Online selling research

It is important for an artist to decide whether to sell their art online, and if so, which website is the best one to suit their needs. There are a lot of different types of online selling, so in order to choose the right one for me, I am going to conduct research into a few of these types of online selling sites.

Online art galleries are websites where you can discover new art as well as selling your own. An example of an online art gallery is SaatchiArt. When an artist sells their art through this site, they recieve 70% of the sale price for their original works, and 70% of the net profit for Saatchi prints. The "Saatchi Art Sales Agreement" between the seller and the site is non-exclusive and the site has no membership or competition submission fees. 

SaatchiArt delivers art globally and offers global and domestic shipping at a discounted rate. On top of that, SaatchiArt pays for the marketing for your artwork. The site itself has extensive search options for artwork and advertises new art on the homepage, in a professional and easy to navigate layout. As the site gets a high amount of traffic, it is no wonder SaatchiArt is such a popular option.

Print on demand websites offer small quantities of prints for customised items. One example of a print on demand service is RedBubble. This site doesn't charge artists sales fees or commissions, but takes a base price from each product you sell depending on service and manufacturing fees. The profit margin for the artist on their products is fully adjustable, which is different from traditional online selling sites.

RedBubble delivers products globally and offers global and domestic shipping at the standard rate. The company's printing partners manufacture specific products and service particular parts of the world, so RedBubble ensures that products you order are printed in the most convenient location for you. This makes sure their shipping services remain fast and affordable.

Crowdfunding is the monetary funding of a project by a large group of people. Patreon is an example of a crowdfunding site. This site doesn't charge you to start a Patreon page, so the money you make from other people's monthly pledges is all yours. Unlike most online selling sites, Patreon is not specifically for artists, but all creators to make money from what they create.

Even if creators don't reach their monetary goal, they will still get paid the money that patrons have chosen to pledge.Patrons can opt to choose to pay their favourite creators monthly or every time they create new content. This system is especially attractive for YouTubers, but not so much for artists. 

After researching this small selection of selling sites, I have decided to use the print on demand service that RedBubble offers. This site is the best for my current needs as a professional illustrator, although this could change later on in my career and it is good to know that I have the freedom to switch between sites however I like. This research not only encouraged me to use a print on demand service, but it helped me to know about some of the other types of online selling available to artists. 

Website review workshop

For this workshop, we were tasked with choosing two illustrator's websites and reviewing them to learn what could be applied or avoided when creating sites to promote ourselves as illustrators.


The first site I chose to review belongs to concept artist, illustrator and art director Giles Ketting. This site has a modern and compact aesthetic, with artwork placed close to each other above a dark background. The typography used for the site title and page headings is a round yet professional style of font which leaves plenty of background space on either side of the title.

I was attracted to this website by the unique simplicity of the featured page, along with the medieval period paintings on full display at the top of the page. These images immediately engaged me and I was encouraged to look closer at these pieces by their positioning on the site. The pages are clearly categorised, making the site easy to navigate. There are the right amount of images on the site, and all are crisp and clear. These things makes the site feel professional.

Gilles Ketting provides writing with some of his blog entries that explain the process behind certain artworks. This writing tells me that he is a competent artist and writer. They have links to a wide array of gallery and social media sites. The site itself shows a range of projects on different themes.

The imagery that this artist uses conveys a consistent language of work. As a client, this would make me feel confident in my decision to commission this artist based on the style of a handful of his paintings.

• compact artwork with a clean, dark background
• strong images at a large resolution
• professional typefaces
• page categorisation
• professional writing style

The second site I chose to review belongs to the creature and concept artist Andrew Baker. This site has a clear and showcased design, with thumbnail images spread out against a white background. The typography used for the site title and page headings is a round yet straight style of font which leaves plenty of background space on either side of the title.

I was attracted to this website by the thumbnail composition of the index page. These images immediately engaged me as they were clearly labelled. The pages are categorised, making the site easy to navigate. While small, there are the right amount of images on the site, and most are clear. These things makes the site feel somewhat professional.

