Mission Statement/Personal Promotional Strategy

Mission Statement 

My name is Victoria Upson, I am a Fairy Tale Illustrator but my style is original. I am a conscientious and creative person who strives for perfection; enjoys a challenge and searches for adventure.  

My work targets a variety of markets; my skills branching out into story-boarding and comic-books; character, fashion and costume design. I am influenced greatly by early cinema and movie musicals; the unabashedly extravagant mis-en-scene of the Gainsborough melodrama so much like the Fairy Tales of Grimm and Andersen.  I am passionate about exposing the underlying menace of Fairy Tales; concentrating on costume and character and taking stock from the mise-en-scene and story-telling techniques of my other influences. 

I am a highly focused individual, if hired or commissioned I would be reliable and always creative and original; as is my working practice. I can offer a fresh new perspective and an unwavering thirst for knowledge.  My imagery offers up a new way of looking at old ideas. I believe that re-inventing, especially in the Fashion/Design industry is vital, it keeps old stories and ideas alive but makes them accessible and this is what my work offers. 

My mission is to create and circulate my own brand; targeting the fashion market as well as using my web presence to promote my personal illustrative agenda. For that reason, I will adhere to a signature style and not stray. This will inevitably mean my freelance options are less, however, this is not my desired path, creating my own brand is my mission and so maintaining a coherent portfolio will move me towards this goal. 

My work targets a teen and above audience, is hand-drawn and best suits traditional methods of production. To promote this I will be adhering my images to a wide variety of promotional items to be given to Industry professionals alongside my C.V. My aim is to eventually work for a creative company or organisation; specifically in fashion, magazines or film. I am confident that I will achieve my goals but other part-time work may be necessary in the mean-time. My strategy must therefore be to create a coherent portfolio and curriculum vitae; as I am setting myself up for interview as opposed to freelance work.  

Personal Promotional Strategy 

Introduction (Industry/Audience/intent)

My name is Victoria Upson. Although I am studying Illustration I have many ambitions within and outside of that specific area of the arts. I am very inspired and interested in pre 1960's cinema and the lavish sets and costumes of early movie musicals. My guilty pleasure is the 'Gainsborough Movie,'hyperbolic, sinister melodramas made between the late 30's and early 50's.  Their unabashedly extravagant mis-en-scene and corrupt characters have influenced my story-telling techniques and enriched the underlying 'Gothic' of my work.

I have taken part in Exhibitions at Worcester Cathedral, 'The Kestrel Gallery' as well as other small galleries in Worcestershire and exhibitions for the 'Worcestershire Arts Council.'   I have experience in tattoo, logo and front cover design, wall-art, mural painting and storyboarding for film and am currently working on a fashion portfolio as well as a series of Fairy Tale based comic books for 'grown-ups.’ The markets I target are generic; work work lends itself to film (storyboarding and character/costume design), Editorial work (figurative/fashion) and the fashion Industry. I intend to target all of these Industries with the creation of my promotional items, as well as how I organise my portfolio. Fairy Tales are my greatest passion and primary influence, their themes can be drawn from my work stretching across a broad spectrum, from doll-making to fashion to animation.  I am specifically intent on highlighting the adult and contemporary themes that can be found in their pages.; everything I produce will be in keeping with my personal agenda. 

This Blog 

The purpose of this blog is to organise how I promote my work as an Illustrator. I will use this space to document my efforts and my progress and record everything that can be useful to me in the future. I will be looking at the work of others, how they have promoted their work. I will look at physical and online portfolios, the web presence of other artist and how others have either creatively or originally promoted their work. Specifically, I will be looking at the work of Abigail Larson; who's aims and content mirror my own. Also, the work of J.Scott Campbell, who has successfully marketed himself for an adult audience, the specific nature of his images, however, still managing to resonate in  generic way.   

The blog is organised coherently, please click the tabs at the top to access different areas and genres of development, as well as to see my web presence (website/portfolio/fb/deviant art etc). I do not expect to suddenly gain work from doing this blog. My web presence is not yet great enough that people will be viewing my work that much. However, I do expect that this will be somewhat rectified with the completion of this blog as I should succeed in finding the most relevant way to change this. This process should be ongoing, I can always refer back to it and in the future, the research and documentation found on this blog will aid and guide me.

