“To get profit without risk, experience without danger, and reward without work is as impossible as it is to live without being born.”

- A.P. Gouthey

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Sometimes we forget the simple things in life like the simple fact that when we feel good, we are more creative. Things happen in life that are unexpected sometimes like waking up in the morning and stumping your toe. When something like that happens when you first get up it can set the tone for the rest of the day.

When your day starts off roten you have to have backup plans to switch back to feeling good. Just depends on how crummy your really feel but try some of the following then create some of your own feel good emergency plans.

• Listen to music that makes you feel great
• Create a list of funny memories that make you laugh
• Assemble a collage of inspiring images
• Close your eyes and smile for at least a minute. Works every time.

Remember when your feeling good you automatically start feeling more creative and from there it’s just a domino effect because ideas start flowing and your energy levels are higher yadda yadda yadda.

Remember to smile - It’s a fantastic time to be creative.

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Create new goals.

Create new sources of income.

Create beautiful relationships.

Create new ideas.

Create more time for the things you love.

2008 is going to be a premium year for creation. No matter what your age, make a resolution to create something small or big everyday. The key to abundance of creation in your life is creating more time to create things. Life is all about balance. I’ll use the example of a see saw on a playground. On one side of the see saw you have negative things and on the other side you have positive things. These things can be goals, ideas, desires etc. The problem is, sometimes one of these come into creation into your mind and the see saw tips to the positive side but as soon as a thought of resistance forms it automatically weakens or cancels out the great thought was generated.

Create grand ideas and let nothing weaken or diminish them. If you truly believe that you can accomplish or obtain something then it will happen. Above all, create a strong mindset to block and cancel out any negative thoughts as to what you can not do, achieve or obtain. Sometimes people influence our thinking but in the end we are the only ones that truly convince ourselves that somethings just won’t work.

Say for example you have a great idea for a new side project that can earn you some passive income on the side. The idea grows in your mind as you add details to it. You become really excited about the idea so you write it down in a journal or blog. A few days go by and your excitement increases as you grow the idea even more. Then suddenly your having a bad day for some reason and your grand idea floats into your mind. Instead of telling yourself why this idea will work, doubt starts to set in. All of a sudden you have a dozen reasons why this will not work. This is where most ideas end. The spark was put out by thoughts of why it would not work instead of why it will work.

The hardest part of creating great things in life is not actually creating them but getting past the mental road blocks that pop up from time to time. You have to train yourself to drop that negative thought as soon as realize that it is happening. Try this over the next couple of months and you will be absolutely amazed at the results if you truly block out all reasons why the things you want to create or obtain in life won’t work.

Just remember the motto Create In 2008.

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When showing examples of your work online you have to consider your target audience. For illustrators that all important person that you want to appeal too is the primary decision maker for a books, magazines, news papers, etc. To appeal to these creative decision makers you must ask yourself:

• Is my content easy to navigate?
• Can individual pieces of work be bookmarked or saved for quick reference?
• Does my presentation method compliment my work?

There is no perfect solution but below I’ve listed some common methods as well as a couple of new options.

Static Pages - This is an old school method of creating a single page for every image that you want to display. This is a safe and easy way of showing off your work. Static pages allow Creative Directors to select single images and bookmark them for future reference. They don’t have to search through a pile of thumbnails or sit through a slide show to see the image that appeals to them. Static pages are simple to set up but can be time consuming if a reoccurring element on the page changes.

Frames - Thumbnail images are placed in one frame and open a larger image into an adjacent frame. Having thumbnail images that load the full image into a frame that is built into the same html file makes it very easy to navigate without having to close pop-up windows or navagate from page to page. However, frames can also display different from browser to browser causing an unpredictable appearance from user to user. Josh Cochran’s work flows well using the frame display method.

Pop-UPs - A very popular method of displaying images by displaying multiple thumbs of your images and having them pop-up in a fixed window. Check out Holli Conger’s or Grady Mcferrin’s site for an excellent example of how this is done correctly. Of course single images can not be book marked and new users of the web often don’t see the warning at the top of the browser that the image has been blocked from opening but this isn’t a concern because creative directors are tech savvy.

