Andrew Pavitt

Andrew Pavitt came in today to talk to us about the running of his studio Big Orange, and the possibility of an internship there later in the year. The studio is based in what is now a very fashionable area of London, i was really suprised to learn that his rent is only £200 a month, and that you can easily rent space in a crappy run down warehouse for as little as £50 a month; id thought the idea of having a studio as totally unnatainable at this point. A good location is becoming less important due to websites and email, but if you are out in the middle of nowhere, youll have to work that little bit harder to gain notoriety. The 8 illustrators and graphic designers from Big Orange share their studio with the AOI. This provides the advantage of free membership, and legal advice whenever they need it. He said the main advantage of working in a studio of this size is being able to bounce ideas off other artists, which helps to erase any doubts or insecurites in your own mind. Everyone puts together for essential expenses such as computers, phones, cleaning etc. He recommended that when looking for a studio, pick one thats open 24hours, as its really important to be flexible for tight deadlines. Alot of clients, particularly big American ones, think theyre doing you a favour in commisioning an illustration, and will therefore expect the work done overnight if necessary, completely disregarding timezones.

The only disadvantage he could think of is is a social one: the dynamic of a studio depends on the people working there, for example someones taste in music or just a clash of personalities can create an unpleasant atmosphere. This is why most studios will prefer someone who fits in socially rather than someone who has a similar working style.

Later in the afternoon, i was able to show Andy my Fear and Loathing project, which he was really positive about, he said it looked like im enjoying doing it and that my works quite edgy and stands out alot. Which is kind of what im going for. And he loved the bat and lizard photos. He couldnt offer much advice in terms of the set designs im doing, as its totally out of his area, but suggested i contact a few places over summer and see if i can get either work experience or a job as an assistant to someone working in the industry. This is how he started work as a painter years ago, he warned that the pay is likely to be very low but that the experience is invaluable if its something you really wanna do.

When i mentioned that this projects really strayed away from illustration, he suggested that i could possibly use some of the photos iv taken and collage them, or put together abstract bits of them, maybe working over them or something. I might try this. But also i like the way its going...

Damian Gascoinge

I loved this guy, definetly the most entertaining talk weve had, even if he didnt show that much of his work. He said he had done a powergen ad a few years ago that i vaguely remember, but wanted to show his personal projects and family photos rather than this commercial work.

He talked in alot of detail about his research methods; how he obsessively collects, doodles and photographs anything and everything. He draws from life alot, and as an animator is particularly interested in posture and movement. He photographs objects that can look like something else, and invents stories based on the situation and mood of a photograph. He is in the habit of constantly creating, and said that you have to be obsessive to get anywhere.

He uses commercial work to pay for more enjoyable personal projects, one of which he called 'The Love Books'. This began as a series of books full of drawings, like a visual diary he produced when he was single. This became an exhibition in somewhere like Korea, i cant remember, where his drawings were projected onto a large polystyrene book (which he then had to pay a huge amount to have environmentally recycled). He described the Koreans, or whichever country it was, as being incredibly disorganised and last minute about everything: the polystyrene book only arrived on the morning the exhibition was due to open. The piece i was most interested in is one hes currently working on; an animation of two guys arguing about folk music, really well written & funny.

He described how tough and competetive the design / animation industry can be, saying that last year was his toughest yet. During the last 12 months, he spent time and money pitching for 7 different jobs, but didnt get a single one, untill something came up in December. He described this as having been very stressful, and said that you have to have nerves of steel to stick at it.

He has little interest in the technical side of animation, but as a lecturer at Kingston uni, has recruited a former student to help with this. He criticizes alot of computer animation for being too processed and all being pretty much the same as the next, which i agree with. He didnt say much about his influences, but mentioned that 1950s design and animation inspires him.

After the lecture he joined us in the studio where we had beer and cake.

London: Proffesional Practice Visits.

Gardeners World Magazine - Guy Bennington

This was the first time id shown my portfolio to anyone out side of college, but due to my train being late and me missing the connecting one, i didnt get time to worry about it. I wasnt sure if i should let him look through it and wait for questions, but i just talked him through each piece and that seemed to go pretty well.

