Authorship by Ash Blades

ashleighblades — 2020-10-28 19:58:49 UTC

- how can my work impact the outer world?
- what artists do this already?
- what is my favourite work and how can I push it?
- what are my own weaknesses?
find trust in what I've already done

Goals

ashleighblades — 2020-11-01 19:03:31 UTC

- Get out more and start drawing the world
- Start focusing on the overlooked narratives around me and what can be be created from them
- Be free and playful with drawings still

ashleighblades — 2020-11-02 10:23:50 UTC

Joost Stokhof and Marcus Oakley

ashleighblades — 2020-11-02 10:24:58 UTC

drawing their quarantine experience and collaboration, combining their experiences together

What do I want my practice to be?

ashleighblades — 2020-11-03 15:10:11 UTC

- Designing books and book covers
- Murals and editorial work
- packaging? and pattern?
- short animations/ AR

Ideas and Themes I like

ashleighblades — 2020-11-03 15:22:44 UTC

(and have explored previously)

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 00:27:11 UTC

Mental health theme 17th April

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:16:04 UTC

Specific to my positivity project, brining mindfulness to people and making it accessible. Focusing on wellbeing in a difficult year

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:16:49 UTC

student one- 31st march 'our planet'

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:17:35 UTC

Silent book- 4th April? 14 page template

23rd march

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:18:07 UTC

Need to read into the books but only interested in the non-fiction one, notmy first choice though so maybe not

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:18:27 UTC

spring 2021

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:18:37 UTC

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:19:03 UTC

not announced

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:19:16 UTC

Brief not posted yet for next year???

D&AD

ashleighblades — 2020-11-04 18:20:16 UTC

Audible- visual identity for a book
giffgaff- TV spot for recycling your phone

Johnny Hannah- Greetings from Darktown

ashleighblades — 2020-11-06 14:39:48 UTC

Creating a cohesive narrative of a space

ashleighblades — 2020-11-06 14:40:16 UTC

Collective memory and facts mixed together? This way, real research is involved as well as social research

Merike van de Vijver

ashleighblades — 2020-11-06 14:59:29 UTC

Small boxes that reflect life in lockdown
Stop-motion combined
Available to contact potentially

Artists who already work in this area

ashleighblades — 2020-11-06 14:59:55 UTC

Kate Isobel Scott

ashleighblades — 2020-11-06 15:22:32 UTC

reacting to immediate surroundings

Olivia Twist

ashleighblades — 2020-11-06 15:25:40 UTC

Mundane and overlooked narratives

ashleighblades — 2020-11-13 11:15:18 UTC

This is a response to working from home more but has longevity as it simply focuses on wellbeing in no particular time. So my work is in response to this a year, but doesn’t need to focus around these terrible events.

ashleighblades — 2020-11-13 13:59:54 UTC

ashleighblades — 2020-11-15 14:36:40 UTC

Developing a visual language

ashleighblades — 2020-11-20 16:09:12 UTC

Small 4 day brief of making my own visual language and new drawings to bounce off for the project, using everything I’ve made previously to establish my illustrative language.

ashleighblades — 2020-11-20 16:09:52 UTC

Use the one-week brief book and include bits from previous projects

ashleighblades — 2020-11-20 16:10:18 UTC

Start making some textures and paper-cut outs to play around with

ashleighblades — 2020-11-20 16:11:46 UTC

Make a plan for something I could produce?
- A risk graph
- A small book/ zine
- A laser cut out
-An animation
anything that isn’t just a drawing/ print

ashleighblades — 2020-11-20 16:14:28 UTC

Collect the different symbols you’re using for this project and what they could mean:
- windows, birds, eyes, jars, houses
What artist have done these kinds of things before?
How can I convey the narrative of multiple stories with many different symbols?

