Research Task:

For this research task I need to find out about copyright laws in the UK. What do I need to know? How much would I charge a client for my time?

UK Copyright Law:

I have already joined the Association of Illustrators as a student member as I want to become a professional illustrator or animator in the future.

I found information about UK copyright law on the AOI website here: https://theaoi.com/resources/professional-practice/what-is-copyright/ This also involves information about licensing.

Pricing:

I found information about pricing on the AOI website: https://theaoi.com/resources/pricing/ This also involves a pricing calculator. Also because I am an AOI member I also get access to bespoke pricing advice!

How much would I charge a client?:

I decided to use the AOI pricing calculator for this part of the research task and create a fake example.

Fake example:

• 1 Fully Illustrated Children’s Book
• Self-Published
• Working 116 days of the year on it
• Day rate = £216
• To achieve £25,000 per annum

This day rate seems quite high for daily illustrating of a children’s book and I can imagine it would take less than 116 days to finish. Looking at this I think I need to look at how to use the pricing calculator correctly. I will continue researching it as I am very new to it but I think it will take me a bit of time to get my head around.

Research Task:

Context:

For this research task I need to think about myself as a potential freelance illustrator who is getting ready to undertake client-led work. I need to identify an easy client I could work with, somebody who would benefit from having an illustrator to do some work for them. I will use SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats posed by such a venture.

The Company:

I decided on the company ‘Arlington Road Medical Practice’ as the client as I have connections there and I have worked there in the past also. I would think about redesigning the Practice logo.

The original Practice logo (very detailed and old-fashioned illustration):

The newer Practice logo (lacks imagination and very generic):

https://www.arlingtonroadsurgery.nhs.uk/about-us

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths: what do i do well?

• Graphic Design
• Logo design
• I have experience creating logos at college and on this course
• I have experience creating a logo for my uncle’s restoration company (used on van, uniform and business cards).
• I used to work at this place, and I still have connections
• Project management
• Problem solving

Weaknesses: what could i improve?

• I don’t have real-life experience in designing logos for a medical practice
• If I created the logo for them for free, maybe it wouldn’t be as valued as one that has been commissioned for a price
• Communication as I am socially shy

Opportunities: what opportunities are open to me?

• Good experience of working for a client in the ‘real world’
• Could lead to further opportunities with the same company
• My name could get spread around with other surgeries locally
• I can use my work in my CV and portfolio

Threats: what could harm me? what competition is there?

• I may not have enough experience to create a suitable quality outcome
• Medical logo/graphic design is very common, managers try to cut corners and save money by finding their own logo on Google Images

What does this tell you about the skills you have and those you might need to develop further?

I have enough skills to design and create the logo for the surgery, but I lack the experience to put myself forward to the client and the software for the design like Adobe to create a crisp clear vector.

What additional research do you need to do to understand how to work successfully with a client?

I will use AOI to research working successfully with a client. Through: Resources/Self Promotion.

Exercise – Presenting yourself:

For this exercise I need to reflect on the work I have produced so far on this course. I will pick out a range of pieces
that best express who I am as an illustrator and which show off my image-making strengths. These could be finished assignments, exercises or ideas that have developed out of my sketchbooks. I will find a suitable way to present this body of work as a portfolio. I need to think about how I’d describe these pieces of work. What would I say about them if asked?

My portfolio is a presentation of my artistic skills, it establishes me as an Illustrator and Animator. My portfolio would be for the audience of potential clients, other students on this course and my tutor.

Potential Portfolio Platforms:

AOI Folio – 20 image portfolio through AOI – Pricey!

Adobe Portfolio – Unlimited Portfolio as part of Creative Cloud – Pricey!

WordPress – I can create another site through WordPress – Free!

The contents of a portfolio should include:

• Ideas
• Design
• Concepts
• Techniques Used
• Quality Outcomes
• Drawing Ability

researching other illustrator’s portfolios:

I used the site below to research other Illustrator’s portfolios to get inspiration and figure out what clients like to see.

https://creativehowl.com/illustration-portfolios/

In future, maybe even at the end of this degree, I would hope to be able to pay for the Wix website similar to Jennifer Xiao’s below as it’s the type of website style I like, fun and interactive and full of digital illustration.

https://www.jenniferxiao.com/

Creating the Portfolio:

I decided on using WordPress to create my portfolio as I am confident with using WordPress and I can also create a new domain name for free as long as it has wordpress.com added to the end. There are also many templates available for free.

My Portfolio:

https://iamtabithawhite.wordpress.com

Reflection:

I feel like I have the IT and graphic design skills in order to make a great portfolio website but lack the funding and still need to create enough eye-catching work and find my own art style that is distinguishable. I will now make this my mission, to create more outstanding work that I can use on my real-life portfolio in the near future.