He especially liked the beer can bees, and asked if id considered selling the design to boddingtons. As the magazine had just done a feature on bees, he was interested in my symbiosis project, and understood (without me explaining) what i was communicating in the signpost piece, so i was really pleased with that. He mentioned that with editorial work, it is 70% about the communication, which i took to mean that in some of my work, i need to concentrate more on this.

As i was in such a rush to get there on time thanks to the bloody trains, i left my promotional postcards in the hotel room. He was really positive about most of my work, and im definetly gonna remember to send him a few cards.

Container + : Luise Vormittag

I wish id have taken a voice recorder or at least made some notes as luise gave me some really useful advice that i am now struggling to remember. When i showed her my portfolio, she advised that i put my best work at the start (which i thought i had done), but she was much more positive about the Fear and Loathing project that im currently working on. She particularly liked the use of coloured light and the atmosphere of the iguana and bat photos. She also suggested that instead of putting together each element digitally, i could try making the whole image and photographing it, but did warn me of the difficulties of getting each aspect exacly right.

Luise then took us through the Container + portfolio, showing her huge range of clients. There was alot of self initiated work, which she recommends doing as it helps to develop your style, can be used in promotion and gives you fresh ideas. The problem with it is that theres no guarentee of earning any income from it, and the way she works requires her to employ several other people such as photographers, which works out very expensive if you dont get any work from it.

There are three people working in the Container + studio, one of which spends around 50% of her time on promoting the company. This was alot more than i thought itd be.

She suggested that i should look at a book called Tactile, which iv already seen, and the next one in the series, Tangible, which i havent.

Otto Detmer Talk

Otto Dettmer began working as an illustrator in the early 1990s, after completing a degree and then a Masters in Graphic design. After finishing his education, he felt that focusing too much time on self promotion had a negative impact on his early work. During this time, he would have up to seven appointments per day with both clients and agents, but soon realised that the best method of self promotion for a designer is completing a job succesfully. He found that roughly 1 in 8 client visits would result in a job, whereas agents were not particularly interested due to the relatively low pay of editorial work.

His style has evolved quite significantly since the early 90's, largely due to taking up screen printing, and now produces various promotional books including fold outs in this way. I liked the idea of using original methods of self promotion. He no longer uses a portfolio, but advised that if we do, to include original drawings rather than finished digital work that art directors see every day.

Otto's work is often black / grey with one other colour.. This comes in part from the limitations of screen printing, but also when he first began working and magazines often requested simple colour schemes. When starting a new brief, he makes a list of assosiations to come up with ideas, and has a huge reference library for further inspiration. He tries to send the client at least 4 roughs, and generally 2 different ideas. He works largely for newspapers and magazines such as the economist and the Independant. A job every three weeks for the Guardian has to be completed in an afternoon, which he found very stressful at first. Recently, since the start of this recession, he has done several jobs relating to the fall of Capitalism. He has done two advertising jobs and did not enjoy either, due to the lack of creative control, but the large amount of money made it worthwhile. He has recently started selling some of his designs as stock illustrations in order to supplement his income, but is considering whether or not the money is worth giving up control over his images. He also reuses old illustrations for a foriegn paper which cannot afford to pay decent wages.

Otto cites his biggest influence as being Russian Constructivism such as Vladimir Mayakovski, Michael Cheremnyk and El Lissitsky, because of their use of simple illustrations but strong political concepts, and the combination of shapes, diagonals, and typeography. He likes work that is not too obvious, and leaves something to the imagination, but is always careful in his own work to be aware of what ambiguity could come from a piece. He takes reference from old films, renaissance painting, mythology, found images, sculpture and consumer culture, and trys to keep away from the mainstream. He prefers working alone due to the competition that can exist between a group of designers working together in a studio.

Container+ : Luise Vormittag

Myself and Roisin have arranged a visit to Container Plus studio in London. Im really looking forward to it cos itll be good to speak to a group of Illustrators who work in 3d, im hoping to get some good advice about where to promote this type of work, and also about running a succesful business in the design industry. They describe their work as "a multidisciplinary art and design collective specialising in concept creation and execution across a multitude of 2D and 3D platforms", and have a long and varied list of clients. I find their work very interesting, the first example is from a self initiated project, the piece is based on Alice in Wonderland, and its inspired me to start thinking about possibly building whole scenes and photographing them rather than making individual components and arranging them digitally. The second was done for the TopShop annual press show, it reminds me alot of some Christian Boltanski stuff i posted up here a while ago.

