WIP Wednesday

Hello!

For today's WIP Wednesday I thought it would be a nice idea to show you what I managed to get done on the laser cutting machine last week at Duke Studios (thanks James and Laura!)

I designed this piece the week before to test out using the laser cutting machine and while I was testing it out on paper, I used elements of the design on acrylic and leather too. Playing around with this machine and different materials gives me so many ideas for products....I think the acrylic would make great coasters and the leather would make great bookmarks!

While I was getting my test pieces cut, here's what I was given by Duke Studios - two small lasercut Duke logos. Don't they look great?! - I love the detail and the depth you can achieve with the laser cutter!

By the end of this year...

While I was on twitter the other day, I mentioned how quick this year is going already and how there are still so many things I want to do before the year is out...which then got me making a list of things I want to achieve before the end of the year.

I thought it would be a good idea for me to make a public note somewhere of these things - to keep me on track and to keep me motivated, so...

By the end of this year I want to achieve the following: (which will probably get added to!)

* A papercut window display (preferably a Christmas one!)

* A papercut book cover design

* A papercut illustration for an advert for a cosmetics company

* A few papercut illustrations for some editorial work (such as magazines, newspapers etc)

* To exhibit/display my work at a craft fair/trade fair

* Create a papercut installation.

* To have my work stocked somewhere outside the UK.

* To have my papercuts on display in some local businesses (as installations)

* To work with a paper company to promote their paper and business.

I will make a blog post about each goal, to explain more in depth about what I would like to do and how I plan to achieve it, but for now I just want to get them written down and make a start on them!

If you have any information on how to go about creating/doing any of these things I would appreciate any help I can get...you can send me emails here - and if you would like me to create any of these things for you, you can see my portfolio website here and get in touch here.

Wish me luck!

WIP Wednesday

This week I have been working on the Mr Yen Catalogue for 2011 and starting to get some ideas down for a promotional mail out to send to design agencies/companies and illustration agents looking for freelance design work for now until Christmas.

If you would like to stock Mr Yen products you can get in touch here and I will send you the finished catalogue....below you can see a few example spreads...

See you back here tomorrow for a Thursday Finds post!

A Quick little update...

Hello! I hope you're all enjoying a day off work for the Royal wedding today if you are in the UK.

It seems a bit out of the blue, but I have been thinking recently about what my title and direction is with my artwork & designs...

Designer...Artist...Maker?

I am comfortable with all the above titles and roles but haven't really embraced any of them fully. I feel as though I have only focused on the maker side, with a few hints at the design side of my work, so now I would like to delve into the art side of my work.

What Direction?

I would love to create some larger scale papercut pieces that are very limited edition or one offs & I have wanted to make make more art type pieces for a while, but always felt as though art ensured less income than design, which I don't think is necessarily true as pricing is so different due to the nature of one off pieces of artwork.

Designer?

I still love design and would love to get more work with big clients (like I did here with Lynx) it is just a matter of creating more commercially viable work that could be used in things such as ad campaigns like this one that I love! (by Kate Forrester) and getting it seen by the right people.

Artist?

I feel I have potential to create larger art pieces as I would love to spend a long time focused on one giant, detailed papercut piece, plus I feel as though this would also generate more income, because lets be honest that is important too! I have to remind myself that this is a business sometimes as it feels great to be working daily on things that I love, which never feels like work!

Whats Next?

I will be starting the new project I mentioned here on Monday, I will be sending out the second Mr Yen newsletter on May 1st and I will be keeping my shops open and running (Big Cartel, Etsy, NOTHS) while starting work on some designs for a large on off papercut. I am also starting to design things for events later in the year, such as Christmas products for the shop - more on this later next week! (Yes Christmas already!)

{Secret Project Reveal!}

So...On Wednesday I posted a WIP image here of something I was secretly working on and now I can reveal... *drum roll please*

I was creating 40 limited edition Valentines papercuts for Lynx (the mens deodorant/fragrance company - aka Axe in Europe ) to give away to some lucky winners! You can find out more here on the Lynx blog. Oh and while your there why not have a look at the new advert! Even Angels will Fall.

Below you can see some imagery I used to generate ideas (the feather images) and the final papercut has pop up wings with papercut text. I wanted the imagery to relate to the advert - hence the feathers, but then decided to group the feathers as wings! This was the first time I really incorporated pop up into one of my papercuts and I think it has a great efffect! Plus I think the feather images would make a nice set of postcards. What do you think?

Final Limited edition Valentines Papercut