What will I learn? 

I want to take away a knowledge of how to promote the broad spectrum of my work whether it be my craft/toy based models or my fashion pursuits. I think I can learn to tailor how I promote myself (both online and on-paper) according to the areas of the creative industry I am interested in working in. I also want to learn simple technical things; how to set out my CV, what to include and for whom? In doing this I may learn more about computer programmes and how to set things out using a computer programme. My research into artists should inspire to try new things, gain new knowledge about the industry as a whole as also what to avoid when I comes to promotion.

In the future I will use this blog, can keep referring to its contents, research and documentation. If I could be doing anything in the future as a result of this preparation and research I would be working for Disney or DreamWorks’s. However, I have many ambitions, some including fashion, some editorial based and some in film. However and wherever I am working in the future I will be glad to be doing something creative and this is what I am hoping to gain from this module. 

The Future 

• I must research how to split my portfolio according to fashion and Illustrative purposes, define this. 
• I must ensure all work is coherent.
• I will look for jobs (in the creative Industry) after Uni. They may not be specific yet but it will be work experience whilst I continue to promote my work. 
• I will apply for fashion/costume/theater internships. 
• I Hope to be working for the fashion or Costume Industries in 10 years time. Up until then I hope to maintain jobs that get my to that stage of my career. 
• My Future practice will be putting to use a specific skill that I have learned from the Industry I am working in. 

Branding/Marketing 

• My brand 'Victoria Jane Upson'
• www.victoriaupson.co.uk
• I have a mermaid and fish logo
• I have a business card with a logo and self-portrait 
• My marketing materials are coherent with my logo 
• 'The new face of Fairy Tales' my strapline 
• My website if fully cohesive with all marketing elements including cards and logo.  

Splash Page & Artist CV

AMENDMENTS TO CONNECTING DOMAIN NAME TO BLOG:

 

1. Blog page is no longer needed becasue it is felt to be confusing
2. I need to create a page that only connects to website
3. I can keep the blog
4. It should be simple.

Splash Page

Why use a splash page?

1. It can be created for free using google blogger
2. It means when my domain is searched it directs straight to this page
3. There is no other option other than entering my website
4. Its simple to create

Only downside is the 'no posts' bar beneath but it is a small proce to create a free link between domain and website.

 



Note to reader: I have included no information on this blog page that cannot be accessed elsewhere on the internet, or that is not common knowledge. For this reason, I am happy for this personal information to be included in this blog.

WHY A CV?

1.  See my promotional strategy
2. I am hoping to be attending interviews. I need a good artist CV to send out
3. I need a CV that I can drop in places as well as send out
4. It must be tailored to a creative proffession; I can use my generic CV for other jobs.
5. It is not impossible that I will be asked for a CV, in which case I need to have it ready.
6. As someone who is not marketing themself as a freelance Illustrator I must be prepared to have all the neccessary information regrading my education/qualifications/expierience etc. at hand and ready to send at a moments notice.
7. lots of Illustration/fashion jobs are promoted online and ask specifically for a CV to be sent via email. This is a main part of my promotional stratedgy.

CV's Research

link to my research pinterest page :

http://www.pinterest.com/victoriaupson16/cv-research/

This is my favourite CV I have found. It sucessfully manages to include lots of information and juxtapose it with an appropriate image. I am keen to use an Illustration (not this much of one) in my CV. I have more information that I want to include, however.

Below: I think this CV looks messy. However, I understand why it has been done in this way-it's adhering to a trend. I think it qould work on a non-lined background. The hand-lettering is interesting but I have bo talent for typography unless it is calligraphy and so would not attempt hand-lettering.

See my pinterest link and account for more CV research.

Acessing the information:

This is a copy of my generic CV. I have updated it over the years but kept my original qualifications. However, it has been advised that this is not needed; instead I should tailor another CV that is specifically aimed at artist related jobs.