Patrick Thomas Studio Visit

Despite feeling slightly worse for wear, I really enjoyed the visit to Patrick Thomas's studio in Barcelona. I felt i could connect with the ideas behind his work and the way he thought, and the idea of working abroad has really inspired me.

After doing a BA and then MA in graphic design, Thomas set up the Big Orange studio in 1987 with Lawrence Zeegan, but moved to Barcelona in 1991 partly because he was sick of the Tory government. Although he barely spoke a word of Spanish, he began working freelance from his hotel room. By 97 he was able to buy La Vista studio, a rooftop apartment near the centre of Barcelona, where he currently lives and works.

He cites his main influences as being Peter Blake, Peter Saville, and the punk movement. This simple, direct style and pop art influence is evident in alot of his work. He is also inspired by William Hogarth, and Russian constructivists such as Alexander Rodchenko. Most of the work he showed us were cover designs and editorials for the economy supplement of a Spanish newspaper. Interested in appropriation, Thomas enjoys the challenge of making an existing image his own. He collects a huge amount of images for inspiration. He often uses cliches in his work, and is very direct in the way he communicates. I loved his piece about the differences between France and Germany - the image consisted of a corkscrew and bottle opener side by side. He works very quickly, often getting a brief in the evening and handing it in the next morning. Recently he had an exhibition in London, where his work was presented in a black and white newspaper format, commenting that a good idea should work in black and white.

He has produced a large number of promotional postcards, some examples are shown above. The studio was filled with huge screen prints of his designs, my favourite being the iconic image of Che Guevara, his face made up of corporate logos and symbols of capitalism. I like the irony behind this idea, but also the point it makes about how the image of this socialist revolutionary hero has, since his death, become so famous that it is almost as much a corporate logo as any of the others.

Gillian Blease

Gillian Blease did her degree in Fine Art at Newcastle University, and for a while attempted to gain a reputation working in this field. She has been working as an illustrator for nearly 15 years, and commented that it has taken her most of this time to reach the point of making a decent living from it. Blease began her career in illustration by collecting and filing images of literally anything she found inspiring. After taking a short course in illustration, and reading the AOI’s ‘how to be an illustrator’ guide, she had the idea of re-doing illustrations for existing Guardian articles, in order to build up a portfolio. She had a fairly slow start, but after six months, did a job for the Guardian, which eventually led to many more.

Her main influences as a fine artist were Andy Warhol, Patrick Caulfield, and Terry Frost, and from looking at their work, I can see how she found it relatively natural to begin illustrating. Blease highlights a trip to Japan as a major influence. She taught English and travelled around the country, noticing and being inspired by the symbolism in Japanese art and culture, and the concept of using simple representation to communicate an idea.

Another major influence are Goya’s etchings; while working at the Whitworth gallery, she wrote an article on his work. His use of empty space and sense of drama stuck with her, something which she tries to use in her own work. Other influences include Paul Rand and Julian Opie; she mentioned how simple Graphic design and a bold use of type inspires her.

Produced in Illustrator, her work focuses largely on shape and pattern. Things are stripped down to their simplest form, and she uses a simple colour palate. Blease favours minimalism, and believes that imagery works better when surrounded by empty space. Through her simple but effective designs, she became interested in pattern, and now sells her work to the Bright Agency for greetings card and textile designs.

The majority of Bleases’ work has been editorials for newspapers and magazines, such as the Guardian, the Daily Express, and Restaurant magazine. She mentioned that the Guardian is good to work for, as the only restrictions are the dimensions. Her worst job was a commercial piece for the Southbank centre, in which she had a complete lack of creative freedom. Some of her editorial work has to be completed within an hour, something which she finds challenging but valuable, because it keeps her from being too precious about her work. Occasionally she will get several editorial jobs on the same subject, and has to find a way of illustrating each one differently. She has begun working in book design, an area that she would like to be involved in more, due to the length of time given to complete work.