Andrew Baker provides writing with all of his blog entries that explain the process behind certain creature and concept designs. This writing tells me that he is a proficient writer and designer. They have links to an IMDB page with credits for the movies he has designed creatures for, but no links to social media. The site itself shows a range of projects from different films.

The imagery that this artist uses conveys a consistent language of work. As a client, this would make me feel confident in my decision to commission this artist based on the style of his creature designs.

• light background
• strong images
• unique typefaces
• page categorisation
• professional writing style

Oliver Randall is currently an Illustration student at the University of Gloucestershire and has a love for experiencing and creating stories. As an artist, he prefers traditional illustration over digital methods, and likes to engross himself in the deep history of many stories, such as Halo, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings.

This workshop was useful in finding characteristics of other artist's sites and finding ways to adapt them with my own practice when creating my site. By reviewing these sites, I have learned how to critically analyse and research an artist by their website, and this will be useful when taking inspiration from how other artists present themselves, for future promotional activities.

Christmas workshop

For the Christmas workshop, we were given a group task to create seasonal items for a specific shop. Each group would then work towards two outcomes - both of which including reference to the company within the visuals that were to be produced. My group was given the company "CRUSH," a local juice bar specialising in healthy fruit juices, the feel of which had to be reproduced using contemporary typefaces, modern colours and simple, bold imagery.

The first task was to create a seasonal GIF for the company. These are the elements that were referenced and created for our GIF, which represented summery drinks with a Christmas twist.

The second task was to make a pop-up Christmas card in the style of the company. These are the processes my group went through to create the final card design, which includes traditional and digital versions of the card. The card took elements from the seasonal GIF and implemented them into a pop-up advertisement for a drink from "CRUSH," in a scene that mixes summer with winter.

This joint task tested the communication between the two groups on what the visual style of the company should be in both the seasonal GIF and the Christmas card. As both of the final products ended up in similar styles, I believe this was a successful workshop. I learnt how important communication between teams, creating unique designs, and working towards brief deadlines are during this workshop, which are important teachings to take into any professional art environment.

Online presence

An online presence is important for any creative to have in the modern day because the internet seems to be running our lives, so we have to keep up with the latest ways to communicate and share ideas with other creatives across the world. This has benefits for self-promotion because there are many easy-to-use avenues to promote yourself through as an illustrator. I have chosen to use a few different sites to manage my online presence in the most relevant way possible.

The most obvious way of having an online presence is through a blog or a website that promotes yourself. I have created a site that shows my portfolio of work in an aesthetic that is appropriate to my practice. By having a site, I can quickly update it with new art pieces or projects and have it remain public, which is crucial for artists like me who are short on time.

Social media can be a great hub to promote yourself and there are popular sites where your work could potentially be seen by hundreds of your friends and family, or even potential clients. One of these social media sites that I use is Twitter. The character limit allows for clear and concise project updates or posting latest art images directly to my feed. Another popular site that I use is Facebook. This site allows for more free-form posting and is where a lot of illustrators have personal pages set up for their illustration practices - this is not essential and is not something I wish to replicate.

These are just a few examples of the potential for me to have a large online presence, meaning it is easy to create a large promotional network for me to advertise my artwork. This efficiency in self-promotion is beneficial to any illustrator, as it makes it simple to get your work seen by people who aren't necessarily in the art industry themselves - creating a larger potential audience for the artist.

Module Evaluation

This module has taught me how important it is to promote myself as a professional illustrator, as well as how to develop my personal promotional strategy and build a portfolio to properly display my artwork to potential clients. I have learned how to design and create business cards and other promotional materials, and maintain an online presence to expand my sphere of influence.

By researching into how other artist promote themselves and experiencing practice briefs as a group and alone, I have gained insight into how professional illustrators should work, and how to make a name for yourself in the art industry. This is important to understand because it is not easy to be a successful artist if you don't promote yourself so others can see you, as well as making yourself an illustrator that needs to be seen.

