Intended to be useful for potential clients and those considering commissioning illustration and creative work
Feel free to get in touch if there are particular aspects you struggle with, I’m happy to help if I can
I’ve written this post, specifically with a start-up or small business owner in mind, and particularly those who are looking to commission a new brand identity. I’d like to help bring some clarity to the following:
How best to approach a designer, initially for quoting purposes
Ultimately how to find the best fit for you, in terms of who to commission
Last month I attended Bristol Media’s Vision Conference - a really insightful and interesting event, delivering an impressive range of speakers, both creative and digital thinkers who offered their individual takes on the theme ‘Connecting Creativity’.
A thread that was touched on by a number of the speakers, was how to get the best out of teams of ‘creatives’. Keynote speaker Margaret Heffernan put forward the idea that there should not be seen to be creative people and ‘not-creative’ people, but that in a team everyone should be given the opportunity to input when developing solutions to problems.
I completely get that. But how does this work when there’s just you - a team of one?
Read MoreThis post is intended for small to medium business owners, individuals running not-for-profit organisations, and also marketing managers. To give ideas on how a creative approach - design, illustration or a combination of the two - can enhance your output and help engage with your audience. And, crucially, for any spend to be of good value for you.
Read MoreA previous client of mine, a marketeer working on a client’s website, asked me for some advice about fonts. She wanted to use some creative/fun fonts but was unsure where to get them from and what was involved with regard to licensing.
There are so many font websites out there, it can be pretty confusing. So I thought I’d share the advice I gave her in case it could be useful for anyone else.
These pointers are intended for people who want to have a basic understanding of font use and licensing, particularly for websites.
Read MoreThis is an update on a previous post which outlined some questions to answer before briefing a new logo design.
Revised, improved, and building on my experience of working on new brand designs for a range of clients, I have now updated these questions to include some additional crucial information, and turned it into a PDF document, ready to fill in. DOWNLOAD HERE
Read MoreThe Shaun in the City Bristol trail is now well under way! 70 giant sculptures of Shaun the Sheep created by by a host of artists, designers and celebrities have been set free in locations around the city, and they'll be there until August 31st... if you're in Bristol you will have no doubt spotted some! At the end of the trail, the sculptures will go to auction, along with the additional 50 Shauns that formed a London trail earlier in the year - all to raise money for children in hospitals across the UK. For more information, and to keep updated on the latest sheep related news, please visit the Shaun in the City website
I was fortunate enough to have been selected to create 2 Shauns for the trail, which I worked on in November last year, and the second one a few months back in February. I've put together a couple of 'photo-stories' to document the process of each one.
Read MoreTo coincide with the launch of my own new website, I thought I'd share a list of questions I ask clients who approach me to design a website for them. (And yes I did try to answer the questions myself before embarking on my own re-design!)
Now these questions are essentially to gain an overview of your business and what you need a website to do for you, as well as who it should speak to...
Read MoreClient happiness is directly proportional to the proximity of their creative
Are you in need of a designer or illustrator for your business/project, but not sure how to go about finding one who’s right for you? And also what would be the point in narrowing your search area?
If that sounds of interest, I have written a guest post over on the Drawn in Bristol Blog, sharing thoughts on why it makes absolute sense to start your search close to home...
Read MoreSo, ‘Logo Head’ on! You need a new logo/brand for your business and are at (or nearly at) the stage of briefing a designer - if that sounds like you, but you're struggling to formulate exactly what it is you want and need, keep reading...
Read MoreIllustration Rocks!
The buzz around illustration and graphic design generally seems to me to be at an all time high at the moment (admittedly I follow a lot of illustrators and designers on Twitter and Instagram, so my view may be a little skewed), but events like Pick Me Up and Pictoplasma bring illustrative art forms into focus and celebrate the many top artists, designers and illustrators working at the top of their game. In short, Illustration Rocks!!
In this post, I have tried to break down how illustration could work for you, if you are a business, venture or organisation looking to connect with an audience. Obviously every business is different and with specific individual needs, so this really is intended to be a starting point, a pause for thought...
Read MoreYou are a business or start-up and know you need some help with the design side of things...You have a particular goal in mind and realise that some creative input and ‘designer knowledge’ would help you on your way.
But where to start…? You’ve never worked with a designer before (or worse, have previously had a bad experience) and you don’t know any personally. There seem to be so many design places around, but the jargon they use can be confusing and do they all offer the same thing? Read on, hopefully this post will put you at ease...
Read MoreHow to win clients or customers in a busy marketplace… a common issue for many businesses.
Edwards are an independent Bristol-based estate agent, who I have worked with over the last couple of years. The problem they face is competing against larger and more established agents to get a foot in the door (quite literally) with their potential clients. The plus point is that Matt Edwards, Managing Director, is keen to do things a bit differently…
Read MoreFor those that don't know, Gromit Unleashed is a public art exhibition led by Aardman Animations which will see 80 x 5ft tall fibreglass sculptures of Gromit unleashed in Bristol for the summer of 2013.
This post will show the process involved in creating the first of my dogs "Grrrrromit".
Read More