Flash - If built correctly, flash can work well for presenting your work but there are pitfalls that you want to avoid. Don’t use an intro movie because this can be annoying to a returnign visitor that is trying to look over your content for a second or third time. Build your movie to load quickly and make sure navigation is intuitive. Check out Ytje for an example of a beautiful flash portfolio. Notice how additional images load in the background as you look at the first image in each category of work.

Lightbox - Lightbox is a javascript  based viewer. Meg Hunt customized the Lightbox interface to match the look and feel of her site. Lightbox presents images really well by dropping in a transparent overlay in the background so that your images stand out. Navigation is very fluid and intuitive as well.

Flickr PictoBrowser - The PictoBrowser is a clean, elegant, flash based slide show that is really easy to setup and mangage. Images are pulled from a specified group of photos on Flickr. Check out how Penelope Dullaghan uses PictoBrowser to display pictures of her studio. Just click info in the lower left corner to get your own.

Horizontal or Vertical Scroll - A single page where images are either stacked from left to right or from top to bottom and the visitor just scrolls down or to the right of the page to see various images. If you go this route and have a lot of images to display I would recommend placing anchors that can be accessed from the top or left for returning visitors so they can navigate back to a certain section.

Because most of these options do not allow single images to be bookmarked I would recommend having low resolution images or a pdf tear sheet with a collection of your best work available for download so that your visitor can print out the images that he/she like for future reference.

What methods or combinations do you find most effective when displaying your portfolio pieces online?

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Jamie Ferguson, an illustrator (whom I can no longer find on the internet), made me realize the power of an original phrase. It is as fresh in my noggin’ as the first time I read it three years ago. Jamie used a small phrase in front of her email address that made it stick in my brain. Her email address was whataloadofrubbish@jferguson.com.

It was pure genius in my mind.

It was so different from the common “contact@” or “info@” name scheme of other email addresses. The word rubbish was what really drew me in. Who in the world associates rubbish with their work? Well, Jamie did and it was a very good contrast that stuck out enough for me to repeat it over and over.

So if this works really well with the front end of an email address, then it will work well as your portfolio domain name. It has to be a combination of words that compliment your work. Quirky words for children’s illustrations or a combination of words that are serious for detailed medical illustrations. Try different words and phrases, and go with your gut instinct when choosing the one you want to use.

When going with an off the wall phrase or combination of words (which will become your own phrase), you need to let the words simmer inside your head for a few days before committing to them. Write it down on a piece of paper and leave it somewhere that you frequently visit such as your computer desk or drawing table. Pick it up and look at the piece of paper every time that you sit down.  Look at your work, and say it aloud to see if you can make an association between your work and  your new verbal concoction.

In the end, you will need to go with your gut instinct. When I chose the URL Say Hello Beard I didn’t ask anyone what they thought. There was no way I could explain my gut instinct on it. So be creative and generate a new phrase that is memorable and fun.

Feel free to post some of your creative word combinations in the comments section.

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Spend at least one minute on each of the sites below and I guarantee that you will feel at least a small twinge of inspiration seep into your brain. They are listed in no particular order. All are very good at what they do.

• The Heads of State
• Sasha Barr
• The Small Stakes
• The Little Friends of Printmaking
  
• 33rpm

This list is just a small sample of poster illustration goodness. What are some of your favorite poster illustrators?

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Can you describe what fuels your fierce attachment to illustration?

Meg: Well, when I was a kid I was always interested in books with pictures in them; when I made the leap to books without there was always a sad part of me that wanted some illustrations to go with it. I don’t know if I was always attached to illustration, but I was a very visual kid– I loved animation, comic books, art galleries, you name it. When I got older and wanted to figure out what to do with my life in college, I picked illustration at first because it seemed like the kind of narrative work I was most interested in. But then I was disappointed in it and veered into printmaking for a couple of years. Then I met a great professor who taught me why I ought to love illustration and I just started becoming entangled with it.

Illustration seems to be what interests me most in the art world– it’s democratic, versatile and it tells stories. Even though it’s art’s red headed stepchild in some ways, I feel like it’s incredibly important. Illustration (and design for that matter) surrounds us and we often don’t even notice– but once you’re aware, you notice so much. I can’t think of anything else I would rather do now.

Lets talk about your work area. What are some things that you can not live without when creating your illustrations?