However, I am not entirely satisfied with the quality and quantity of work that I selected for my professional portfolio, and this could be put down to needing to attend more personal tutorials to better reflect on feedback and criticisms during each stage of development. I believe this would have improved my work because I could have then changed around and added illustrations to my portfolio with guidance from the tutors - leading to a more effective and presentable collection of work.

Overall, I am pleased with the amount of important aspects I have learned to being a professional illustrator, as well as being satisfied with the research I have conducted into self-promotion through an online presence and promotional materials. Although, I am displeased with the final outcome of my portfolio of work and my lack of interaction with the tutors. It is important for me to recognise these things because it shows me what I believed went well and how I can improve myself as a professional in the future.

Personal Promotional Strategy

When promoting myself as a professional illustrator, I will use various methods to advertise my work and myself as an artist. This would range from online exposure to real world interaction with people who may be interested. These methods include promoting my work on a dedicated website, using physical promotional items, and attending specialised art events to network with other artists.


One of the most effective methods of self-promotion would be through my blog site and social media. By having an online presence, it makes getting your work out there easy and can lead to feedback and communication with clients. It is easy to see if people like your work on social media and so you can understand what works and what doesn't when promoting your art.


I will also use my promotional items to give potential clients a preview of the work I offer, as well as something to take with them and remember me by as an illustrator. This will be done through the use of free business cards, stickers and prints. These items are effective at catching attention and giving a lasting impression as they are physical materials with my information on them.


Another method of promoting my work is through illustration fairs or art events where I can not only network with other artists, but advertise my own practice to potential clients through discussion or showing them my portfolio. This method is more intimate and challenging for me, but it might lead to more favourable results than through other methods.


Overall, I believe my personal promotional strategy will help me to promote my image as a professional illustrator and assist me in getting work or clients after university. This would make it easier for me to improve my illustrative work and have further outreach into various creative fields.

Future projects/plans

After university, I plan to undertake several personal projects that will help me pursue my own interests in illustration with the freedom to be an illustrator on my own terms. These initial projects will help further my artistic career by increasing my portfolio of work, and demonstrating my ability to undertake projects of my own at a professional level.


The first of these projects is to expand the subject of my Final Major Project into full-length graphic novels, as part of a larger series exploring the world of my current narrative. I aim for these novels to be self-published and an expansion on what I have already done as my FMP. The series will be a science-fiction comic series exploring an alien invasion of Earth, set in the 24th Century.


The next project I plan to undertake is to rewrite and illustrate the series as fiction novels, which I hope to be externally published and available to the public. I am looking forward to researching and developing the universe of the narrative in order to create a novel series that will stand out in an already over-saturated market, while enjoying the freedom of writing and illustrating.


When I am not working on my own artwork, my plan is to be a freelance illustrator and promote my online image to get work and commissions. This will help me reach a larger audience and gauge more interest for my art and my projects. By becoming freelance, I can take jobs that suit me and negotiate prices and other specifics with clients over the internet.


With this is mind, I believe that I will have enough space to explore and develop my skills in a less restrictive environment, as well as create things that I have always wanted to make in my own time. This is crucial for any illustrator as having a space of your own and time enough to explore your own interests is often a commodity in the current artistic climate. By pursuing these projects, I believe that I will have the start I need to become the creative mind that I have always wanted to be.

Personal Portfolio

When compiling my portfolio of illustrations that would be used to promote myself, I chose art that best described the elements and qualities of my art style, while showing a range of production methods that I specialise in, such as digital and pen illustration. By limiting the colour in this range, I can show that I prefer to work in black-and-white, and this is also prevalent when paired with my promotional items. This personal portfolio shows what I am currently capable of as an illustrator, and I believe it does this well by presenting a variety of images and contexts relevant to my practice.