I want to set mine out in a creative way; however, I want it to be clean and simple with white space to contrast with the colourful images I may include. Also, I want it to be easily fold-able, so a generic shape will suit better.

I have photographed it so much personal info. cannot be easily read.

I have simply tried to get all of the information down here. I need to consider a relevant and interesting way of laying it out.

Above: Had help laying out my artist CV. Am pleased with this layout as I can adapt it using my pre-pared CV (not much extra to write)

I have decided to complete the CV using In-design as I this is the programme I am most comfortable using. It was also ensure my work is well formatted and easily changed or rectified in the future.

A first draft of the CV. I have chosen my favorite image to be included in the CV, in additon

Final CV:

I was given corrections. There were some things I had to change about my first draft. These were mainly spacing issues. I took some notes about type and spacing in the lecture today.

NOTES ON TYPE

• Don't use uppercase too much
• For things like titles only
• Avoid orphans and windows
• No overhanging words it looks messy
• Avoid combining two types of text that are similar you can't tell the difference.
• Stick to text layout
• If using coloured text make sure it is bold enough for background
• Optimum reading line 40 to 80 characters
• leading 2 to 5 point larger
• Good fonts, Times Georgia
• Bad Fonts, Comic Sans, Impact, Trajan
• Places to find fonts: DA FONT/HYPE FOR TYPE/LOST TYPE CO
• Leave empty space
• Margins and negative positive space
• Set own margins and use a grid.

Note: My CV is a massive part of my promotional strategy because I will be targeting companies/organisations/fashion houses. Although I cannot include my CV as a promotional item because you would not use it in that way; it is still vital to my promotional strategy. I have chosen something easily foldable; purchased personalised stickers to secure it with and made lots of other items that work along with it. Bookmarks/postcards/T-shirts etc. These will be usable alone (to send off for interviews) and along with my other promtional items. The Snow White Image-Along with my logo (mermaid image) are part of my branding; important that I include them in all things promotional becasue my strategdy is to brand myself and my work.

Notes and Lesson Write ups: PROFESSIONALISM LEGALITIES FINANCES/G. SPEAKERS

This Post is a Write up of the Lectures/workshops/tutorials I have attended

NOTES ON TYPE from lecture.

• Don't use uppercase too much
• For things like titles only
• Avoid orphans and windows
• No overhanging words it looks messy
• Avoid combining two types of text that are similar you can't tell the difference.
• Stick to text layout
• If using coloured text make sure it is bold enough for background
• Optimum reading line 40 to 80 characters
• leading 2 to 5 point larger
• Good fonts, Times Georgia
• Bad Fonts, Comic Sans, Impact, Trajan
• Places to find fonts: DA FONT/HYPE FOR TYPE/LOST TYPE CO
• Leave empty space
• Margins and negative positive space

Set own margins and use a grid.

GUEST SPEAKERS 

Sam Arthur:

Came from No Brow. talked about breaking into the Industry of producing work for publication. 

• He went though the different kinds of work that they look for 
• They like quite graphic styles of work; bold colours etc.
• The work they take on is submitted in many ways 
• Often; They 
• 
  

Sarah Horne Illustrator: 27/02/14 (information on legalities/finances)

Notes from Lectures 

1. Ask questions about your character 
2. See them in 3D
3. Beware of cultural bias 
4. Think Internationally 
5. Think International animals
6. Context/know before draw/eyes
7. Children's publishing is a small word
8. Take on board  client comments 
9. Find the Right publisher 
10. Great working relationships
11.  Show initiative do best work 
12. keep receipts get accountants to do complicated work
13. spread nets/think outside the box 
14. one off Cover/editorial 
15. Licensing
16. Avenues for passive income-royalities 
17. pic the right work 
18. look for a unique voice 
19. be influenced  
20. be brave and experiment  
21. be patient 
22. watch things enfold don't force it 

search Harold Best -inspirational quotes  

Introduction

Portfolio and Promotion

This Blog

The purpose of this blog is to organise how I promote my work as an Illustrator. I will use this space to document my efforts and my progress and record everything that can be useful to me in the future. I will be looking at the work of others, how they have promoted their work. I will look at physical and online work, portfolios, creative promotional items as well as generic.

