Printing

To print my images I chose 170gsm poster paper with no lamination. Based on what I looked up, anything (paper-wise) heavier than 170gsm is usually classed as board, so I wanted to get the heaviest weight paper I could so my prints looked a god quality, without my posters becoming too thick.

I used indoor poster paper that was available through the printing website, just because, for my first convention, I couldn't afford a more expensive paper type for the amount I was printing.

I didn't get a gloss laminate on my prints because it would have added to my costs and I also didn't think I would need one for a poster.

Displaying art at artists alley

Looking at improving my rendering techniques, I wanted to learn how to make a display/displays for my convention table.

I looked at lots of references at how other artists displayed their tables but decided the most achievable for me at this convention was this method I created.

The plan for the table is on the bottom right.

Most convention tables using poles were made using pvc piping (which i couldn't find anywhere) so instead of that, I bought a clothes rail from Argos, and then a 6ft long pole from a DIY store so the pole would stretch across the whole table.

I also used bull clips tied onto the 6ft pole with ribbon and then attached card to them to back my prints.

To create prints hanging in a row, I used a scalpel to poke small holes in the card and then used thin wire to attach the card pieces together.

I also duct taped this to the floor and the back of the table. Most blogs suggested using table clamps to attach the poles but they were too expensive for me for a single convention, so I created this variation instead.

Aside from the method I used, two other methods seemed pretty common,


The wire cubes seemed a really good idea, but as all my prints were flat there was really no need for the shelving this could provide. Wire cubes were also very expensive and the pole method was much more cost effective.

I thought the pole version of displaying was better than the minimalist version because this way my art would be able to be seen from a distance whereas it wouldn't be if I used the minimalist set up.

***

Not all of my art would fit on an overhead display and so I had to come up with a way to stand my art up on the trestle table. My original decision was to use frames but this idea proved to be very expensive and I worried that people thought I might be selling framed prints if I advertised them this way.

To combat this I created these L shaped stands you can see in my photos above.
Because my table cloth was white, I tried Papier Mâchéing the stands to make them a bit stiffer and then after that I painted them white. Rather than making the stands stronger though, the extra weight of the Papier Mâché really weighed the stands down and altered the shape, so I didn't use this idea.

Instead, I kept the stands using the plain card and just hot glued the bent edges to keep the folds at the right angles.

I added the backed prints to these stands to create an A shape. I hot glued the top of the stands to the back of the prints for stability.

Artist alley tips and tricks from other artists

To continue developing my own visual style, I want to focus more on branding and how my stall will look on the day. As my stall will be a reflection of myself and my work. It is important to remember this going into freelance practice as your image and brand are what people will see when approaching you in person or online, it will be their first impression and could be the decider on whether they give you business or not.

Reading material:
https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/artist-alley-booths-starving-out-of-artist/
http://jojostory.net/post/110452410527/how-to-prepare-for-your-first-artist-alley
http://www.animeboston.com/artists/artists_alley_beginner_guide/
http://howtobeaconartist.tumblr.com/

I looked at a lots of blogs/posts from people who had done artists alley before as an idea of what to expect. Here is a summary of what I learnt.

• label prices prominantly but be aware people still probably wont read them (so some people don't enter a zone of awkwardness/afraid to ask you and just walk away)
• offer freebies, label them too, people might be shy otherwise.
• Engage passersby
• know your audience (who will be at the con, what are they in the market for?)
• Create a series for upselling

(I have considered doing this with my ivy/Harley images as dicussed earlier in my blog)

• printing costs and con costs should factor into pricing
• don't undersell your work ( can harm you and other artists and the industry)
• take an emergency kit (tape, scissors ect)
• Take business cards

(I have already discussed my doing this earlier in the blog)

• only offer comissions if you have time

I don't want to offer comissions on the day because my work on show is dgital and bringing a whole computer set up into a convention would just be difficult. My business card does state I am open for comissions however.

• be clear/make it clear what you specialise in
• display your art vertically, don't just lie it down on the table (people may not be able to get to your table to see it and so might miss your stall.) Have something they can see to draw them in.

All Round Service

Just a little update. When I've been to Deecon before, to artists alley, I've found people always sold prints with no packaging. This is really bad practice because in a busy convention, there's no way anyone's gonna get any prints home without them getting creased if they have no where flat to put them.

This only defines my visual style in a small way, but I've decided to bulk order lots of cardboard backed envelopes so if someone buys a print from my stall they can take it home flat.
Not only will this hopefully benefit my clients, it could also be a good visual identifier of my stall if people are walking around with large envelopes.

Questions like, "oh, where did you get that from?" could occur pointing more people to my table.
I think it's good when starting a brand to create a good reputation for quality and this will help me do that. Keeping my prints flat and secure is important to me and I'm assuming important to my client also, especially if they're paying say, £15 for this print. Packaging my prints is a luxury and hopefully adds to the experience of buying from my "brand".

Business Cards

After looking at marketing myself using my online social media, I decided to look at a more physical way of doing that. Creating some business cards will allow me to improve my rendering techniques and visual style as I will have to go through the process of designing the cards, including type which is something I don't really work with usually.
It will also help me with beginning to practice as a freelance illustrator as it is another way to display my "Brand" visually and have a form of advertising so people can find my artwork online.