Rorschach whiteboard illustration

The first image in my personal portfolio is a whiteboard rendering of the character "Rorschach" from the Watchmen comic. This illustration puts an emphasis on the dark, gritty details that reflect the aestethic of both the original comic and the character. This is an effective portfolio piece because it shows how detail and sharp line can add a dynamic sense of realism to an illustrated character.

Star Wars digital illustration

The next image is a digital illustration for the collaborative project that was a part of this module, and portrays my interpretation of the character of "Darth Vader" from Star Wars facing his fear, in the form of a dragon. This is an effective portfolio piece because it is a more symbolic take on one of the most iconic characters in film history, and shows how I can interpret these icons in my art.

Lord of the Rings pen illustration

Next, I have put a pen illustration of the elven realm of "Rivendell" from The Lord of the Rings, which was one of the images I used in my research project. The illustration is successful in portraying depth and detail through the thickness of the pen line. This is an effective portfolio piece because it demonstrates skill with the traditional medium, as well as showing the importance of the composition of elements in an image.

Thanos digital illustration

The following image is another digital illustration, this time focusing on the Marvel character of "Thanos" in an authentic comic style. The use of limited colour and a black background not only balances the image, but also blends the new and old depictions of the character together into one illustration. This is an effective portfolio piece because it shows depth and appropriate use of line in the image without focusing too much on the visual detail of the character.

Moltres coloured pen illustration

The next image is a coloured pen illustration of the creature "Moltres" from the Pokemon games. By using a single colour, I was able to render this creature accurately and depict its fiery wings with differing lines. This is an effective portfolio piece because it shows how limited colour can be used to illustrate a subject and bring its personality to the forefront of the image.

Master Chief pen illustration

The final image is a pen illustration of the character of "Master Chief" from the Halo videogame series - an image used in the publication for my professional practice module. I divided the level of detail into sections to show the visual construction of this character, as it becomes more complex towards the top of the helmet. This is an effective portfolio piece because it is a unique deconstruction of a highly detailed character into simple line, using a mix of pen and pencil.

While these images are successful in presenting myself as an illustrator, I believe that there are not enough illustrations to truly explore the depth of these skills. As a personal portfolio, it will naturally grow and expand as I develop more of my best work, but it would have been more efficient if there were more initial images to show. This shows that I need to work more on my authorial practice and the projects that I wish to pursue outside of university, which I plan to do in the coming months.

Promotional items development

For the development of my other promotional items, I chose items that presented my artwork in a clean, simple way, but could also be distributed efficiently to potential clients. After conducting research into sites that offered custom promotional products, I decided on a different site for the items that were not business cards.

The promotional items I chose were small round stickers and postcard prints. Instantprint was the best site for these smaller items, as it could offer a good balance between quality printing and efficient delivery time.


The stickers present my Rorschach illustration from my portfolio of work, which I believe works well for a promotional item of this size. The bold and sharp detail of the image encourages a stand-out design that does not sacrifice any of the resolution to fit this scale. This is an appropriate image to represent my work as it is easy to see that the illustration matches the style of my other promotional items and website design.

Round stickers

The postcard prints present my Thanos illustration from my portfolio of work, which I believe works well for a promotional item of this size. The bold and sharp detail of the image and the balance of light and dark areas gives a comic-style thickness to the lines, while not having the black overwhelm the printed image. As a postcard print, this illustration creates a natural white border around the image, which further represents the panel of a comic and is appropriate seeing as my Final Major Project is a black-and-white graphic novel.

Glossy laminated postcard prints

Altogether, all three of my promotional items serve as appropriate advertisements that effectively communicate the style of illustration work that I am proficient in, while remaining practical and physical items that can be given out at events or client meetings to promote my practice. By having business cards, stickers, and prints, I have ensured that this promotion can be done through several varied, yet equally professional means. This is important when working to get yourself known as an illustrator within the art industry.

Collaborative Project

The collaborative project was a student-led project in which we decided on what would be made for a shared publication. It was decided that the project would be promotional postcards with our own content and contact details on each. The postcards would be screenprinted with a limited colour palette of Payne's grey, turquoise, and rose.