ashleighblades — 2020-11-20 16:21:15 UTC

Tutor and workshop notes

ashleighblades — 2020-11-27 13:34:11 UTC

Maisy's workshops

ashleighblades — 2020-11-27 13:37:31 UTC

- domain name for website
- behace links with adobe portfolio, more networking forward then instagram
- Portfolio w/AOI to have alongside regular website
- check SEO’s ctrl+U
- images 72dpi and not over 1000 pixels wide- emails and website
- disable right click
- Don’t work without context

Social Media
- set up a new shop that works with instagram- when I've exhausted old stock
- making jpegs that continue on from one another for instagram>
< canvas size- making sure the size in proportional to how many squares you want - view - new guide layout - 5 column, slice tool (by crop tool) - slice each ind section, export - save for web - this saves them individually.
Basically the slice tool is what does this

Mockups
- adobe stock is good (buy credits)
- placeit, mockup world, format, sites

ashleighblades — 2020-11-27 13:42:21 UTC

- make your own projects- book gallery space, give yourself deadlines and briefs
- The process is the project- make that the story
- Make sure the work doesn't just look backwards- how does the work make us look to the future?
- Don’t gloss over everything, make it messy. The imperfections make things interesting

AOI talk notes

ashleighblades — 2020-12-01 23:15:06 UTC

website
- best bits at top
- group things like 'editorial'
- ~~get a domain name!~~
- get an email for @ashblades
- show that I can produce certain things- put illos on book covers, billboards, packaging etc. working concept models, show work in context
- use personal work to fill in gaps in portfolio
- make a tab for 'experiemental work' to separate it from main illo stuff

building a client list
- start studying the industry
- when you see a good advert- see who designed it and find out about it, good packaging etc, find the art directors
- reaching out to clients need to be personal
- invest in a directory eg- AOI editorial directory = bikini lists (expensive)
- Email loads of people and if they don't get back to you within the week then call them
- you can still ask for work experience post-grad

social media
- build a community instead of numbers, quality over quantity
- use insights
- algorithm LOVES consistant scheduel
- engage with the community- comment, share etc

more info on iPad screenshots

Fonts and resources

ashleighblades — 2021-01-04 10:19:04 UTC

- calligrapher
- adobe fonts
- print.work sample pack
- arjowiggins paper
- paper poetry
- Le Gun?
- rare mags
- how does the paper add to the context of the pub?
- newspaper club
- stack magazine (note who the judges are)
-saffa khan- good site, mix of trace and riso
-she has an overarching name like tender hands press- this is a good idea for small press
-bookbinding kits, Japanese screw punch

Artists from housekeeping

ashleighblades — 2021-01-04 10:24:47 UTC

Saffa Khan
Nick Burton- ur plague year
Chris Haughton
Adrian Johnson
Plenta Tangerina
John Cage
Sister Corito Kent

ashleighblades — 2021-01-10 21:24:37 UTC

BLOCK 2

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 16:02:57 UTC

.

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 16:03:40 UTC

BLOCK 3 GAME PLAN

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 16:05:32 UTC

Things I need to consider and work with:
- PDP record
- main project: positivity book
- competitions
- website
- linkedIn
- Etsy and selling work- not priority
- AOI talks and events
- establishing contacts and industry research
- menitorship program- direct links to what I want my career to be

MAIN FOCUS: The Time We Spent

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 16:16:06 UTC

2ND FOCUS: COMPETITIONS (AND DESIGNING PRODUCTS)

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 16:16:41 UTC

BLOCK 3

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 16:18:40 UTC

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 19:08:44 UTC

+ works extremely well with short specific briefs

PDP development

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 19:11:51 UTC

From my PDP I have established that in the future I want to have a solo/ professional career that spans things like freelance illustrations, exhibitions, and more of a full time established career.
I want to produce artists books and small press as well as set myself goals for exhibitions and larger work.
My main goal is to continue my project, I produced a small zine to kickstart my exploration of positive experiences people of had in the year, now I need to analyse the results of my field research and develop a larger publication and surrounding work.
This will lead into me developing ym website to be more professional (like adding gifs to the main page and categorising work to be more user friendly for potential employers and clients). Alongside this, developing a professional portfolio to send people.
In the next 6 weeks I need to divide my time effectively and develop smaller one/two week projects as this is the way I work best. I want to produce work that goes towards both my main and secondary focuses.
I want to use the briefs to also branch out and look at 3D work, animation and get better at book-binding and graphic design.