 The blog is organised coherently, please click the tabs at the top to access different areas and genres of development, as well as to see my web presence (website/portfolio/fb/deviant art etc). I do not expect to suddenly gain work from doing this blog. My presence is not yet great enough that people will be viewing my work that much, however, I do expect that this will be somewhat rectified with the completion of this blog. This should be ongoing, I can always refer back to it and in the future, I hope the research and documentation found on this blog will aid and guide me.

About Me

My name is Victoria Upson. Although I am studying Illustration I have any ambitions within and outside of that specific area of the arts. I am very inspired an interested in pre 1960's cinema and the lavish sets and costumes of the great movie musicals of the 40' and 50's. My guilty pleasure is the 'Gainsborough Movie,' early hyperbolic, sinister melodramas made between the late 30's and early 50's.  Their unabashedly extravagant mis-en-scene and corrupt characters have influenced my story-telling techniques and enriched the underlying 'Gothic' of my work.

I have taken part in Exhibitions at Worcester Cathedral, 'The Kestrel Gallery' as well as other small galleries in Worcestershire and exhibitions for the 'Worcestershire Arts Council.'   I have experience in tattoo, logo and front cover design, wall-art, mural painting and storyboarding for film and am currently working on a fashion portfolio as well as a series of Fairy Tale based comic books for 'grown-ups.’  Fairy Tales are my greatest passion and primary influence, their themes can be drawn of my work stretching across the broadest spectrum, from doll-making to fashion to animation.  I am specifically intent on highlighting the adult and contemporary themes that can be found in their pages.

What do I want to gain from this module?

I want to take away a knowledge of how to promote the broad spectrum of my work whether it be my craft/toy based models or my fashion pursuits. I think I can learn to tailor how I promote myself (both online and on-paper) according to the areas of the creative industry I am interested in working in. I also want to learn simple technical things; how to set out my CV, what to include and for whom? In doing this I may learn more about computer programmes and how to set things out using a computer programme. My research into artists should inspire to try new things, gain new knowledge about the industry as a whole as also what to avoid when I comes to promotion.

In the future I will use this blog, can keep referring to its contents, research and documentation. If I could be doing anything in the future as a result of this preparation and research I would be working for Disney or DreamWorks’s. However, I have many ambitions, some including fashion, some editorial based and some in film. However and wherever I am working in the future I will be glad to be doing something creative and this is what I am hoping to gain from this module. 

web presence

Links to my Web Presence 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Upson-Illustration/188429587947299?ref=hl

http://victoriaupson.deviantart.com/

http://torjaneupson.carbonmade.com/

Website :    www.victoriaupson.co.uk
Pinterest:    http://www.pinterest.com/victoriaupson16/

Creating a domain name:

options:

victoriajaneupson

victoriaupson

torjaneupson

torupson

Full name preferred because it is more professional and will be on all contact/legal information etc.

choose .co.uk as opposed to .com because .com is far more expensive

Places I can get a domain name from:

http://www.names.co.uk/domain-names

http://uk.godaddy.com/deals2/?gclid=CISPwbm0g70CFSfmwgodzFYAkg&isc=gofhuk25&currencytype=GBP&ef_id=Uxsr3gAAAWi8gw8B:20140308165826:s

This is a really lonwinded way of going about looking for domain name registras, so I have decided to research the best ones in terms of polls ans statistics.

Below, comes from the site 'Life-hacker.com'.

http://lifehacker.com/5683682/five-best-domain-name-registrars

Which Domain Registrar Is Best? ( Poll Closed )

Namecheap 38.35% (3,506 votes)

1&1 13.68% (1,251 votes)

GoDaddy 26.5% (2,423 votes)

Name 4.04% (369 votes)

Gandi 8.11% (741 votes)

Other: 9.32% (852 votes)

Total Votes: 9,142

The first two sites I found too difficult to navigate, so I took the advice of a peer and tried Go-daddy, which was easy to set up and cheap in comparison.

For victoriaupson.com they wanted to charge me £27 for 2 years. However, for £5 I was able to get:

www.victoriaupson.co.uk

This subscription lasts for 2 years and I can manually update it after that time and re-subscribe if needed.

