Hanbury

My thoughts on the Hanbury '57' creative discussions networking event:

It's been ages since I've been to London  and it was definitely really exciting being there and it felt very enthusing being there. I'm applying to a sort of MA type course in London next year and being there for the Hanbury event made me really excited to live there if I get on to that course. It re affirmed my suspicion that it would be a very stimulating environment creatively and I think it would definitely lead to large developments in my practice studying there.

I found the event to be a bit of a mixed bag. Most of the talks were really helpful and offered up some really great insights, but of course not all of them were relevant to me. I didn't really have anything to takeaway from Nicola St Louis (Anthropologie) for example. Also, the panel with Greg Burne (Big Active) and Ruby Boddington (It's nice that) was less useful than I might have expected it to be. It felt like Big Active is so massive, and Greg's been in the industry for so long, that  he wasn't really interested in 2D illustration anymore. That's obviously fair enough but then all the questions seemed slightly irrelevant or too focused. It made it seem a little unclear how he could advise us based on the questions that we asked him. Also, despite being a sort of agent, he seemed to only deal with big companies now doing more branding/campaign based work and that's not really related to what I do or want to do. Ruby Boddington had more relevant focused advice and the pairing of Greg and ruby did make for some interesting comparisons and variations in their answers which was interesting. It's not really fair for me to count these factors as negatives though because I'm sure all the talks were relevant to some people attending. It was just  a little frustrating not being able to pick and choose which ones I attended. The biggest takeaways from their discussion was that:

'Big Active' are very unlikely to take on illustrators.

'It's Nice That' really encourage people to reach out to them as well as being very investigative themselves.

INSTAGRAM is the biggest and most essential tool at my disposal as a creative, which is kind of sad because hate using it and find it really difficult to get into the habit of using it.

DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE

BE PROACTIVE, HOUND PEOPLE

Show your process as part of your output, people will buy into the whole package/brand of you.
 



Biggest takeaways from the Publishing panel discussion (Nobrow, Cicada and Hachette):

Bring a draft and 2/3 finished spreads to publishers to initiate a back and forth discussion.

OR

Publishers will find illustrators they like, or, they have an idea and select appropriate illustrator

They may approach agencies.

ALWAYS SEND IDEAS THROUGH.

'Cicada' look at everything they get sent because they're very small and they usually get back to you.

IT'S A NUMBERS GAME.

GOT TO ALWAYS BE PUTTING STUFF OUT THERE.

'Nobrow' have open submissions but they don't get back to you. That doesn't mean they didn't look at what you sent though.

ORIGINALITY

SUBMIT TO COMPETITIONS. Publishers look at them.

TARGET PEOPLE, BE PERSONAL

Children's books are more popular.

'Nobrow' don't do concertina books anymore.

Saddle stitch books are not visible on the shelf so don't sell very well.

Send something physical and follow up with an email. Although Ruby Boddington said that all that matters to her really is the work, so just sending an email is fine.

Don't something physical to mall publishers because their tastes might be too specific.

Can't easily send physical items internationally.

Trust the changes a publisher wants to make to your work, don't be too stubborn. Be easy to work with.

Be flexible and good at communicating.

You don't have to be able to write.


Biggest takeaways from CIA and B&A Reps:

B&A want people early on.

ORIGINALITY

Try and get stuff in magazines.

Larger agencies give you a better shot at getting work.

Editorial work is like paid marketing.

Real life meetings are the best, then phone calls, then emails but emails are the most convenient.

The talk from the agencies as a whole was really encouraging. I was surprised to learn that they take people on straight away after graduating and don't care about experience if they like the work. They also seemed like they took a really vested interest in the artists they represent and would kind of mentor a bit. I think I would definitely benefit from having an agent because at the moment it's all the business side of being an illustrator that I can't stand doing and sadly it is really starting to colour even the creative side for me and I can definitely see it interfering with my drive to make it work in the future.

I do regret not talking to anyone at the Hanbury event but I couldn't shake the feeling of it being really contrived. Shallow even. It was kind of half sociable, half business and it made me feel weird. I don't think I would even feel weird about ringing someone up for advice or meeting up with someone specific to show them my portfolio/ chat etc. but for some reason the set up at Hanbury felt kind of strange. That's my problem though and something I'll just have to get over and I will the more used to it I become.

I do intend to email a lot of the people who attended Hanbury personally with a link to my website and any specific questions I have for them, and just generally trying to make some contacts. It feels like a good place to start.