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I have needed some professional photos for some time now and I kept losing the gumption to do anything about it. I procrastinated quite a lot by reading plenty of photography ‘how to’s’ and watching advice on YouTube. This was all very well and certainly upped my game, but I knew I was still missing a certain something . I didn’t really know the next step forward and it wasn’t until Emma Griffin of Emma Griffin Photography sent me a message In January that I decided to go for it.  I had been following Emma on Facebook and loving her creative work and had entered a couple of her Facebook giveaways in the hope that maybe I could win a photoshoot. This was not to be, but instead she offered me a really good deal the very day after I had exclaimed that I ‘really needed to get some professional photos done’ to my family! Synchronicity won the day!  I had been looking forward to the shoot for weeks and then started to feel the fear. It wasn’t so much about having the photos taken, but more the question of what if I get all this done and it doesn’t work for me? What if this thing that I had been saying had been holding me back was no longer shown to be the case? That is, it wasn’t my photos after all, but simply me? Well, I find the mind to be a funny thing sometimes and there are definitely occasions to turn the thoughts off. After all my mind had quite rationally got me into this before it started with the negative talk. So, I just ignored that and carried on.  The actual photo shoot. Emma was very lovely and curious about my work, putting me at ease and taking charge of the situation. She obviously knows what she is doing, not only in terms of taking the photos themselves but also content creation and storytelling. Emma had me pulling out my lino prints, iPad illustrations , and showing her how and where I work. She took photos of me with my screen printing screens as well as my lino cutting tools.  My main concern was to get some shots of my t-shirts as I really wanted to get them out into the world some more. It’s a little awkward modelling your own work, but Emma directed me pretty well and I am delighted with the images. I feel as though she captured my energy really well and now I can use them on my about page (check it out). Emma worked really quickly and was finished at my house in about an hour. She took some of my work home with her in order to take some flat lays and then she had the images sent back to me the next day! I thought that was pretty awesome and it’s great when you are excited to see the results.  She sent me 60 photos in total ranging from flat lays of my work to story shots and portraits. All in all a very useful package that I can now distribute through my Etsy and social media plus any other marketing opportunities.
I think that nowadays this is a solid investment for any creative. I don’t expect a sudden flood of interest in my work, but just from a personal sense of self I feel as though I am taking myself more seriously. It’s a little crazy that as a creative we tend to hold ourselves back the most and self belief is such a big part of this. I certainly feel the fear with each step forwards, but I also feel the joy of creating and sharing and this makes it all rather exciting! Anyway, I hope this might have given you some insight into the process and maybe inspired you to go for it yourself! I’d love to know what you think of my pics and please check out more of Emma Griffin’s work.
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 I have been taking part in something called Winter School, an online class by Make It in Design and I thought you might like to know a little more. Winter School takes place over a month and consists of two main briefs which are given to you at the beginning and middle of the course. Their are three main tracks that you can sign up for, ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’. I didn’t really know what to sign up for so I thought that intermediate would be a safe bet! I’m pleased I did purely from the standpoint of the briefs on that track which have really appealed to me. My briefs have been ‘celestial ‘ and ‘animal attraction’ and for each brief you get a pdf/iBook full of trend ideas and designers to research for further inspiration.  You get plenty of content to get you going and access to an active Facebook group full of talented and aspiring designers. It’s great to see everyone’s unique take on the briefs and it spurs you on to want to create and contribute to the group. It’s a great space to ask questions, get feedback and feel part of a community. You also get to see what people are creating on the other ‘tracks’ and it seems that the advanced requires a bit more technical ability, whereas the beginners seems a lot more playful. In between the briefs you also get challenges/activities to help shake up your art practice and further generate ideas. It’s up to you whether you want to do this or not, but if you share your work then you can win access to other courses. To be honest, I have felt so busy getting to grips with the workload and content, that these extra opportunities have slipped me by. However if you upload your work from both briefs to the galleries then you could win a place on ‘Module 2 - Creating your Professional Identity’ if you are lucky enough to be picked from the draw. The other main prize is to have fabric and gift wrap printed with your design on which would be hugely exciting! There are three prizes for those on my track and winners are picked by Fashion Formula - - https://www.fashion-formula.com/ a global print on demand company.  Would I recommend this course? Yes! It’s been brilliant! I love getting on trend briefs and being part of the community. The thought of winning something is also appealing and you never know who might see your work when the galleries get shared.
Make it in Design was founded by Beth Kempton and Rachael Taylor. I have been aware of Beth Kempton for some time because of her work with agent Lilla Rogers and Make art That Sells - I have also read her book Freedom Seeker which is wonderful and so I had faith that this course would be worth doing. Rachael Taylor is an internationally renowned designer with over 10 years in the business and so has a wealth of knowledge! She also joins in on the Facebook page and it is great to get words of encouragement from her! https://makeitindesign.com/winter-school/ I had been planning on updating my logo and clarifying my ‘brand’ for quite some time, but it’s a lot easier to design for other people. Other businesses are generally quite clearly defined. They know what they have to sell and who their target audience is. As an artist though, you are encouraged to be authentic to yourself. To draw from your uniqueness, that part of you that has been shaped by your views and experiences.  With something as nebulous as a sense of self, it is pretty challenging because you are always changing and evolving. My art practice is also a little bit sprawling! I am predominantly a digital artist, with a love of illustration, pattern design, graphic design, with a more traditional love of lino printing and screen printing. I put my work on mugs, t-shirts, bags and even necklaces! I felt a little lost with this and so I kept putting it off.  Some of my previous branding attempts!  I bought a book called Style my Brand by Fiona Humberstone, which really helped me to get a bit more focused. There was a section that made you break your brand down into a season, with personality traits that went with each one. I read though this MANY times! Changing my mind about my season nearly every time. Was I more spring or summer? Was I autumn with a touch of spring, or was I summer with wintry undertones? My indecisiveness shone pretty strongly at this time. I managed to hone it down to certain aspects that were really important to me and that helped me to decide on colours and fonts. (I fell predominantly into a spring personality brand with a touch of autumn in case you are curious)  My very first logo It was important to me that my logo still retained a sense of magic and I decided on the hare as it had been with me since I started Glitter and Earth, plus it represented the printmaking aspect of my work.
I like the freshness of my new look and feel as though it works for me as well as having the capacity to grow with my business. I also learned to draw the line between me and my brand. Of course a lot of myself and my personality is reflected in my work, but these elements can obviously never be the total of who I am. I think that just because I even thought that, it shows how intertwined and enmeshed I was as an artist with my work. It definitely took some time to weed through the differences but it’s been an interesting journey. I feel very thankful to spend so much time creating and I hope that my business continues to flourish with this new look. Thank you for following my journey! I’d love to hear from you, even it’s just a simple hi - it really means a lot to me. |
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