What am I going to connect my domain name to?

Ideas:

• I can create a website and pay to connect it to my domain name:

I.e  Weebly, yahoo, go-daddy 

This could be expensive and there are other ways of doing this free. 

• TUMBLER: I can create a tumbler for free and make it look like a website, or I can create links on the blog that link to a WEBSITE and PINTEREST PORTFOLIO etc. 
• This could also be done on BLOGGER  which I already now how to use, so this could be quite simple. 
• CARBONMADE: I already have a portfolio here and for a lesser price than weebly I can attach my domain to it. It is, however, silly to do this when I can, for free make a:

FINAL IDEA:

Go between page, functions as a link to all aspects of my web presence. 

Here is a quick sketch of what this can look like. 

I already have a pinterest account, a facebook page (business) an online portfolio and a deviant account which I have been using successfully for many years. 

This will basically be a go-between for my domain name and all of the important places I want people to visit when they search my name. 

I have an about page on my website. However, as I am tailoring what is effectively a blog site; I can make one post with a short 'about' section and photograph so people know they are on the right track. 

USING BLOGGER TO MAKE A PAGE TO CONNECT MY DOMAIN TO:

Now I have decided to use blogger, I have created a rough new blog and called it 'Victoria Upson Illustrator'. However, the title will be my logo. I now have to connect the site to my domain name. To do this I followed the instructions under 'settings'. 

I navigated my way around my account on go-daddy until I found a file manager. If you clock quick add nothing happens-however, when you click add host you get an option to add a record. You only get on www. so you have to get it right first time as this is a long-winded process. (learned this the hard way, I added my fmp page originally, which was incorrect, it needed to be a specific page). 

Blogger then have me instructions under settings. You have to add a CNAME (your name effectively) then type in bloggers address www.ghs.google.com.

This is the bit that takes time as you have to wait for one hour for go-daddy to register your change to the account and file-editor. 

 Once the hour is over you can go back to blogger and 'add a custom domain' which I did. So when I type in my domain name it directs straight to my created page that links to the entirety of my web presence. 

So now I have connected my domain name to a blogger tailored to direct the user to the entirety of my web presence. 

Creating the blog: 

logo:

This is my logo, I use it whenever it is needed, It means there is an image people can specifically relate to me. It can either be used with or without the calligraphy

I decided to use the image with my name on because then I do not need a typed title anywhere on the page. Now I know what the logo/title will be it must decide  on what elements of my web presence are important to include. I am happy with my layout design from earlier. I have decided these are pages that it will link to. 

 I have customized the page so that when you click the links you get directed straight to the site that informs my web presence. I have designed the page in 'simple' keeping it clean and concise. I only want to use the page a link-site, however, it is nice to know I can blog something if I need to. I.e videos, news, commissions, jobs in doing, work I am looking for etc.

I have changed the font to something that looks handwritten like my calligraphy (logo). I want it to tie it. I have chosen orange font to complement the logo and kept the orange/white theme going. I am happy with how this has turned out. I would have preferred to connect to a professional website of course but I wont do that until I am earning; at that point I will get someone to make it for me.

above: about/ I have completed a small autobiography for my official website which I have included in a post on the blog. It will let people know in brief what my abilities are. 

FACEBOOK

I have had a Facebook admin page for a couple of years now. I don't spend a lot of time promoting it as I am not a massive user of Facebook. However, I have a few professionals who keep an eye on this page. People at digital leaf for example. For that reason it is useful to have; it is very quick to update and you get get efficient feedback. I prefer to have the page so that I can keep my art posts separate to my personal page, I don't like the idea of people searching me and seeing my last drunken photo. I am not really a twitter or tumbler user; so for that reason I will endeavor to use my Facebook page to a greater extent and see exactly how far I can push it.  

I change the profile photo often, so that a new piece of work is the first thing people see. However, the logo remains and I will keep using it for another couple of years (until it is very outdated). This page is the best representation of my work as it is currently. 

Above: I organise the posts so that they appear in groups. I try not to upload a single image an stick to collections so that everything is in an album or a category. 

