Visual Diary

Earlier this week, I ordered the sample pack from Zap Creatives. It's nice to be able to see the difference between all the options.

1st illustration commission on Upwork

Started to post weekly and now bi-weekly on Instagram

Reprinted 50 magazines

Started working with Editions Icone Graphic as a video editor

Opened a business bank account

First invoice sent and payed for!

Started using Metricool to post on multiple social media platform and schedule posts

Went to a Pricing and Costing workshop for small businesses

Website update: added a shop and services section

I’m so proud to say that I’ve had my first commissioned illustration as a freelance illustrator.

I don’t think I had shown this spread here. This is where the idea of a magazine on climate change emerged. I wanted to have a grandma tell a terrible story of an apocalyptic future to her granddaughter who interrupts her saying "Hey! Can’t we have something happier?" Which would then have transitioned into the magazine, showing all the ways that we can build that happier future.

What have I done?

Illustration: I created two magazines, Artish and A Guide to the Future, and a poetry book with linocuts. I designed stickers with cute animals as a side project.

Events: I was part of the third years degree show, and I showed my magazine at the Celebration of Illustration book launch in our local Waterstones.

Research and process module: I created a video showing my process as a third year art student, kept this blog updated regulary and wrote a whole essay about my art partice.

Professional life: I secured my first placement working at the uni and managed to show my technical skills to my manager, which led to me working on a lot of projects involving illustration, graphic design and video editing.

Future: I got accepted into an amazing uni and I really excited to get started in September.

What have I learned?

I learned so much about graphic design. I went from basically zero knowledge to making my own professional looking magazine. I learned to use InDesign and Photoshop.

Illustration: I improved my drawing skills but I still feel like they need improving. I do feel more confident in my art when I take the time to make it look right.

I did a lot of research on various climate change related topics and have established a methodology to write articles informed by that research.

What do I want to do next?

Promote my magazine and the work I’ve been doing this year through Instagram

Keep improving my technical skills like drawing and digital art stuff

Selling prints and stickers of my work over here!

I would like to have the eco-town as the main piece, printed in A2 size.

On each side, I'll hang a poster printed in A3 size. One is about the Right to Repair and the other is about Guerrilla Gardening. I had to recolour the latter because the original colours were too different from the main palette of green and orange.

Below the eco-town print, I'll put a copy of my magazine on a plinth, with my business cards next to it.

My final illustration.

How it started vs. How it’s going

This is the last illustration I’m doing for my magazine. Each little neighbourhood represents a topic that was addressed in the magazine: upcycling, food sharing, solarpunk, low tech and empowerment.

I’m going to add some little characters in there, but they’ll have to be really simple because they’re gonna be tiny.

After that, I’ll do the colouring and it’ll be ready to be included in the last spread.

This is the reference I was looking at for the design:

This work was made by Carol D'Avilla.

"BASEMENT EVERYTHINGBOXSET is a personal project made with study purposes only.

It contains a book with lyrics separated by albums and four vinyls, all by the british band Basement."

This morning I have been reading studies on how researchers are trying to measure levels of happiness on a global scale.

In 2012, the UN started their yearly World Happiness Report, using ‘global survey data to report how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries worldwide’. The UN also declared that in order for a country to improve happiness of future generations, sustainable development goals need to be considered. Sustainable development and happiness go hand in hand.

Moreover, in the 2023 World Happiness Report published by the UN, there was a chapter on 'Relationships between Altruism and Well-being for Altruists, Beneficiaries, and Observers’. The study shows that when somebody is being altruistic, not only does it benefit the person receiving help, but it also improves the well-being of the helper. The study also shows that people who receive help are more likely to help others, ‘creating a virtuous spiral’.