Level 6 Creative Strategy

Having been thinking about what I will focus on in Level 6 over the past few weeks, I have come up with a few very simple plans for what I will do with the year

• I want to begin and try identifying which aspects of my work I really enjoy producing and what aesthetics I feel are most successful and true to myself. This will be in hopes of being able to brand myself more accurately and build up a more consistent portfolio.

• I'm going into Level 6 with the same desire to pursue book illustration that I left Level 5 with. In order to become more adept at translating text into illustration, I want to push my conceptual image-making much further. I want to be able to say more with less convoluted images. This is key to making a good book cover, and I've been reading a lot of articles as it is related to my COP project.

• Having looked at a couple of print studio websites, I feel like this would be a fun and useful venture for me to undertake after my studies. Therefore, I want to become as experienced as I can in printmaking. I'm not sure I want to delve too deep into etching again this year, but lino and screen print are two mediums I'm excited to pursue further this year, especially after how well screen print has gone for me in the past.

• Self promtion: My promo pack at the end of Level 5 was silly and contrived - I'm going to focus on products that are simple to produce and practical - a more professionally produced set of business cards, stickers and post cards will probably suffice. Things like stickers can be distributed more informally on the street, bathrooms, etc.

Print Studio

https://www.eastlondonprintmakers.co.uk/membership/join-us/

Discovered this print studio which offers yearly memberships to printmakers at a very good price. I'm interested in print, and if it's the direction I want my work to go in, it's good that I've found this studio in London which I could potentially join in order to facilitate my practice.

Members also get a page on the website that has a showcase of some of their work, plus there is an annual exhibition of members' work. I feel like this would be a  nice place to get a little bit of exposure in a studio environment somewhat like that here.

Agencies

I think agencies are an interesting way forward when you begin a freelance career. I've been looking at a few, such as Heart and CIA but what worries me is my lack of a specific tone of voice. I feel like that's something all the illustrators with agencies seem to have, and is what makes an agency want to represent them. I want to use the early parts of Level 6 to try and develop more of a tone of voice before I bother contacting any agencies.