Above: Grouping examples. Editorial group on the right and graphic novel on the left. two very different projects but by grouping them and uploading then collectively the page is organised like a blog. The Fairy tale section in the image above that all relates, so as you scroll down you can see the progress and intent. It's quite a good vessel for development. 

ABOVE: example of gallery options. This is a fashion album and the gallery displays coherently if you click photographs/albums etc. Just like a blog, I can update this site for as long as I need to. 

DEVIANTART

collectives/favourites/

I have been using deviantart for many years (about 7 years). I didn't use it for a long time but re-learned it a couple of years ago. For me, despite opinions that it unprofessional and not particularly useful, it has been a really rewarding site to be on. I love the fact I can communicate with some of my favourite Illustrators (Abigail Larson/Campbell) and there is always a chance they will see your work. Commenting, gaining feedback, compilation and 'favoriting' a lot of influential work is easy to do and deviant is full of enthusiastic people. I am always getting requests to be part of groups and collectives, which is really rewarding, it means people are taking interest in my work and want to promote it for me. Some collectives are more worthwhile than others but it's easy to suss out whether it's worth submitting by looking at the other artwork. 

Submitting work is long-winded. You can only upload one image at a time and this involves adding keywords/categorizing/re sizing adding title and description. Sometimes this isn't relevant to the image but has to be completed so the image can be submitted. It is important to think about the keywords because when people search for things this is what links your work. Above is as an example of the gallery, you can organize it into  galleries and projects, which I haven't. Deviant is more about that moment when your image is submitted...that's when the people online see it, it more a browsing site than a portfolio and gallery site. 

contacting people/receiving work/opportunities 

Over the past couple of months I have received correspondence and work opportunities via Deviant. It is mostly unpaid but always interesting. I don't usually accept it but I always ask questions and learn what I can. People always appreciate you taking an interest and some people contacted me various times about various different projects which I love to hear about.

Second page of correspondence. This is ongoing.

There are other opportunities on Deviant 

• competitions 
• notices
• promotion 
• adverts
• points and badges

CARBONMADE (PORTFOLIO)

Carbon made it a really simple portfolio site. Even though I don't really need it on top of a website and various other sites, I like to keep it because it is so simple to navigate. It is also easy to send to people, organised into projects; you can send a link directly to those or the gallery in its entirety. See example of Galleries below.

Problem with site: For free use you only get a certain number of images and projects. After a while they up the amounts, you just have to stay a member and you get more opportunities after a few weeks. If I had had a website when I made this portfolio I wouldn't have made it; however, I keep it updated because it's free and may be useful, as much web presence for free I can get is important.

ABOVE: Simple clean gallery. See how the site organizes into thumbnails you can scroll through. Example of graphic novel above and contrast to project below which is a fashion line. It works for all kinds of work because it is so simple.  

PINTEREST

SEE HOME PAGE TABS FOR MY PINTEREST PAGES.

Part of the project is to keep pinterest boards and document research. Below you can see a couple of pages that concentrate on portfolio and promotion. I have been using this for my research project too but I feel this can interlink.  

WEBSITE

Research into the best website builders:

tumbler

weebly

moon-fruit

go-daddy

google

I have already decided on weebly as a website builder because it was mentioned in a seminar and looked easy and quick to use. Computers are not my thing, so I needed to choose something simple.

Below: here is the final blog, an amalgamation of all of my other sites/blogs/portfolio's. I have included my generic logo in place of a title, a contact page, a gallery and an autobiography.

home page 

'about' 

The first collection if my generic Fairytale work. I have only included work that is less than 2 years old because I want everything to be as up to date and in keeping with my current work as possible. 

It is important that I show versatility show I have completed an editorial section and also uploaded my comic books. These are all things I love to do and want to continue doing. I would be happy to gain work in all of these fields. 

In the future I hope to have a website specifically for fashion work but I am happy for a section of the gallery to be dedicated to it. At the moment I don't know which way my work will sway. 

Below shows the buttons you use to build the site. You simply drag them across onto the template and build into them. Its very easy to use so, for me, this was the best website builder.