This exercise asked me to shift my focus away from creating work specifically for projects or briefs, and to look at how my artwork can be used in different contexts. I had to go through the artwork I’d created during this course, distancing myself from the original purpose of the work, and create a ‘gallery’ of my favourite sketches, concepts, and finished illustrations. I then had to choose areas of authorial practice that I was interested in exploring, and choose images from my selection that could be used for these purposes. If possible, I then had to actually create the artefacts.
I began by looking through all the work on my learning log, including work for sketchbook circles and art challenges. This is the first time I’ve really properly looked back over all of my work, and it was really cool seeing how much has changed in my design process and illustration style. I also looked through my projects on Procreate to see if there was anything else I loved which I hadn’t posted on my blog. Whilst looking I picked things I generally enjoyed, but I also had in mind the areas of authorial practice and chose pieces of work I thought could fit them. Once finished, I organised them onto a single canvas on Procreate. I had a wide variation of different artwork collected, and it was interesting seeing my creative range.
I then went back and assessed the areas of authorial practice. Children’s publishing is something I have grown interested in throughout this course, as many of the research points and briefs have related to this practice. Decorative illustration is an area of illustration I was interested in prior to starting this course, with a love of surface design being a driving motivator in beginning my degree. Creating prints and artwork for display is another area I was already interested in, and in fact during this course I have gotten some prints made of my Pokémon illustration created for October’s Art Challenge. The final area I am interested in is fashion and accessories – the thought of wearing my own art is appealing and also ties into my interest in surface design. During my course I have also created 2 greeting cards, one thank you card, and one birthday card, and have also gotten some of my patterns printed on fabric samples.
In terms of specific items I am interested in creating, I would love to make:
- sticker sheets
- pin badges
- tote bags
- tea towels
- greetings cards
- fabric (for bedding, pillow cases, clothing, etc)
- prints
- mugs
- stationary (such as notebooks, wrapping paper, pencil cases, etc)
I’ve never known where to start with many of these ideas, and I think I’ve been working in the wrong way. I always start by choosing which item I would like to create, and then trying to come up with ideas for designs. I never get very far with this, and having revisisted my old work with an intention to create products, I now think I know why. Looking through my designs inspired me and I suddenly found purposes for them all that I hadn’t previously considered. I think the best practice is to first create designs, and then to start thinking about how the designs can be used. For example, the drawing I did in Exercise 1 in the style of E. H. Shepherd could be used for a greeting card or children’s book, the various crown illustrations would make lovely prints, and the black and white original could work well on a tote bag.
Stickers have always been a venture I have wanted to explore, with ‘get my own sickers printed’ being on my list of personal goals for 2021. Creating a cohesive sheet of stickers that complement each other and has a consistent theme seems daunting, however, and it is something I have always put to one side. To my surprise, I already had the perfect illustrations for a sticker sheet – the elements used in my patterns for Assignment 2. These watercolour fruits and vegetables would make fantastic stickers and I immediately began researching how I could buy a set for myself.
The StickerApp website is one I have visited many times before when considering making my own stickers. I had previously ordered a sample pack from their company too, so I had that on hand. My goal was to create a sheet of stickers, not singular stickers, preferably with a clear background to make the watercolour details really pop. Unfortunately, the StickerApp service only has white vinyl options for sheets, and clear options for individual stickers. I would have to buy 110 stickers if I used this service, which felt like too much. I began researching other options and found stickershop, which allowed multiple designs to be added to one sheet, but again only offered vinyl or paper finishes.
I looked around some more and found Stickers International, which looked really promising. The service would allow multiple designs on one sheet, clear finishing, and it was relatively well priced. I began the process of uploading my images and ran into a snag – when uploading my PDF it stated ‘Please only upload one artwork file at a time. If you need multiple designs, please go through the ordering process again’. This was confusing, as earlier in the process it had confirmed that multiple designs could be on one sheet. I also checked the artwork guidelines to ensure I was properly uploading, but couldn’t find any information about this. I spent about half an hour searching their website, re-reading their guidelines, and going back over the order process, before deciding it was more hassle than it was worth.
I went back to the StickerApp website and resigned myself to vinyl stickers. I really wanted a sticker sheet, and not individual stickers, and this looked like the best way to achieve that. The process was pretty simple, though a little tedious. I uploaded 6 of the fruit designs and began resizing and arranging them on the sticker sheet. The website automatically added a cut line for me, which I was grateful for, as it’s quite fiddly work. Once I was happy with the layout I ordered the sheet.
The stickers would take a few weeks to arrive, so in the meantime I thought about what I could do with the rest of my designs. The sketches I created for Exercise 18 – of various cups and kettles – are ones I probably wouldn’t have ever revisited if it weren’t for this exercise. Now, however, I can see a whole range of uses for them. If I worked into the designs a little more I could create tea towels, tote bags, individual pin badges, and stickers for all of the illustrations. I really love the idea of the tea towels especially, and I might revisit this later. I could also use the fish logo created in Exercise 25 for a pin badge, or another set of stickers too.
Looking at my work in this way has been really exciting and invigorating, I have so many ideas for how I could use these pieces and it encourages me that any artwork I create could lead to potential product designs. I am much more interested in creating my own products than I am in working with clients, so knowing the capability is there makes me feel good. It also reminds me to keep all of my work, as even developmental sketches for irrelevant pieces could end up being useful later on.
EDIT: A few weeks later my stickers arrived and I wanted to share my thoughts on them now I have them in person. I am so excited! They look fantastic, they are bright and the colours pop perfectly. The shine on them helps bring out the juicy ready-to-eat feeling of the fruits, too. The individual stickers are a bit bigger than I’d have hoped, as is the overall sticker sheet. The sheets I’m used to buying are roughly 17cm by 9cm, and this is about 32cm by 22cm! Regardless, I’m really pleased with the outcome. I think if I were to go forwards and sell stickers I would look into options that enable me to make them myself at home, such as using a cricut machine. This would allow me to have more flexibility and create exactly what I envision, rather than following preset design guidelines.
Whilst I still feel like a clear background would look fantastic for these stickers, I put a couple on my travel sketchbook just to see how they looked and to be able to admire my own artwork in usage. The white background really makes the stickers pop against the black of the book, and I think they honestly look better than they would’ve if they had been clear. That’s given me a lot to think about for future creations, especially with something so versatile as stickers. Maybe I could offer a range of different backgrounds for designs so individuals can choose depending on their intended usage of the product.
It is so exciting to see my own work come to life and to have something that I have always dreamed of having actually coming true!
Learning Log 