stimulated working with Playfish and they put a lot of effort into developing their artists and teaching them new skills so I’m sure I will be here for the foreseeable future! Where would you like to ultimately see yourself in 5 years time? Do you have any current goals set? My focus at the moment is to develop my career as a game artist and to learn more practical skills such as 3D modeling and animation so that I can become as versatile as possible. The games industry is evolving and changing at an exponential rate at the moment so I’d like to prepare myself for whatever comes my way! While I don’t have any specific goals set right now, I would certainly like to be in a senior creative position by then. A lot of artists find it hard to get noticed when they finish graduating from art school, and find it equally as hard networking and getting to know people as it’s such a big daunting world out there full of people who all know one another! How did you start getting your own foot on the ladder? Do you have any helpful tips? This is very true! Universities and colleges often tend to put the false belief into their students that everybody studying for a qualification will graduate and be entitled to a great job. This isn’t always the case even with the most talented and ambitious of artists. It was 9 months after I graduated before I began working full-time in an art job, with quite a few rejections in between, and I was lucky! Networking is pretty vital in the art industry, so be sure to surround yourself with other artists and listen to their professional input. Apply to any job that your skills will allow and be prepared to work a grunt job for a reasonably low wage at entry-level, once you get a little experience it will be far easier to move up or get the attention of employers in the future. LinkedIn is a brilliant tool for getting in contact with those in the industry too as you can list your credentials for potential employers to see, but the most valuable asset you can have in getting a job will be your portfolio, so set up a website! Build a strong and varied portfolio that demonstrates your abilities and lists your qualifications and experience. It’s a very powerful way of getting the attention of employers and clients and you should do your best to keep it clear and succinct. That said, the deciding factor will be your ability to stick at it, develop your skills and work hard. Words by Michelle Siddall Images courtesy of Loppiart.com Published by VultureHound Magazine Interview with character designer and illustrator Lauren Mann for Vulture Hound After Graduating from the University of West England with a BA honours degree in... http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-The-RA-Summer-Exhibition http://cargocollective.com/MichelleSiddall/following/MichelleSiddall/Contributing-Writing-The-RA-Summer-Exhibition Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:47:06 +0000 Michelle Siddall 2161086 Review of The RA Summer Show 2011 for Flamingo Magazine. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2161086/Keith-Tyson-Deep-Impact.jpg" width="540" height="271" width_o="540" height_o="271" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/118530/2161086/Keith-Tyson-Deep-Impact_o.jpg" data-mid="10792526" border="0" align="left"/> The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: a showcase of both established and up-and-coming artists; the world largest open submission contemporary art show; 243 years of life and one of the most prestigious accolades any artist can be given. It’s no wonder that 12,000 entries are received from 27 different countries each year. There was a tremendous variety of work in all sorts of media – painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, architecture and film. In fact, this was sometimes so overwhelming that it was quite difficult to move around the bundles of work to focus on one piece. Much of the work was outstanding, noticeable not only from whether the piece had been favoured with a red ‘sold’ sticker, but also exceptional composition, technique and detail. One piece that has already received a lot of positive feedback is Deep Impact by Keith Tyson, and walking into The American Associates gallery where’s it’s housed, you can see why. Deep Impact is a mixed media piece on aluminum, and the work almost suffocating is hugely vibrant – so hot you almost don’t want to touch it (although this would be somewhat frowned upon anyway). Its allure means that it takes you a few minutes to move on to the next piece and again, due to the diversity of work, it was difficult to appreciate some of the smaller, quieter pieces. This same seductive effect was echoed when viewing Jenny Saville’s Red Stare Head IV (2006-2011), in which a huge red and beaten character stares out at you, making it very hard for you to take your eyes off it. Although there were lots of images from up-and-coming artists, while walking around the gallery many established artists popped up too. Along with Jenny Saville there were pieces from fine artist Elizabeth Blackadder, children’s book illustrator Quentin Blake and sculptor Anthony Gormley. One tip for this year’s show: remember to stay focused and do a bit of research beforehand on the artists you’d like to see. Although I wasn’t too fond of the overall layout, it was yet again another great show from the RA. Words by Michelle Siddall Images courtesy of The RA Published by Flamingo Magazine Review of The RA Summer Show 2011 for Flamingo Magazine. The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: a showcase of both established and up-and-coming artists; the world...