In this post I’m going to explain and compare some of the possible methods - the digital processes - I use in putting an illustrated map together, and set out the Pros and Cons of each…
Read MoreSample Map - Created in Adobe Illustrator
My Sustainability Journey Towards Net Zero PART 1 (...and Re-assessing my Business as Part of the Process!)
A ‘story so far’, documenting what I’m doing to ensure my business is sustainable and fully aligned with my own values and those of the purpose-driven individuals and organisations I work with.
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10 Things to Consider When Commissioning an Illustrated Map... The Journey Starts Here!
In this article, I’ll guide you through numerous key factors it’s definitely worth considering, to help ensure the map you commission, and have created, is both engaging and effective.
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The Trouble With Illustration - Round Up
Pulling together ‘The Trouble With Illustration…’ series of articles - Looking at identified barriers for commissioners of bespoke illustration, and offering insights into how these potential issues may be overcome
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The Trouble With Illustration #05: Licensing - The feeling of not being in control, and usage restrictions on your commissioned illustrations!
Wondering why you’re being asked to pay again for an illustration you’ve commissioned? Let me explain…. with a few examples to hopefully make the licensing model make more sense…
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The Trouble With Illustration #04: Turnaround Times - The difficulty of being reactive and being able to create materials quickly
Looking specifically at how illustration could potentially be more reactive for your brand/content and become a more viable option when timescales are tight.
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The Trouble With Illustration #03: The ‘Illustration Trap' - How to avoid feeling reliant on one illustrator or one illustration
If you’re worried about becoming tied in to using one particular illustrator or being limited by the illustration/s you have, I hope these insights might put you at ease and help you look at things a little differently.
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The Trouble With Illustration #02: Flexibility. Or the lack of…?
Looking at some practical ways illustration could be a more flexible asset for you
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The Trouble With Illustration #01: Cost. And Specifically to Maintain an Illustration Style Over Time
Welcome to the first instalment of follow up posts themed around ‘The Trouble with Illustration’ …
First up - and it's a BIG one - Cost!
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The Trouble With Illustration...
Exploring the reasons why you might decide NOT to commission bespoke illustration and offering solutions to make it a more viable option in the future
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What Even is Vector Artwork? - A Guide to the Differences Between Vector & Pixel-based Illustrations, and Why it Matters
A ‘jargon-buster’ for potential clients and other commissioners of illustration.
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7 Insider Tips to Help You Squeeze the Most Value from Commissioning Illustration
I appreciate that illustration can sometimes be seen as a luxury, so I’d like to address this and provide some pointers on how you can commission illustration more efficiently.
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NEW VENTURE? You're Going To Need a Logo!
A guide to getting a visual identity in place, ready to launch your idea - what you really need and how to achieve it…
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Illustration Licensing Explained - For The Small Business Owner & Marketer
The aim of this general guide is to help explain how illustration licensing works, and hopefully remove much of the uncertainty and nervousness around commissioning an illustrator.
Your Friendly Guide to Commissioning a Brand Identity - For Start-ups & Small Business Owners
I’ve written this post, specifically with a start-up or small business owner in mind, and particularly those who are looking to commission a new brand identity. I’d like to help bring some clarity to the following:
How best to approach a designer, initially for quoting purposes
Ultimately how to find the best fit for you, in terms of who to commission
Project Journey Route Map: The process I follow with my clients on every creative project
What’s It Like To Work With Me? A Guide to the Process Stages of Your Design or Illustration Project
Commissioning a designer or illustrator, to work with you on a creative project can be a little daunting for some. Especially if you haven’t commissioned creative before, it’s hard to know what to expect. In this post, I’ve tried to break the process down, to show the various stages we would undertake in working together - & hopefully it'd be a pleasant and fun experience!
Read MoreELLI Dimensions: A Student-led Poster Collaboration
I was contacted recently by a teacher at St Ninian's High School in the Isle of Man, who had been researching ELLI: The 'Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory' with his pupils. If you haven't heard of ELLI, it's all about learning to be the best YOU there could possibly be, whatever your age and stage of life, and when relating to children this system often uses a set of 7 animal characters to help explain the different learning traits.
Read MoreSchool Art Project: Freedom
I wanted to document a recent collaboration project I worked on with Year 6 pupils at Henleaze Junior School.
I was asked by the school to work with the whole year group (around 90 pupils) to create 1 large art piece to be displayed in the school. For me this was quite a challenge in terms of the scale of the collaboration, the size of the group. I had previously worked with HJS on their school 'Shaun the Sheep' project so it was good to be invited back!
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Collaboration between Designer and Client...Can this make all the difference for a creative team of one?
Last month I attended Bristol Media’s Vision Conference - a really insightful and interesting event, delivering an impressive range of speakers, both creative and digital thinkers who offered their individual takes on the theme ‘Connecting Creativity’.
A thread that was touched on by a number of the speakers, was how to get the best out of teams of ‘creatives’. Keynote speaker Margaret Heffernan put forward the idea that there should not be seen to be creative people and ‘not-creative’ people, but that in a team everyone should be given the opportunity to input when developing solutions to problems.
I completely get that. But how does this work when there’s just you - a team of one?
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Marketing Materials: Ensure That Any Creative Spend is Good Value for You
This post is intended for small to medium business owners, individuals running not-for-profit organisations, and also marketing managers. To give ideas on how a creative approach - design, illustration or a combination of the two - can enhance your output and help engage with your audience. And, crucially, for any spend to be of good value for you.
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