Wednesday 22 January 2014

a sloth's guide to illustration


my latest module required me to create a piece of self promotional work that would be sent out to studios and companies that i may decide to to apply to for work experience throughout the summer, and i'll bet you're all extremely surprised about the fact that my work was sloth based! at the beginning of the module i struggled with the idea of promoting myself, but once i understood that it was more of a self directed project rather than something to promote me, the penny dropped and i realised that nothing made more sense than to use sloths as my project driver!


i knew that i wanted my piece to reflect my silly, light hearted outlook and personality as well as my illustrative style so i could be comfortable knowing that whoever opened my package knew exactly what kind of person was contacting them. i felt that this zine idea helped to honestly convey my tone of voice, my mind as a creative and how i work as one, too, and i feel that within the illustration world it's so important for your work to be genuine and an honest reflection of yourself.


we had to also consider a cv, covering letter and envelope design to be sent out alongside the promotional item, so i decided to keep the designs simple and relevant to the theme of my zine by sticking to a monochrome colour scheme and by using simple line drawings. i feel that this choice helps to display how my style works both in colour and monochrome as well as the fact that i can work on a more complex or simplistic level depending on what a brief may require.

in addition to our physical self promotion items, we were also asked to consider a digital solution that could be anything ranging from motion work to a simple pdf, so i decided to step a little out of my comfort zone and attempt a simple bit of motion in the form of an interactive illustration. i stuck with the sloth theme and the exploration of a sloth training as an illustrator, so i decided to create an image where a viewer could explore a sloth's creative studio. i linked my physical and digital pieces together through the creation of a character, dame olive napsalot, who is a well renowned illustrator within the sloth creative community who kindly offers up her advice about working as an illustrator which in turn becomes the content of the zine. at the end of the zine you're then presented with the opportunity to visit her website where you can explore her studio, which helps to make the content of the zine feel real and believable. if you'd like to explore olive's studio you can do so below, but please do excuse the dodgy quality - the .swf upload seems to have been a little odd?



i've had a lot of fun working on this module and it's reinforced the fact that i love writing my own material and having complete authorship over all of my work. my tutors have encouraged me to carry on making sure i put my stamp on all the briefs i tackle, so i hope i can get my teeth stuck into future projects just as i have this one!


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