Develop a professional website

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 19:20:08 UTC

- curate selection of work better
- add more recent work that represents my brand presently
-change 'sketchbook page'- scan all good work in and make it coherent

read and analyse results from research

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 19:20:46 UTC

make ideas of illustrations and narratives, maybe set myself a week to look at 5 different pages of illos that include 5 different peoples experiences?
- start making my own fonts
- the book should be the published 'product' this could come at the end of unit x, but them I want to get out of the confides of a book and create larger more ambitious things that represent my idea

over the break

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 19:22:15 UTC

I used my time to step away from any specific project and concentrate on drawing more and improving my idea of style- this meant going on location nd drawing, drawing strange ideas that came into my head and illustrating images from google maps and random image generators
I also updated my website to include recent work and started to change the layout so that It was more professional

ashleighblades — 2021-01-11 19:24:24 UTC

'Time well spent'

ashleighblades — 2021-01-12 15:03:12 UTC

'positivity project'
'The time we spent'

ashleighblades — 2021-01-18 15:15:16 UTC

https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/va-illustration-awards-in-discussion-with-eva-eland-book-cover-design-award-2020

ashleighblades — 2021-01-19 16:34:14 UTC

research!!
on the site about how to design book covers,
other artists versions and competing books

Website

ashleighblades — 2021-01-20 14:58:44 UTC

add gifs to front,
change rollover images to be zoomed bits or slightly different pictures
-add things I put onto the website onto linkedIn
- use the books I've bought to make a start on researching my contacts and the people I already know

interdisciplinary practice

ashleighblades — 2021-01-22 09:51:08 UTC

Visual Polymath
Be more intellectually ambitious

Half Way eval.

ashleighblades — 2021-01-29 14:28:33 UTC

Advice from Ian:
- Describe what questions I am asking myself when I go to research and show that- don’t over complicate it
- annotate articles ‘critical reflection’ ‘week 2’ week 3’ etc- little bits of info in groups
- look at counterpoint, the ideas of self-publishing and questions to ask the people at the talks
- how do you get distribution? Is this just a way to open peoples eyes to your other work or is there an actual profit from publishing?
Goals
- For tuesday: present research in my project and have some more crazy illos
- Questions for talk people
- Present my project for first years.
// authorship can finish with a proposal about what I will do when I have access to uni workshops, I dont need to make anything really big or crazy built still show them ideas and visualise it all!!
- for now do mockups

WINDOWS as a big theme

ashleighblades — 2021-01-30 19:22:07 UTC

windows into peoples lives,
we can only interact through windows or this veil of space
which can be represented by illustrating a story- the illustration is the middle man between the viewer and the story teller but the middle man makes the story more accessible and available

ashleighblades — 2021-01-30 19:29:25 UTC

I love street photography and old educational videos that show how people lived in their respective times, there’s so much chaos going on right now I enjoy the idea of capturing the everyday, much like a street photographer would- I do in illustrations, collating together stories that give snippets of peoples daily lives

Its all about proposals

ashleighblades — 2021-02-02 18:12:41 UTC

I can make my project into being a proposal for the longterm ideas I have, the project doesn't need to end with this block, make posters and advertising campaign for this sort of thing which would then be a basis of applying for funding and presenting proposals to the outside world

- restrict myself for what I want to produce, impose deadlines and make the project smaller so that it is easier to handle

Scientist illustration brief - 8th March

ashleighblades — 2021-02-08 16:29:51 UTC

- got a few weeks to complete it, it wont take long
- show research on blog

Unit x

ashleighblades — 2021-02-08 16:51:17 UTC

I could make the book in unit x because that could require sending design to an exernal copany to print the book, I could then produce a few selective ones with special cut outs etc in the book binding,
- and in summer make screen prints, cut outs, models to go alongside the book that would be part of an exibition
-10 weeks, 100% portfolio

questions for bethany thompson

ashleighblades — 2021-02-09 11:07:56 UTC

How did you mange to distribute your publication to gain interest?

