Ricardo Bessa

http://ricardobessa.tumblr.com/post/114856926674

Ricardo Besssa answered a really interesting question on tumblr that is relevant to how I feel about my work:

Ricardo, I am having trouble figuring out what my "voice" is. I notice my Style sort of wavers whn I am using different media, and have different ideas. What do you think of multidiscipline portfolios, like Melinda Beck? And how do you approach art directors if this is the case, that you have multiple "drawing voices"?
I’ve had a half-baked reply sitting on my computer for weeks - I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer this because I don’t think I’ve truly been in this position myself.
Not sure if this what’s happening, but a “wavering style” is different than having entirely separate voices. Most artist go through a stage in which they don’t know what their “style” is and feel they produce inconsistent work. Some times this is true, but often this is actually something that most people can’t really see if you ask. For obvious reasons, we’re a lot more aware of the nuances in our own body of work than everyone else.
This might not be the case with you though; and if you really feel like you have a different voices, I don’t see anything wrong with exploring all of them. Melinda Beck seems to do that pretty well, and it works for many illustrators. From a commercial point of view, as long as you separate them so it’s as simple as possible for hypothetical clients you should be okay. Some people even create a pseudonym and an entirely different portfolio/website (in addition to their “regular” portfolio). If that’s the case, you’ll just have to do a little extra work and make sure you target the right audience with each different portfolio.

I've recently felt like I've not been developing a tone of voice, and therefore find this quite encouraging. I've always been aware of the way people have separate pseudonyms, etc. for different kinds of work, but the idea has never really been something I wanted to do. I think while I'm here on this course I'll try and just explore all the different voices as Bessa advises and see what happens next.

Bessa's work

Digital Life

http://blacktimepress.weebly.com/the-next-panel/category/digital%20life%201979a06b4ec550

This is a really weird manga short from 1979 which I really like the look of - it seems to incorporate that really whacky 80s aesthetic that featured in shows like Saved by the Bell. The simple line work and tonality is what make it really interesting I think. I'm not super into making comics but I really like the way the story is told with very simple pictures (not that I can understand it)

Life's a Pitch - Presentation

This is the final presentation that my group delivered for the Life's a Pitch presentation. I designed the logo and, although we all sourced our relevant bits of information individually, I put together most of the presentation.
I think the presentation was relatively successful, I had made notes for my slides and so I feel I was able to deliver them fairly smoothly. I do feel like the presentation was very boring looking compared to a couple of the others that were shown, and apparently our choice of van to use is unrealistic in terms of its potential to travel up and down the country as we intend it to, but in general our business pitch was considered realistic. There was even the suggestion that if it were real, we could seek funding from the government for school-related workshops and projects.

Stephen Di Donato

http://cargocollective.com/stephendidonato/Kickstarter-Beyond-Earth

I really love the shape based illustration and graphic design in these posters. I think they are some of the most visually consistent and aesthetically pleasing posters I've seen, and has me inspired to both explore more of both vector and space.