As each person had to contribute an original art piece to the project, we had several meetings and concluded that the content would be based around a quote from our favourite book or poem. I chose one of my favourite paragraphs from Matthew Stover's novelisation of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.


"The Sith Lord who once had been a Jedi hero called Anakin Skywalker stood, drawing himself up to his full height, but he looked not outward upon his new Master, nor upon the planet-city beyond, nor out into the galaxy that they would soon rule. He instead turned his gaze inward: he unlocked the furnace gate within his heart and stepped forth to regard with new eyes the cold freezing dread of the dead-star dragon that had haunted his life. I am Darth Vader, he said within himself. The dragon tried again to whisper of failure, and weakness, and inevitable death, but with one hand the Sith Lord caught it, crushed away its voice; it tried to rise then, to coil and rear and strike, but the Sith Lord laid his other hand upon it and broke its power with a single effortless twist. I am Darth Vader, he repeated as he ground the dragon's corpse to dust beneath his mental heel, as he watched the dragon's dust and ashes scatter before the blast from his furnace heart, and you— You are nothing at all. He had become, finally, what they all called him. The Hero With No Fear." (1)

My interpretation of this scene was visualised as the dark, shadowy figure of Darth Vader rising up to face the cold dragon that was his fear. The creature comes from Vader's cloak as it was a part of him. This is an important event in the story, as it marks the transformation from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader, and I felt that I had to treat my depiction of it with reverence to the forms and colours.

[pencil design in A5 pad]

I further developed the details of this design in pencil, including the look of the dead-star dragon. After I was satisfied with the layout and size of each element, I inked the illustration in pen and scanned it into Adobe Illustrator to be refined. I used 'image trace' to create bold outlines and exported the illustration at a high quality.

Through the use of separate colour layers in Adobe Photoshop, I was able to use black to identify which parts of the illustration I wanted to be which colour when my postcard was screen-printed. At this stage, I also added a black border to the image, which not only kept the outer edges crisp and clean, but also added to the effect of this scene being a contained experience within Darth Vader's mind (and within the novelisation of the movie).

The final stages of preparing the promotional postcard for printing was putting my name and illustration site on the image. I was able to place my contact information in the negative space on the bottom-right of the illustration. I believe this makes for a striking composition without the text distracting from the message of the content.

After sending my design to the co-ordinators of this project, I waited for my postcard to be screenprinted and compiled with the other designs, either loose or in a publication of their own. The finished colour image came later, and I am happy with how it represents my style, as well as the gravity of the quote through the detail of the form, use of colour, and compostion of the elements.


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(1) Stover, M. (2005). Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. 1st ed. New York: Ballentine Books.

Self-introduction

I am currently an illustration student, and have many qualities that would make me able to effectively promote my own portfolio and work with clients. Some of the professional qualities that I possess are good organisational and time-keeping skills, working to the highest possible standard, and being able to plan and execute tasks efficiently. Personal qualities I possess include focus, good personal hygiene, being reflective on my work and the work of others, and having a unique perception of the world that can be brought into my art. If someone else were to describe me, they would say I was quiet, tidy, hard-working and intelligent.

Within my work as an illustrator, my specialist skills consist of traditional drawing, painting, and digital art. I am passionate about storytelling, and the way a larger narrative is told, through both visual and literary medium. I enjoy becoming a part of a story's universe, and always having that universe be a part of me. I am also passionate about non-vocal music, how a core melody can bring something to life and evoke an emotion within the participant that stays with them - similar to that of physical art.

Someone should hire/commission me because I have the knowledge and skills at my disposal to find a way of achieving the highest personal standard, and the motivation to get the task done. Unique things I can offer are my social commentary on many aspects of our culture - as an outsider looking in - as well as my willingness to explore deeper philosophical and existential questions about life.