She highlighted the importance of being reliable, and also advised us to regularly send postcards to potential clients. I found Gillian’s talk very interesting; I like the way she can diversify to work in several different areas of illustration. She was able to explain her influences very well, and was honest and informative about the ups and downs of the industry. While I am not massively interested in doing editorials, I thought the idea of card design might be worth considering, so iv done some research into the industry, looking mainly at the Greetings Card Assosiation Website:

Grant Gilbert

After completing a print based degree at Birmingham university, Grant Gilbert spent three years working for Planet 24, a production company famous for producing the ‘Big Breakfast’ and ‘The Word’. He then moved on to channel 4, where he enjoyed larger budgets, creating title sequences and promos. He also spent a year in New York working at the Attic, but moved back to London when this studio closed after September 11th. It was then that he began working freelance, and set up Double G studios, partly because he thought it would sound better to call from a business rather than as an individual. He employs other illustrators as and when he needs them, and often works with other companies in order to gain inspiration from others, rather than sitting at home in a creatively stale environment. He also advised us that it is very important to get your name around, and to be passionate about and have confidence in your ideas, or other people will change things.

Gilbert was involved in the rebranding of channel 5, and also produced the Channel 4 Music promo – a short animation inspired by summer festivals. I really liked the use of neon lights and silhouettes inside the tents. In addition, he was brought in to produce the More 4 promo. The logo had already been finalised, but needed animating. This is a very simple but effective piece, involving overlays of shapes based on the logo. The Channel 4 adult entertainment channel uses a neon sign designed by Gilbert.

When pitching for the job of rebranding BBC1, he joined up with a company called Red Bee. The brief was to show ‘the coming together of people’. His main inspiration was an image from the Korean games in 1988 of several thousand schoolchildren holding up individual cards to form one single image. He won the job, but the BBC hated the idea, so it was back to the drawing board. The final rebranding received criticism from the press – it had taken ten months to produce and cost £1.2 million of liscence payers’ money. Gilbert felt the BBC was his hardest job, because there was too much interference. It was more insular than channel 4, and he had far less creative freedom due to it being funded by public money. These days, he has to pitch for around 70% of his work, but is getting more and more of his work through recommendations. He is also a D&AD judge, and advised us that a simple, striking design will stand out.

I feel that while Grant Gilbert is obviously very good at what he does, his work has no relevance to my own. He gave us some useful advice though!

Tal Rosner

Tal Rosner’s background is in Graphic design. When studying for his BA degree, he concentrated on magazine and poster graphics. He then completed a Masters in Moving Image at St. Martins, in order to “translate what I learned in Graphics into animation”. He has since taught himself to use Adobe After Effects. After finishing his education, Rosner took a job in post production, but did not enjoy it; preferring instead to concentrate on small projects where he could have full artistic control. He cites the biggest influence on his work as being art between 1905 and 1935, making particular reference to the Bauhaus and a poem by Josef Albers:

Calm down,
what happens,
happens mostly
without you.

The first piece he showed us was an animation to classical piano music called Doppelganger. It was all produced digitally, beginning with footage from a camera placed on the front of a train. He uses a split screen, representing the two piano parts. I really loved this piece, particularly the abstraction of the journey, and the Kaleidoscope style moving patterns it eventually became. I thought his sense of rhythm is excellent, and fitted in very well with the movement of a train. He then showed us five short pieces put to classical music by Stavinsky. They were created in a similar way – he chose a building, filmed it, and deconstructed it into individual parts for the animation. He mentioned that he films around London for inspiration.

Rosners best known job to date was the title sequence for the series ‘Skins’, for which he won a BAFTA award, and is currently working on the third season. I was particularly impressed with his attention to detail within this piece, and the fact that he produced 72 different versions before choosing the final edit.

Rosner was recently commissioned by the London symphony orchestra to produce visuals to be played at a live performance. It was based around the seven days of creation, but from a non – religious point of view. In much the same way as his earlier work, all the filming was done inside the orchestra hall and then abstracted; light fittings were, for example used as stars, and scaffolding eventually became trees. This level of creativity really inspires me.

Overall, I was very impressed by Rosners’ work, particularly the Doppelganger piece, and although his animations are not directly relevant to my own work, I found the idea of taking something as mundane as train travel, and abstracting it until it becomes a fascinating, Kaleidoscope pattern very interesting.