End of Module Evaluation

This module had proved to be the most difficult module to date, though that was always going to be the case. I have learnt both positive and negative things about myself, and my design practice, throughout the duration of the module. It has been an eye opening experience, and though at times it may have been overwhelming, I think I leave the course with a clearer idea as to what my design future entails.
A positive taken from this module is the discovery that I am fully capable of producing high quality, visually engaging design using a range of different illustration techniques. Though illustration has always been part of my previous modules, it has never been the sole focus. With this module I took it upon myself to work with a range of illustrative approaches as a creative challenge. I consider myself to have succeeded in several areas, and confirmed to others and myself that I am a visually driven designer. If people where to see me as an illustrator, I would have no problem with that.

Collaborative briefs, such as the DFGA yearbook and the fashion branding, have shown me that I am not a natural leader. I have struggled when it comes to organising people and setting personal deadlines. I always knew it wasn’t in my nature to take charge of situations, and this module has reaffirmed that theory in my mind. However, this is not to say that I am incapable of expressing my opinions when necessary. During DFGA meetings I presented my design work with conviction and clarity, something which I feel aided Mike in choosing my page layouts to develop further. I also made it clear to my fashion student certain ideas she had envisioned in her mind simply would not work for her branding, and instead we came to creative compromises. I have most definitely learnt the hard way that working with a client is a challenge, both mentally and creatively. It’s not something I wish to do again any time soon.

If I where to do the module again there are certain things I would do differently. I may say this at the end of every module, but I should have blogged more. At points I was completely on top of my blog posts, each one with appropriate imagery and thorough supporting analysis. Yet there where also moments when I let it build up, almost to the point where it was difficult to get back on track. This is something I regret now. I would also have picked my briefs a lot earlier, and exploit to their full potential rather than waiting for each to develop at it’s own pace leaving me with few options due to time constraints. Time management has been a big issue for me. Unable to work on more than one brief at a time I should have been organised and assigned weeklong deadlines, and stuck to them. But I just didn’t.

I come out of this final module with a skewed outlook as to what the future holds. At times I have felt graphic design is the only career path I can take. At others it has felt like I have no place within the industry. It would be hard for me to evaluate my time during this module without sounding negative, perhaps even cynical. With additional personal issues to deal with, graphic design should have taken precedence; it should have been an outlet for me. But it wasn’t. It became something I avoided because I couldn’t handle the fact I wasn’t achieving the level of professionalism I assumed I would so late on the course. More than anything I have come to the conclusion that making ‘pretty pictures’ isn’t enough, yet it seems this is all I am capable of. I’m not entirely sure what the future holds for me, but if it involves some sort of illustration then I would be more than happy.

Final Design Context Publication

I have been working on my design context publication for some time, just trying to bring together all the written information I have gathered from both secondary and primary source, and combining with appropriate and striking imagery. I knew I wanted the publication itself to be very image driven, with large scale examples of work that inspires me on a daily basis. But I also understand the importance of the theory of the work, and bringing a sense of realism to all the designers who influence me. So I tried to find the right balance between the two elements. Hopefully I have.

More Contacting

After a couple weeks without contacting more illustrators for interviews, I thought it was about time I got back to it. After doing some more research, and discovering more and more designers whose work I feel is in close relation to my own (or at least what I aspire to be) I whittled down the list to those I felt I would benefit from talking to. The list is as follows.
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Ryan Brinkerhoff
A young illustrator who goes by the name Bandito Design. He is a regular contributor to Gallery 1988 shows with his very stylised vector illustrations. His choice of colour is perfect, and I also admire how he incorporates texture into his digital designs. More work can be seen here.

The Bungaloo
A screen print artist, called John Vogl, from Denver, Colorado. His work is very compositionally driven, and his combination of plafyul artwork with decorative type is inspiring. More of his limited edition creations can be seen here.

Matt Taylor 
One of the only British designers I have found that has contributed to Gallery 1988 shows, I was excited to think that it is a possibility for myself. His website is chock full of shining examples of his illustrative approach.

Justin White

Another week to the day and I decided to contact another illustrator whose work I have enjoyed for a while now. A regular contributor to Threadless, and an all round amazing illustrator, his work often references popular culture in the most humourous ways. Particularly the poster seen below, created for the recent 'Adult Swim' themed Gallery 1988 show, in which he brings together various characters from two of the most ridiculous shows I have ever seen; 'Children's Hospital' and 'NTSF:SD:SUV::'. His 'modern vintage' feel is clearly evident in his illustrative style, and his choice of colour is perfect.

More of his fantastic creations can be found here.

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From: jublin@gmail.com
To: robynmak@live.co.uk
Sent: Thurs, February 16, 2012 12:13:25 AM
Subject: RE: Quick Interview?