The purpose of my imagery is to capture the detail of life, while showing my own interpretations of the world. In one sentence, I would define my practice as detailed, heavily monochromatic and lightly experimental. With this in mind, I want to illustrate characters and environments that inspire me not only from real life, but also fiction. My target audience is not defined, as people of all ages can take something away from my work.

I want to portray an adaptable style. The pros of this style are that you always have a structure to work from and a set level to work towards, in regards to referencing a similar style. However, this style has cons, in the form of artistic limitations - it may be more difficult to portray more personal thoughts/visions through an adaptable style.

      A signature style has advantages also, in that you are given freedom of interpretation, choice of colour/medium, and a visual style that is completely unique. Although, it is not without its drawbacks, such as difficulties in the development of a brand new style - all things that are new ultimately reference things that came before.

I am looking to be an illustrator part-time. Alongside a freelance illustration practice, I will be a writer for an online gaming website. On the topic of becoming a freelance Illustrator, I will need to consider how to look after myself, how much time I will be devoting to my artwork and my writing, how to budget money, how to reach out and contact potential clients. This includes presenting my portfolio of work and using my promotional items to advertise my practise to clients both inside and outside of the art industry.

Business card research

Business cards are important for any business/company to establish a public image with potential clients or customers, by providing an outreach that easily connects with people, in a physical, enticing and non-obtrusive way. Artists use business cards to advertise their own artwork or small business, and the design of these business cards often differs greatly from those used by professional companies. Even in the art industry, there is a vast array of business card designs that are unique to each artist, which helps in portraying their own individual image to potential clients.

One example of these types of business cards comes from Alteroy Design and is a business card that is in the form of a DIY sheet, complete with removeable elements that represent what the artist does.

I believe this design is effective because it subverts the expectations of a business card by retaining the shape but adapting it to the artist's practice. The card being made out of cardboard or wood further emphasises the homemade nature of this promotional item, and makes it stand out against more standard designs.


Production of more artistic business cards can be done through several ways. An example of a more unorthodox method of production is metal cutting. This can be seen in business cards from Cement Solutions, which are metal business cards that double as bottle openers.

I believe this design is effective because it incorporates promoting a company into a client's everyday life - the bottle opener will advertise the company every time it is used. Also, the logo is built into the opening in the metal, which is a clever way to present the design and further ensures the memorability of the company.


There are various sites that offer printing services for business card designs, which also cater to unique designs created by artists. While not handmade, these cards are printed with various factors in mind, that can be controlled by the artist to produce a more professional yet individual finished outcome.

MOO is an award-winning print and design company that specialises in premium promotional materials for any kind of business. It has an easy to navigate site that appeals to anyone who wants to design and print these materials quickly. MOO offers a range of business cards that vary in shape, paper thickness and finish quality, which can be ordered in quantities of up to 8,000 business cards. The site also has easy to follow design guidelines for creating your own designs and is very consumer-friendly.

This site is a strong option for my business cards because it balances the professionalism of their service with the welcoming colours and layout of the site itself. MOO can print and deliver business cards with Next-Day Delivery, which already puts it above the other sites, as it would mean more time for artists like me to promote themselves, rather than waiting around for the cards to arrive.


Vistaprint is an affordable and high quality printing company that focuses on customised designs for more than just promotional or business materials. Their expansive product range gives choice for those who are looking for specific products within their budget. In terms of business cards, Vistaprint offers card designs by industry and gives tips on how to make your cards more creative and attractive to potential clients, while having slightly more production and printing options than MOO.

This site is not a strong option for my business cards because there isn't a clear emphasis on them, and the site itself looks more bland and less friendly than other sites. Vistaprint seems to be more about simply ordering promotional materials than enjoying the experience on their site, and this can be a turn off to creatives, such as illustrators.


Instantprint is a smaller print company that uses the latest digital and lithographic print technology to produce professional promotional materials for any budget. They have an independent atmosphere with a clean and friendly site, which could be more inviting to people who are inexperienced with designing and printing their own promotional items. Instantprint offers business cards that have a variety of types and finishes, along with a substantial amount of tips for selecting and designing the correct type for the person's needs.

