5 posts tagged “illustration”

Freelance life can be tough. Long gaps between commissions. Accounts departments who just can't seem to find your invoice. Not to mention the ever-present need to get your work seen by the people who count.

Jonny Wan, a freelance illustrator from Sheffield, knows all about that. A graduate of the Manchester School of Art, he's constantly striving to ensure his unique illustrative style (think abstracted facial expressions, patterns, symmetry and hand-drawn lettering) snags the attention of creative directors everywhere – and he does so via Business Cards and Postcards from MOO.

MOO first caught his eye at his university degree show, where he noticed that all the students' cutest promo materials were produced by the same company – MOO! Then we tempted him with a free Business Card sample, giving him a chance to try our ordering software ("simple, logical and gives the user complete control") and evaluate our print quality and finishing ("very pleasing"). Duly hooked, Jonny ordered a set of Postcards and some Business Cards featuring a range of his work, and is preparing to send them off to art directors as we speak.

As an illustrator, working in a visual medium, presentation is very important to Jonny. "I like to make little promotional packs of my postcards and business cards", he says. "I send them out packaged in self-seal clear bags. It's good to put real thought into how the art director receives your promo materials – it's boring to just whack some cards in an envelope."

Like many creative types, Jonny's happiest when he's working, even between commissions. An example of this is his self-initiated "Can't Afford It" project. Whenever he wants an item of clothing he can't afford, he draws it instead! Eventually to be self-published as a book, working like this helps him improve his work rate, hone his Photoshop and Illustrator skills, and keep his unique style fresh and ever-evolving.

No matter how his style develops, MOO's short print runs means that his promotional materials are always in step with his latest work. "As an illustrator, your style is always changing and improving. The last thing you want is to end up with a thousand cards of the same design. You need to keep existing and future clients up to date with your freshest, latest work, because essentially they will hire you based on what they see on your promo material. It's no good for an art director to commission you only to find that your illustrative style has changed or moved on." He laughs. "After all, you wouldn't be happy buying a Jay-Z CD to find a Metallica disc inside, right?"

When designing his cards, Jonny also took advantage of a new feature that allows users to upload images for both the front and the back of the Business Cards. "Anything that gives you more options allows room for creative control – and it's that kind of flexibility that keeps me coming back to MOO. The ability to upload images for both sides of the Business Cards enables you to make the cards completely unique."

"A business card is usually the first point of contact between a new client and an illustrator, so it's important your card jumps out at people while being straight and upfront with your contact details. The fact that the cards can be individual rather than generic also gives a sense of professionalism – people can be impressed that you've put the effort into designing your own cards. A little effort can go a long way."

Jonny's constantly thinking of new ways to promote his work using MOO products. "I love the Stickers – I can see them being a very unique selling point. They're a little different and unexpected, which is beneficial in an industry where everyone strives to promote themselves in a unique way."  

MiniCards appeal to him for the same reason. "MiniCards are great because they get straight to the point and don't take up a lot of space. Art directors get bombarded with samples every morning. They open their mail and have to make snap decisions about what to keep and what to chuck."

"They're more likely to pin a MiniCard onto their noticeboard than, say, a leaflet, because they know it won't take up a lot of space. And if your work's on their noticeboard, they're more likely to bear you in mind when it comes to commissioning. And that's what it's all about!"

Thanks for talking to us Jonny! We look forward to seeing more of your work soon.

Like Jonny's work? He's available for commissions so get in touch, and say hello from us too.

As you might know, the MOO crew are an active bunch online. A lot of us have our own blogs or little side projects, and all of us have our photos on photosharing sites, like Flickr. We're also interested in where the web is going, and what might happen in the future - which is why Kim, one of our product managers, happened to go to the iCommons Summit in Dubrovnik, a little while ago.

Despite the fact it was classed as a 'holiday' from work, when Kim met Chiaki she couldn't help but talk about MOO. Chiaki is the CEO for Loftwork, one of the biggest creative networks in Japan. Loftwork provides a community and support for over 8500 illustrators, and helps young designers to protect their work using Creative Commons licensing.

Lots of long conversations later, we're happy to be able to say some of these young artists are now making their work available via the designers section on MOO.

Have a browse around the site, because the content is getting bigger by the day. We've introduced a search option to help you find the kind of images you might like, but here's a few of the Loftwork illustrations to whet your appetite.

'Sweet Dessert', by Feebee

'A kitten and a ball', by the very cute Mina Kawai

'Yokogao' by Kosuke Ikeda

Do take time to browse around though - because Kim has been working overtime! There's lots of other new designers we're working with too - from the gentle drawings of Andrea Joseph...

...to the colourful chaos of Colin Johnson

...to the madness of Adam 'Apelad' Koford. What more can I say?

bye!

Finally getting a bit of time to explore VOX a bit more... and finding all kinds of cool stuff. There's some beauiful illustration and photography work on here, so if you've been added to the MOO neighbourhood, don't worry, its just nice to see what people are up to. Hello :)

The Moosters are getting crafty again over in the Flickr Pool. Inspired by the promotional 10 pack box (like this  Bebo one), Celula has made some alternative boxes, to her own design.

Featuring her unique illustrations and custom cut out shapes, we think they look fantastic.

The secret of the box design, she explains, comes from this template maker. It's a cool little app that lets you make a box for any number of cards.

Queen Conch has also been busy, making gift tags for her shop. She's added a gromit to one corner to make the hole more sturdy.

Meanwhile, Miss JJj has customised her cards with a piece of black ribbon, which looks very stylish indeed.

As I'm sure you all know by now, the MOO crew are constantly inspired and awed by the cards we see being made. Great works of art pass through our fingers and we're happy to know that we've been a little part of that. OK, a very little part, but still, it makes us happy!

While many of you are making photographic cards, some are using it as a platform for illustration. These are some we've seen on the Flickr group recently...

By Sweet Pea illustrations

By Laszlito

By Franckie