Was it difficult to try and get people interested in buying the publication?
Did you always sell it or distribute it for free to gain interest?

- it was more of a platform for ourselves first to make things
- it grew really slowly and oragnically, at first it was just online which had no production cost
- when people collab they share it with their friends and that gets more interest
- started with less than 50 copies, gave them to friends and people who were collabing (but did sell them all) then printed more next time
- take them into bookshops to see if they will sell them, show them to people etc

stack awards

ashleighblades — 2021-02-09 12:08:40 UTC

Phil Wigglesworth

ashleighblades — 2021-02-16 13:44:33 UTC

Make stuff that you know about the topics
Housman's book shop
Are my illustrations too naive?

Careers in publishing= Debbie Williams

ashleighblades — 2021-02-23 10:09:55 UTC

- designer in-house publishing to design the book covers
- trustworthy agents: bright agency, bloomsberg
- 'no unsolicited work' - needs an agency
-reading list- submission guidelines, book fairs etc- useful info
- when finding publishers: find what font they use and use it (they will pick up on that straight away), what kind of books do they produce, who do they work with, what's their design style and tailor portfolio and cv to that
- book trailers- like Phoebe ingrams secret garden video
- bespoke mailers to send to publishers
- redesign a classic book- uncopyright work

Design a cover

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 10:03:24 UTC

* "The Law of Creativity: Copyright for Visual Artists" which helps artists understand their legal rights and can better protect their work when showing their work physically and digitally.

* "How to Sell Art like an Artrepreneur" helps visual artists as a guide to selling art online. It focuses on making the most of those few seconds you have to make a great impression, how to engage your audience, and manage sales.
only upload previously done work

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 10:22:49 UTC

wellbeing and mindfulness
memory and archive
belonging and routine
social history as it unfolds
illustrating daily life

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 10:40:39 UTC

deadline 26th march

little white lies

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 10:42:23 UTC

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 10:43:13 UTC

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 10:44:35 UTC

talk to girls girls girls

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 14:12:37 UTC

idea of 'matchbox memories'- links to my authorship project and can really extend it
- if this goes ahead could I get Caitlyn involved? (apply for it and then ask for collab)
- talk to Ian and Maisy

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 14:24:00 UTC

the publication is something I could do at any point but having access to help and promotion is a good time to do outward ambitious projects

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 15:27:11 UTC

will it be difficult to be a project because the thing is in September??

Tim Baker foundation at Christies Mural design

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 15:39:27 UTC

ashleighblades — 2021-03-02 16:14:19 UTC

It just wants level 3 or 4, can I get around this? get empathy for not being able to do anything last year?
Could I suggest not needed a budget from them? making it self funded? find my own funding

resources gathered from talks and 1:1s

ashleighblades — 2021-03-03 20:33:48 UTC

hot bed press- screen printing
M3 industries- laser cutting
north west film archive @ mmu

proposal plan pages

ashleighblades — 2021-03-03 20:34:22 UTC

cover page
intro and picture of me
portfolio (3 pages of relevant projects)
- budget and timeline plan

Lydia's advice (Girls Girls Girls)

ashleighblades — 2021-03-04 14:18:39 UTC

elena@decopublique.co.uk - email for person who to contact to sell pitch too
do a pdf presentation that is very visual
go straight to them instead of through the student open call thing
mention that you've volunteered for them before