Hey Robyn,

Just wanted to let you know that I'm not ignoring this email! I'm gonna go through and answers your questions and send em over hopefully later today. Thanks for the kind works, and I totally appreciate your interest in my crazy weirdo mind!

Justin

What’s your background? 
Well I went to a state school originally with the plan of majoring in Film + Television. I took classes and enjoyed what I was doing, but somehow wanted their to be a stronger focus on animation. At the time I was minoring in art and taking simple classes just to keep me drawing. My school didn't really have an animation department, so I decided to switch to a major in Art + Multimedia and minor in Film + Television. Multimedia was the closest thing there was to animation, but it was really just any type of art that had to do with computers. So I made the best with what I had in front of me and focused on illustration. Outside of school, I was learning how other illustrators made a living in freelance and met a lot of amazing talented artists through websites and communities online including threadless. I always knew I wanted to draw and be an artist, I just didn't realize it was actually a possibility.

Describe a typical working day.
This is a good question, but I don't have a very exciting answer for it. I just work. So I'll skip this one :P

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
For me, I often have a tough time staying motivated and inspired. It's too easy to hit an artist's block and become frustrated. I work freelance, so the only person pushing me to keep going and threatening to fire me is ME. And I'm a pretty laidback boss.

And what’s the most enjoyable?
Just being able to do what I love. I love to draw and make things and knowing that at least some people are enjoying it and paying me to keep it up is a pretty amazing realization.

What do you hope to achieve in 2012?
I want to draw more! I want a larger body of work regardless if there's an audience for it or if anyone even sees it. I would love to focus in on animation again. I want to create more stories and worlds through original art that would hopefully somehow inspire others. I guess that's the ultimate goal.

How did your first collaboration with Gallery 1988 come about?
Gallery1988 mentioned on their blog that they had an open call for submissions and I just emailed them "hey over here! me me!" Luckily, they took pity and invited me to a few of their shows the following year. The first being a show commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the movie Wet Hot American Summer which is one of my favorite movies of all time. So being a part of that and meeting some of the cast for my first show was an insane dream come true.

What would be your ideal Gallery 1988 exhibition to contribute to?
My ideal Gallery1988 show? Hard question. I've already been able to contribute art to their galleries inspired by my favorite movies, tv shows, and video games so I'm not sure. I don't have a good answer for this one either. X_X

Are there any fellow artists/designers you have been exhibited with at Gallery 1988 that inspire you?
There are loads of super talented artists that I've been lucky enough to exhibit art with at G1988. Do I have to name names?! oh man. Well I'm a big fan and quite jealous of the little plush dolls that Michelle Coffee has made. So creative. Hope some of that is useful and not too dull!

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Justin's responses were again incredibly insightful and he was just as friendly as Matt, Andrew and Dave where. I keep forgetting that they're just people, and they're not going to bite my head off for being inquisitive!

Dave Perillo

A week later after getting such a great response from Andrew Kolb, I plucked up the courage to contact another illustrator whose work is particularly inspiring; Dave Perillo. Another designer who I came across whilst searching through the Gallery 1988 archives, I was struck by his playful character depictions. Additionally, his choice of colour is always on point, and his compositions are always humourous.

The piece below is just one example of his work, and one of my personal favourites. There's something about the way it draws your eye around the page, finally settling on the eccentric character in the middle effortlessly. I also admire how Dave combines his fantastically fun illustrations with type, something I often struggle with. I find it hard to find a typeface that is legible and fits with illustration so perfectly, but it seems Dave has no problem! More of his work can be found here.

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From: montygog@yahoo.com
To: robynmak@live.co.uk
Sent: Thurs, February 9, 2012 11:32:26 AM
Subject: RE: Quick Interview?

Hi Robyn,

Thanks glad ya dig my stuff. Here's some answers to your questions, hope that helps and good luck at school.

Dave

What’s your background?
I have a Bachelor degree in Graphic Design, but I have always been fond of illustration and cartooning.

Describe a typical working day.
I currently work full-time as a illustrator for a medical trade magazine were I do mostly editorial and occasionally medical illustration. In the evenings is when I get to do my fun freelance work like what is seen on my blog.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Finding enough time to create all the art I do and the inspiration to do it.

And what’s the most enjoyable?
I think the reaction of others to my work and having them like it, makes me feel like I've accomplished creating art people enjoy looking at.

What do you hope to achieve in 2012?
I will be doing a two-man show in September with fellow artist Tom Whalen at Gallery 1988, so that is what hope to be a great achievement for 2012.

