PORTFOLIO VISIT No2.

During my placement last week in Leeds, I was given the chance to show Lord Whitney my newly updated portfolio. The last time they saw my work was in December last year, shortly after their lecture at uni.

Looking back, there has been a great deal of changes since then as well as a big reduction in the number of pieces on show. One of the more noticeable differences was the layout of each page. I have completely changed the typeface and positioning of the text to try and help make the text and illustration compliment one another. Previously, I felt like they were fighting against each other that subsequently made the page look almost awkward. In my new logo, I have tried to reflect the use of symbols that often appear in my work, and therefore it seems to fit much more comfortably amongst the illustrations. 

Both Amy and Bek thought that these changes to the presentation of my work looked better and made my imagery stronger. The usage of negative space was another thing that mentioned and complimented me on as beforehand; each illustration was quite flush to the page. They spoke to me about how sometimes the space around the illustration is just as important as the art itself. If the work is too big on a page, it can look cluttered and not do the artwork any justice. You focus on the layout being wrong rather than the image being right. This is exactly what I had intended on doing so was really happy to hear this. Another thing that they mentioned was the evident progression over the last 4/5months. They really liked the work I had created for my major project, especially the Raven pattern. They suggested that I play around with the combination of shapes more and further this way of working as they thought it was a visually strong piece. Using patterns in my work seemed to come really natural to me when I made this and have every intention to do more pieces based on geometry. I enjoyed creating it and it was something new to me as well, which is always good.

Other then that, the only other thing that was mentioned was the promo packs that I made. Having something tactile seemed to go down well as they were inspecting it for a good few minutes. The whole intention of me making the packs was so that whoever I gave them too would take a bit of time looking at them rather then just throwing a business card to one side or deleting an email. I hoped that because it was evident that they were hand made, people would be less likely to cast them to one side/the bin. They said it was a fantastic thing to be able to send them out to clients/studios that I was interested in as it’s something they can keep.

I’m glad I showed them my portfolio for a second time, as I wasn’t sure whether to or not.  It confirmed that I’m heading down the right direction and was clarification that the little attention to detail really pays off.