This site is also a strong option for my business cards because it achieves the same balance between professionalism and friendliness that MOO does, and is even more accessible with the offered help on the site itself. Instantprint ensures customers can order their business cards the way they want, but lacks the range of production and printing options that other sites have.


Overall, I have researched into the types of business cards and printing services that are available to me, and have concluded that the most relevant site to my practice is MOO. I will now finalise my designs and use the site to order my business cards. Conducting this research has helped me to discover the options there are for promotional printing, as well as understand the near-limitless potential of what a business card can be. This will assist me in my future career when I decide to promote myself outside of university.

Website

One aspect of artist promotion is an online portfolio or website. By having a site that is dedicated to myself as an illustrator, I can advertise my work to a larger audience, and direct traffic to my portfolio through my physical business cards. As many contemporary artists use the internet to sell or promote their own work, this approach seems natural and easy to do, especially with the number of services that offer free website/blog creation that exist today.

When designing my website, I considered what aesthetic I would use and what audience it should appeal to, as well as the layout, function and display of the site. From my research, I decided that I would use Wordpress to create my site, because of the options that it gave me as a creator.

The site itself (ollierdillustration.wordpress.com) has a simple grey aesthetic to represent the mostly monochromatic visual style of my artwork, which contrasts well with the white of the site banner and gallery images on the homepage. By not having too much flair or detail on the site that could distract people from the art, I have created a focused and efficient design that is more practical than it is beautiful. This balance is appropriate for my work and is a good way to promote myself.

The four sections of my site are a homepage where my latest artwork is shown in a gallery format, a blog for me to discuss art projects or pieces that I am working on, an about page with a small description about myself as an Illustrator, and a contact page that can be used by clients. This organisation makes the site easy to navigate, while giving a primary focus to the artwork. I believe that this is important in standing out to potential clients who discover my site through my promotional materials, such as business cards.

Business card development

When it came time to develop my own business cards, I wanted to create designs that were not only a small showcase of some of my work, but also projected my personality and style as an illustrator. I started by designing rough thumbnails of some ideas, using images that I knew I would put in my professional portfolio later on. These initial designs experimented with shape, size and layout of the content, and proved to be useful in further developing the designs I decided to progress with.  

The thumbnails were a good starting point for design ideas, however I believe that I could have greatly expanded on the quantity of thumbnails that I did produce at this stage. This would have helped me to more easily decide which designs to develop, as well as which layout to pursue.

Next, I created mock-up business card designs on Adobe Illustrator - this time using all the illustrations that I wanted to consider for the final design. These are an assortment of experimental fronts and backs that are almost interchangeable with each other, which made it easier to choose different designs that weren't in the same design template.

I am pleased with the variety of digital mock-ups I managed to create, with the monochrome designs complimenting my art style the most. These look professional with a good layout and it was at this stage that I decided to go with the standard landscape business card size. Through this decision, I tried to balance artistry with professionalism - with varied results.

Then, I selected three designs to further develop, with some experimentation with orientation and image size. The chosen font reflects my more traditional style, while remaining bold and professional. The text details can be clearly read on each design and are the negative space allows them breathing room alongside the illustrations. I believe these designs show a good amount of development for each of the three chosen designs, which led to interesting results.

Finally, I decided on which designs stood out to me the most and worked well together, resulting in me choosing designs that were not part of my original business card thumbnails. This shows that development is important in expanding options and making new discoveries in producing promotional materials.

These final designs are ones that I am content with as they show the elements of myself as an artist that I wanted to show. My business card will retain its professionalism by being digitally printed with a low card weight and matte finish. This will further emphasis my more direct, detailed and subtle style.  

By designing and developing my own business cards, I have learnt about experimentation with designs and how to communicate my personality and style through a business card. This is important in promoting myself as a professional illustrator, as it shows potential clients that I am confident in who I am and what I do.