How did your first collaboration with Gallery 1988 come about?
They contacted me about 3 years ago to be in their Crazy 4 Cult 3 show and I've been doing shows there ever since. Probably the best gallery for artists like myself to get exposure and out in the public eye. Because of them I've had the opportunity to do so many really cool projects.

What would be your ideal Gallery 1988 exhibition to contribute to?
What i'm doing in September for them is really an ideal show for me since we were able to come up with the theme, unfortunately I can't reveal that til later this summer.

Are there any films/games/music artists etc. you have always wanted to design for?
 I am a huge Doctor Who fan so I would love to do something involving that.

Are there any fellow artists/designers you have been exhibited with at Gallery 1988 that inspire you?
I really enjoy the work of Olly Moss, Kevin Tong, Scott Derby, Scott Campbell, Nathan Stapley, Israel Sanchez & Tom Whalen.

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Dave was another incredibly friendly guy who answered all the questions I provided, and responded in an informative and kind manner. Contacting these guys is admittedly getting easier, perhaps even enjoyable! I hope to continue, and just gain more and more confidence. I can't believe I was speaking to the guy responsible for this incredible Bill Murray piece, and a contributor to Gallery 1988 for over three years. Someone pinch me!

Andrew Kolb

After getting such a friendly and welcoming response to my enquiries from Matt Chase, I thought I would try to contact a few other illustrators whose work is particularly inspiring.

Andrew Kolb is a designer I have desired (read: envied) for a while. I came across his design for a 'Walking Dead' poster a long time ago and have stayed up to date with his work since. Then I discovered he was contributing to the 'Silver Screen Society', a monthly film poster collective whose back catalogue has been used as inspiration for many of my projects, and figured he was exactly the type of designer whose career I would love to emulate.

The poster below is just one piece of his work that I admiregreatly. Much, much more can be found here.

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From: andrewrkolb@gmail.com
To: robynmak@live.co.uk
Sent: Thurs, February 2, 2012 8:45:07 AM
Subject: RE: Quick Interview?

Hi Robyn, Thanks for writing and I'm honoured that you'd approach me to help you with this. I hope other illustrators that you've gotten in touch with (if any) have been open to help too and all I ask in return for answering these questions is that you help students when they come to you in the same position (after you've made it big and blown all us little fish out of the water!)

So, questions and answers! I wrote the responses in amongst your email to keep it all organised (also so I don't ramble). If there's anything else please feel free to let me know!

Andrew

What’s your background?
I went to school for graphic design (college for a diploma and then University to continue on for my Bachelor of Design). After a few years of illustrating for design studios (when I wasn't already designing) I decided that I should pursue the part of the job that I dug the most, drawing.

Describe a typical working day.
Well I don't necessarily have a typical day of work (some days are very drawing-heavy and others are almost entirely taken up by emails and other administrative nonsense). When I can control it, I do try to do a few specific things. I usually start with emailing for half an hour. If I don't get to everybody I need to then I get back to them after lunch. I try to keep emailing/invoicing/and that admin stuff I mentioned to specific blocks of the day. It helps me get into a groove and then I can stop thinking about it while drawing. With that said, I always live a little admin stuff to do so that I can go back to it if I'm having an illustrative block. Sometimes the drawings just don't come. If I'm on a deadline then I'll push through it but usually I can take a break and the change of pace is the sort of recharge I need to be able to get back into the groove. Does any of that make sense? Uhhh...I don't think that answered anything.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Well from peers I've talked to the biggest challenge is self-managing. Freelance, in my non-illustrator friends' eyes, means freedom all the time but I find it's quite the opposite. So for some I would say it's sticking to work and not getting distracted. Though for me I find the most challenging part of this job is to trust that there's always going to be more work if you keep at it. Everyone runs into lulls and it's only just recently that I've gotten better at recognising this (and not thinking that my career is OVER!)

And what’s the most enjoyable?
Ha. Well I would say pretty much all of it. Layout, character design, getting positive feedback from clients, it's all wonderful! Though I think what I appreciate most (aside from the crazy awesomeness of the fact that I draw for a living), is the sort of direction I get. I don't know many jobs where an email will say "his head isn't square enough" or "Let's make his feet longer and knees more knobby". I love it. What do you hope to achieve in 2012? Oh gosh! Well I'm working on a few personal projects over the summer that are quite ambitious for me. So I'm hoping those catch and find someone who's interested in them. I know that's vague but I'm a sneaky ninja.

Thank you again.
Oh hey you're welcome!
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Andrew was also incredibly speedy with his responses, and I couldn't ask for more in regards to what he said. It's still scary building up the courage to contact people, but when they're as friendly as Matt and Andrew have been it gets a little easier. Plus it's crazy to think that designers whose work I adore so much have taken the time out to answer me, but hey I'm not complaining.

