Archive for the ‘z2i Challenges’ Category

This week’s task

• This week’s task is to create your 3rd portfolio piece – with a focus on making it “commercial”.

Unfortunately among some creative people, the term “commercial” has gained a negative connotation – associated with the concept of selling out or even selling yourself to the Devil.

It doesn’t need to be seen like that – the hope for all of us, is that our work is obviously picked up by an art director, a publisher or a paying client so that we make some money from doing something we love – that’s all that commercial means…being paid for something you love to do anyway.

As an aspiring illustrator or even one who is already being paid, it can sometimes be hard to visualise the kind of work we *really* want to be doing as being something that is commercially successful, so that’s what this week’s task is all about.

Focus your portfolio piece this week on something that is deliberately designed and created to be picked up by someone who will pay for it – and once you’ve created the piece (if you have the software and your Photoshop skills will allow), mock it up…

So that means:

• Mock up your piece as if it appears on the cover of Time magazine or…
• Mock up your piece as if it’s a real, published book cover with title and author details or…
• Mock up your piece as if it’s a page in a children’s book or…
• Mock up your piece as if it’s a greetings card or a pattern on a child’s piece of clothing.

The point of this is to visually see your work in a commercial setting – so you know (a) that it works and (b) what it will look like & how it might feel when it happens.

Have fun creating and don’t forget to add links this weeks finished illustrations in the comments so that everyone can see what you created.

Welcome to week 2 of the ‘zero2illo 4 Week Portfolio Challenge’.

I hope you all had a fun and creative week last week creating your first portfolio piece as part of the zero2illo 4 Week Portfolio Challenge – don’t forget to add a link to your new illustration in the comments of the week 1 post so everyone can see what you created…

Read more →

A few weeks ago in the clubhouse I invited participants of the ‘zero2illo 12 Week Challenge 2010′ to vote for who they thought should win the final prize bundle.

The community has spoken (thanks to all those that voted) and the winner is…

Kristine Astop

I’m very pleased to announce Kristine as the winner as she’s been very supportive of everyone else throughout the challenge, has worked extremely hard on the weekly tasks, produced some lovely illustrations and has really been on a journey throughout the 12 weeks.

The prize bundle Kristine will receive includes:

• A Headway for WordPress license
• A copy of the EFII 15 Steps to Freelance Illustration ebook
• A copy of our DIY Design & Branding Toolkit

Special thanks to the guys at Headway and Thomas James for kindly donating the great prizes.

Honourary Mentions

I’d like to highlight a couple of other participants who nearly pipped Kristine to the post (it was very, very close) and who I also think deserve a mention (and a prize).

Katriona Chapman

Kat is a super talented illustrator and produced some amazing work throughout the challenge. She was also always willing to share her experience with the rest of the group and made a big impact on the community.

Brian Bowes

Brian is another amazingly talented illustrator and has been a pillar of support for the whole group (including me – thanks Brian). His passion and enthusiasm for his craft is an inspiration in itself.

Both Brian and Kat will be receiving a copy of our ‘DIY Design & Branding Toolkit‘.

I’ll be contacting all of the winners individually via email with details about their prizes.

This brings the ‘zero2illo 12 Week Challenge 2010′ to a close so I’d like to thank everyone once again for joining me on this journey and for all the hard work and dedication you put into the challenge. I’m so proud of the lovely community that we have developed here throughout the challenge – long may it continue

Welcome to week 1 of the ‘zero2illo 4 Week Portfolio Challenge’.

If you’re new to the site, read more about this challenge here. Those of you who joined me in the first zero2illo ’12 Week Challenge’ will know that there was a fair bit of work to be completed before you even thought about creating your portfolio pieces in weeks 4-6.

One of the main things we covered prior to creating our portfolio pieces was to make a one page business plan called an OGSM which stands for Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures. This powerful tool will help you ensure all of the illustrations you create are targeted and fit coherently within your portfolio. You can find details of how to complete your OGSM here. If you haven’t yet done this, I’d highly recommend you complete your OGSM before diving into this new challenge.

Even for those of you who participated in the ’12 Week Challenge’ previously and have already created an OGSM, now would be a great time to re-visit it and make sure it still fits with your illustration career aspirations.

This week’s task

• Create one new targeted illustration for you portfolio.

Here’s how this weeks task will work:

Part 1:

Write a post on your own blog documenting the stages in the process of creating your illustration along with displaying the final piece and then add a link to your new illustration in a comment on this post so that your fellow challengers can return here and check out your new work.

Documenting the process of how you created your illustrations can be a powerful and enlightening exercise, helping you to see where refinements could be made not only in streamlining your workflow (very important when working on tight editorial deadlines) but also forcing you to take a step back and look at your work from a distance (less can be more, but sometimes it’s hard not to work a piece to death).

Part 2:

Use the Portfolio Pieces & Websites board in the zero2illo clubhouse to get critiques, feedback and any help you need while working on your illustrations (I don’t really need to say this as we have such a lovely community of folks on here but please remember to play nicely – only constructive and helpful critiques please).

To keep this board organised please can each participant wanting critiques and feedback on their work add a ‘New Topic’ in the Portfolio Pieces & Websites section and name it: ‘Your name’ 4WC Illustration Critique. (For example – Jonathan Woodward 4WC Illustration Critique).

I’d also like to encourage everyone to visit each others blogs over the next 4 weeks and leave comments of support and encouragement.

During the next four weeks of the ’4 Week Portfolio Challenge’ I’ll be featuring some inspirational illustrators to get those creative juices flowing, so keep an eye on zero2illo throughout the week. Ok, what are you waiting for….let’s get to it!