Evaluation of Illustration Industry

I believe that going into freelance illustration would be the path I would like to take when I leave university as I currently stand, possibly working on shorter term projects rather than going immediately into a long-term book or something similar.
From what I have learned over the course of this module, I believe that is now more of an achievable goal for me to strive towards especially now that I have more knowledge about things such as contracts and how to negotiate those contracts if necessary, and to make sure that you keep as much copyright on your images as you can to not get too exploited by your client.

I also am glad in some ways that the illustration world is becoming more ‘online’ as it means it is easier to share your work and link people to a website than it is to have a physical portfolio with you all of the time, however the downside to this is that more people are putting themselves online and there is a larger pool of potential people for clients to find and choose to work with if you only rely on social media and online communication to get jobs.
I feel that I have by using online media to produce e-portfolios etc. that I have been getting better at promoting myself and my work and finding it easier to talk about my work in a positive light, where as in the past I have had trouble explaining my work.

I also feel that being more confident in myself will help me to produce CVs and more promotional work as well as gaining skills for job interviews and portfolio presentation and such. Doing the group project was a lesson in communication and that communication is key to produce good ideas if you are working in a group or sharing a space, for example if I were to rent studio space and share that space with other illustrators or creative people it would be a better working environment if we all communicated with each other well etc.

Overall, I believe that the knowledge of the industry that I have gained from this module and my own research has and will continue to improve my work and the presentation of my work and to know that it’s not just about what you produce it’s about you present your work to an audience or to a client or potential agency etc. To take care of how my work is presented as much as the work itself which also includes making sure that contracts fully allow me to meet the right standards to produce good work etc.