Portfolio Visits

 As part of our assessment for the end of this module, we were told to go out and make contact with professionals of the industry to present our portfolios. I have collated work from both last year and this year to attain a good mixture of work from both development to final outcomes.

'Create' by Natalie Wood

 The first visit I had was from mentor Natalie Wood who is a Stockport College graduate. She is a designer and illustrator and she presented a fantastic range of work for me to look at in her portfolio. I recognised some of her work and made comment of it. Her work is very digital based and she says she mainly does editorials for magazines. She also showed me her work within motion graphics which really suited her style and also incorporated great use of typography.

 We then went on to discuss my state of work so far, so I showed her what was potentially going to be in my portfolio because I unfortunately had misplaced it somewhere... She said she really liked my style and agreed we each had a very different approach to things. My work being so rough and in stages of development, I asked her how I should present this in my portfolio. She replied that I should keep my work ethic going and should keep playing within my sketchbook because the work in there seems more relevant to me than the desired outcome.

 I found her advice to be very helpful and a great insight into what the industry demands. Seeing what she's achieved, the industry seems so vast and freelance jobs seem to be always available somewhere. This gave me greater confidence in myself and respect for my work. She gave me her business card and I surprisingly didn't make the mistake of thinking she was an actress...

'Bummed Portrait' by Central Station Design

 My second portfolio visit was with Pat Carroll from the infamous Mancunian design company, Central Station Design. The group were responsible for livening up Manchester during the 'Madchester' era of the mid 80's to early 90's with their acidic-coloured record sleeve designs for the Happy Mondays. Pat tutored me back in my art foundation year when I was studying visual communication. It was certainly a privilege to be in his company, so I felt I should seek his advice once again on how to present my work.

 I showed him my newly printed portfolio and his reaction was indeed positive. Pat's always admired my work for its use of negative space and raw hand rendering. He praised my work saying that it's evolved and is set on course for a new professional beginning. He also said that the work was giving off a fine art vibe, which was certainly a surprise for my ears! He said he could imagine my work being hung up in a bar or exhibition in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. This idea appealed to me more so than working as a freelance illustrator because it opens up a new world for me to enter.

 A few things he said I could improve were make my whole portfolio portrait, keep my modules together and to display a small explanation/description of what work it is I'm showing. This newly delivered information has excited me more so than I felt before.