Woody @ PCA

Notes from our talk/lecture by Zara Wood (aka Woody).

Personality: Keen eye for detail, loves all things vintage. Moved around a bit, from 2007 she has had a studio space in Brighton, before that she was in Melbourne and other places.
Nature has a big influence on her work and she also has a keen interest in photography and catalogues anything interesting/inspiring that she sees.
Difficult to put a label on what she does/who she is  :
Illustrator, potter, graphic designer, art director...
...CREATIVE! Used both as a noun and an adjective

She describes her illustrations as not being perfect, in particular her digital drawings as she likes to keep the hand drawn quality of her work.
She would be lost without her sketchbook! :-)
Her sketches are important as they could develop into artwork (personal and professional) and maybe into products.

She uses alot of traditional methods and print processes within her practice, not just pencil and paper etc.  --it is important to document illustrations throughout these processes especially if it is for a client.
TIP: If you draw traditionally, scan images at really high resolution and colour digitally thereby allowing you to adapt your image really quickly (if you need to).
Also know which file format the client wants/needs.
Printing: know about CMYK, gradients etc (ask tutors, technicians, printers etc) Use the people and facilities at college whilst we have them!!!

As a commercial illustrator:
the task is to communicate visually and problem solve creatively. She also creates products, does some of her own personal work as well as work for clients (also With clients- collaborative work in exhibitions etc) -- Mirror Mime.

Fashion:
in 2008 Zara was approached by Topshop to create a range of fashion designs under her own name (!)
She designed several illustrations under one theme and also went so far as to create the swing tags, this gave much more to include in the way of press (editorial pieces in magazines and online etc)

TIP: Be aware of your audience--Demographic
Zara was commissioned to decorate the walls in a childrens ward in a hospital- had to be aware that the audience would both be children and adults. Also it would have to be deep cleaned regularly so she created her designs in vinyl.

Miniature artwork: vintage necklaces, take your art with you! (fab idea!!!) each character has a small story, is it art or a product? or both!?  --Quality control an issue as they were in such high demand and making too many might mean the quality slips. (although i think not as they looked ace)

Enquiry Desk: Set up by Zara and her friend/illustrator/agent.
Live portfolio advice- Pick Me Up (summerset house)
Online- WOW (Words Of Wisdom) - graduates and creative professionals giving advice and tips

TIP: Draw on your interests, not on what everyone else is doing. This will bring enthusiasm and energy into your work and it will be more unique. Will have a real meaning to it. More enjoyable too!
Experiement!
Understand the different processes
Use different media
Play with scale
Don't limit yourself

Q&A:
How do you find commissions? Is is through an agent?
-No agent, be creative in finding clients (bikini lists-lists of editors etc)
Does it matter where you live?
-No!! Live where you want to live. Be inspired by your environment. You can use email, skype etc as effective modes of communication.
Is it important to keep your work separate in your portfolio?
-From an agents point of view, yes- Its good to have a coherant voice and a consistent body of work.

Commissions and clients:
Co-operation - very important, need to work well with other people and communicate well.
-what do they need? Whats expected of you? Whats your role in a project? All good questions to ask.
Outsourcing:
-when there is not really an inhouse design team and the art director must look elsewhere for creatives.

Advertising:
usually consists of a creative team- copywriter and art director
Art buying department-who would probably contact you? vice versa.

AOI: Commissioning illustration---READ!

Illustrators Survival Tactics:
-Creative Talent on demand
-Technical Knowledge and Skills
-Licence Agreements

Copyright: is instant and automatic. As soon as you put pen to paper you own that image.
Protecting it is a different matter...

Licence Agreement: find out as much information as you can from the client, via email is good as you can keep a sort of paper trail just incase. Good communication and good practice.
-Who is it for? Duration? Exclusivity? How many units?

(Case Study) Email from an art director for a commission...what do you need to know?..
-Who's the client?
-Where is it going?
-How many ways will it be used? (collateral assets- flyers etc)

Don't set a quote until you have all of the information. Find out everything!

Setting a fee:
-Try not to set a daily fee/hourly rate
-it's about usage
-AN-Artists Newsletter- Online budget calculator, helps to work it out
-Break it down (materials, time etc)

Making and Selling:
Make sure to distinguish between making for a customer (the public) and making for a client (private/art director etc)
If its for self promo be aware of costings.
Create an online presence.

Zara Wood's talk was really interesting and really really helpful!
She had a real enthusiasm for what she was talking about and it reassuring to hear her talk about things like how where you live doesn't really matter and not to limit yourself to one area etc.