Lots of artists have business cards as they are a good way to showcase your art to clients. Especially if you happen to meet someone out of the blue that could have an interest in your work, its an easy way to show them what you are all about.

At Deecon especially, having a business card on my stall will be an asset. They are something free for anyone to take and could be a way of drumming up freelance clients. People tat buy from me on the day can use those cards to find me online and people that perhaps didn't have the means to buy on the day can contact me for a sale/follow my work online. Business cards are a good way to drum up an audience. This will not only help build up my client base, but messages/requests from people who like my art could give me an indication of what my target audience is so I can produce work that is marketable to them.

To begin designing my own business card. I first looked at cards from other artists that I liked.



This card has a really bold, colour palette and the brush strokes make it look very expressive. You get a goo impression of the way the artists works from this card but not necessarily the sort of art they produce.
If I want to market myself as a freelancer, I want to have a card that has a better visual indicator of what clients should expect from me than this one has.




I really like this card. I like the colours in the font in the background. The front design also gives a good idea of the sort of art style the client can expect. I feel the style of text really suits the design aesthetic but like the last card, I think it's difficult to read.




















I also really like this card, it's really illustrate and stylised. The use of a textured paper gives a really traditional feel. This isn't what I'm producing, traditional art, but I like the idea of the material giving an impression of the work an artist produces.
I like the really small stylised text but I don't feel it works very well as a form of advertising. If you want someone to contact you, make the ways they can do that obvious, don't try and hide it.

This is the initial sort of, sketch, for a business card that I came up with.
The plan was to do it as a self portrait but the more I messed around with it the more I really didnt lke it.

I just didnt think it owuld be very appealing to people at a con because they wouldnt know who I am so why would they want my face on a card, and also,  was worried it wasnt desplaying the sort of work I produced very well, or the veriety of rendering techniques I'd learnt in the module over the year to get to this point.

This is the second design I did, and the one I got printed. I decided to, instead of creating a new image for the front of the card, reuse the images I had created so far this year as the cover. I feel this works really well. It's visually interesting and shows a variety of examples of my work.

I took the idea for my typography from the third business card design. I liked the use of colour on the text and thought it would look really interesting if the text was made up of images of my art.
I used brown for the main text and green for the accent colour because green was the most stand out colour in my name and the brown was colour dropped from my ivy paintin gas I knew it would go with the green (same painting) and the plain brown colour provided a nice base colour that blended with the imagery on my card.

The font I decided to go with was a sans serif because the absence of flourishes makes the font easier to read. I also laid out my type in a box to mirror the boxy font I used as well as the rectangular layout of my art on the front of the card.

Choosing how my cards were printed was also a very important process. Expert rendering of the physical card was important because its an integral part of how my work is viewed and displayed.

Because I don't have a printer, I decided to go with an online printing service. I had to be very careful about the options I chose because it wouldn't be me controlling the printing process.

In the end I went with a heavy card stock 300gsm and a matte paper. I really like the matte finish because I feel that it just looks and feels much sleeker and durable than gloss would have done. That and this way the printed images are not overpowered by any shine on the card.

Mulan Painting

This post displays another of my painting processes and I have annotated important points that are things I have picked up on that helped me complete this painting and are things I am adopting regularly when I paint. These are the things helping me create my own visual style.

I like to make eyes slightly larger than is realistic but this is a personal preference. I think it makes my faces look a bit more expressive.

The liquify tool is your best friend for altering/changing shapes quickly. You can paint over this again later to give it a beter finish, but its good for getting multiple variations asap.

 I like adding contrasting colours as highlights rather than using, for example, a lighter blue on the hair. I don't wanna say that it makes the image 'pop', but it does.

 The Chinese writing made the painting look way too busy.

I asked for feedback at this point as I felt the image looked unfinished but wasnt sure what I could do to finalise the look of it.

Removed some of the sketchiness from the hair and made the characters fainter to make the image look less busy.

Research into brands

I wanted to look into how brands "brand" themselves, how they advertise.
By looking at successful brands and how they are, I will better know how to market myself as a freelancer and what visual marketing techniques are viable and what works and why.

• Dominant colours used in logos are red, black and blue.
• Red is the colour of fire/blood so is associated with war/danger/strength/power/passion/love/desire.
• The colour red evokes strong emotions in a viewer as it is emotionally intense. The colour raises blood pressure, increases metabolism and respiration and so it is used to stimulate people into quick decisions.
• Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil and mystery. Gives sense of perspective and depth. It is mainly used to make other colours stand out.
• Blue is he colour of sky/sea. Often it is associated with depth and stability. It symbolises trust/loyalty/wisdom/confidence/intelligence/faith/truth.
• Blue is considered beneficial to mind/body. It slows metabolism and produces a calming effect. Associated with tranquility and calmness. Blue is often used to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products. Blue suppresses appetite so not usually used for promoting food.
• Overwhelmingly fonts are sans serif. Sans serif fonts are easy to read due to lack of flourishes and style. They are objective and clear.
• Flat design seems to be a preference over beveled, 3D designs.
• Dominant shapes in logos are squares, circles and rectangles.