Design Catalogue: Image

The following Issuu document details a large number of illustrators I find inspirational. I have decided to split designers into appropriate categories, such as illustration, packaging etc. for the purposes of this brief. I hope this will help me filter out any unnecessary information and my findings for the brief will become much more streamlined. I hope to make contact with every one of the designers in the booklet, predominantly asking about their experiences exhibiting at Gallery 1988.
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Gallery 1988 Exhibit: LOST Underground Art Project

Gallery 1988 Exhibit: Garbage Pail Kids

Gallery 1988 Exhibit: Adult Swin

Review from LA Weekly:
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Gallery 1988 has hosted plenty of group shows that explore the influence of pop culture. From video games to cult films, Garbage Pail Kids to Watership Down, artists have come together at the Melrose Ave. space with a mission to transforms well-known works into something new.

On Friday night, Gallery 1988 took a slightly different approach. Where group shows often touch on nostalgia and early influences, in "[gallery 1988 x adult swim]," artists took inspiration from their peers, the creative teams behind the shows that comprise Adult Swim's programming schedule.

Adult Swim operates overnight on the same channel that hosts kid-friendly Cartoon Network. Over the past decade, they've remained on the forefront of hip pop culture. With earlier shows, like Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the network pushed the boundaries of parody while reviving second-tier Hanna-Barbera characters.

Their broadcasts of Family Guy and Futurama certainly paved the way for both shows to come back to life after cancellation. They also helped give anime a big push in the U.S. with shows like Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist and did the same for British comedy by airing The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. And if that weren't enough, the network has consistently championed the cutting edge of comedy on both the animated and live action fronts.

Shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Boondocks, The Venture Bros. and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! keep people talking. "It's sort of a common thread between all of the artists we show," says Jensen Karp, co-owner of Gallery 1988 and curator of the show, of the cable network's influence.

Karp brought up the idea to a friend who worked at Adult Swim, saying that it would be interesting to see his group of artists "breathe different kinds of lives" into characters that have become so ingrained in the minds of late-night TV viewers.

"This is something that we've been doing over the past eight years," says Karp of the gallery's theme shows, adding that it was only natural that they would eventually tackle the worlds of anthropomorphic fast food, clown doctors and villains who look like butterflies.

With a large group of artists and bountiful inspiration, it took about a year to put the show together. In the end, many of Adult Swim's shows -- past and present -- made an appearance. Artists referenced the classics, like Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Brak Show, as well as recent additions, like Childrens Hospital and Black Dynamite.

Gallery 1988 Exhibit: Please Post Bills

Another tribute show, this time dedicated to the iconic Bill Murray. Entitled 'Please Post Bills' the show was a collection of over 100 pieces of art (paint, print, sculpture) celebrating the man himself and the exotic plethora of forms he has taken. From Dr. Peter Venkman in "Ghostbusters" to Herman Blume in "Rushmore," Raleigh St. Clair of "The Royal Tenenbaums" to Phil in "Groundhog Day," Bill Murray is a character god. Below are a few of my favourite pieces from the exhibition.

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Gallery 1988: 'Paper Cuts'

In 2011 Olly Moss had a solo exhibition entitled 'Paper Cuts'. The show took Olly's minimalist approach to a whole new level. Without doubt, my favourite exhibition ever displayed at Gallery 1988. And considering the stiff competition, that's really saying something.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for this show?
A: When I was first coming up with ideas for the show I had about six different ideas and I looked at them all and I thought, well, to start I was going to do about 60 of these and a bunch of other stuff. And I started drawing them and I thought this is enough for a whole show. There’s so many things I can do with it and kind of set all the expectations, twist them, like I did with the Where’s Waldo and Die Hard with the broken glass and stuff. I thought there’s totally a whole show in this idea so I’d do that. So it’s probably about 5, 6 months ago, maybe, so it’s been a long time in the works.

More of an insight can be gained by viewing the video below.

A few images from the exhibition can be seen below. I chose these examples because they are the ones that interested me the most; some due to the subject matter (Arrested Development, Seinfeld etc.) and some because of the attention to detail (e.g. use of colour for Reservoir Dogs and Tobias Funke). However the images shown here really are just a miniscule representation of what was shown. For close up shots of pretty much every frame in the exhibit click here. It's quite fun to see how many silhouettes are so recognizable. Shown below: Buster Bluth & Loose Seal, Ferris & Cameron, Jerry, Elaine, George & Kramer, Tobias Funke, Ace Ventura, Reservoir Dogs, The Simpsons, Jay & Silent Bob, Buzz & Woody, Indiana Jones, Rick Deckard & Han Solo, Franklin & Gob Bluth.

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