Meg: My work area’s pretty scattered. I have a spare bedroom turned into a studio space, an office and then occasionally I’ll do work in the living room on a couch (though it’s really easy to get distracted that way!). My studio is chock full of things I use and don’t use– I’m kind of a spendthrift when it comes to art supplies! But the things that I wouldn’t want to give up are my drawing table (which doubles as a screenprinting table) and lamp, a bottle of Dr Martin’s Black Star Hi-Carb ink, my glass drawing pen and brush pen, and bristol board. And while this isn’t specifically for my illustrations, I’d cry if I lost my screenprinting setup which while I’m only able to use about half of the year (I live in Arizona, and the heat dries out the ink too quickly, despite my best efforts!), I wouldn’t trade for anything.

On the digital front, I’d be lost without my iMac, my Epson 4870 scanner, and my big Wacom Graphire tablet. Eventually I want to get a pigment based printer to make digital art prints as well, but I’ll have to be patient about that one…

What was your first paying illustration gig and what avenue brought the job your way?

Meg: I have two answers to this question– my first gig was unpaid, but it was the first thing that took me into illustration– I was in my last semester of college and doing an independent study in self-promotion. So on a whim I wrote to a couple of art directors and said ‘I like your magazine a lot and I’d love to work with you sometime.’ One of those was BUST, which is a great magazine but of course small budget. The creative director there, Laurie Henzel, she wrote back and said ‘Sure, can you do this one?’ So I got a spot from them, though unpaid. At that point I was trying to screenprint stuff so I tried doing it that way– it wasn’t a great idea logistically, but they still liked it enough to keep hiring me on. Plus, when I got the issue in the mail and showed my professor, she was so impressed I had gone out and started working even while in college. That was such a good feeling.The official answer though is that my first paying job was from Brown Alumni Magazine; I had sent out postcards my first time around, had had no luck getting a job (fair enough, the image was pretty lousy looking back!), and then while sitting in the Museum of Natural History after a bad job interview, the art director phoned me because of my postcard. The job was about burying a family pet. What an avenue to break in on!

You have a very unique style. What influences have contributed to your style of illustration?

Meg: I really wonder how unique I am– I don’t think I am really! I think I’ve just absorbed a lot and try and mix a lot of different things together– I’m influenced by almost everything I see- patterns, rock posters, cartoons, pop culture, fellow illustrators… I’m a sponge! I am always trying to emulate a kind of feeling that is rough and smooth at the same time– I’m not very slick, my hands shake, and I don’t draw everything precisely…so I let mistakes happen. Printmaking has definitely influenced me– I think of colors overlapping, limited palettes… But I guess I’m just shooting for a more timeless feel– poppy and vibrant, but not dated by any particular style.

Describe a time when you were dealing with a creative block and how did you over come it?

Meg: I’ve had this happen several times this year– it’s majorly frustrating. Usually I just let time work its course, try and inspire myself by watching things I like, researching, seeing new things or reading about illustration… But it’s terrible to be in a block– I’ll have a bunch of ideas but no feelings to do them, and they just have to be set on side for a while. For me, working through it just doesn’t work.

You seem to have a great relationship with some of the art directors that you work with. What would you suggest when working with an art director that can form a closer working relationship besides just producing good work?

Meg: I’ve been lucky that I have only had a couple of jobs that haven’t been excellent relationship wise. The greatest thing is when a client likes you enough to want to work with you again– then you know you’ve done a good job. I don’t know if I’m the best illustrator to work with– I’m terrible on the phone so that might throw a few AD’s off, but I’d say if you want to cultivate a good relationship with a client, treat them like valued friends. Meaning treat them with respect, but keep them in the loop, listen carefully to what they have to say, challenge their concepts when you feel there might be a better solution, and don’t be so precious with your work that you’ll get offended if they ask for a change. A lot of the time they’re right! Working with an art director involves give and take– it’s a collaboration of sorts. Be honest, open, and work with them– not against them.

Postcards can be an illustrators best friend. How many times a year do you send out promo mailers?

Meg: Well, it varies. I like to send out two to three a year. Sometimes though I get picky and redraw my postcards a lot of times, and sometimes there are setbacks (example: my most recent one printed too darkly at first and so I needed it to be reprinted, which took forever to do…). But at least twice a year.

When planning a postcard piece, what is your approach to choosing or creating an image that will appeal to everyone on your mailing list?

Meg: I don’t know if I do it right! Usually I’ll just get a mental image in my head and then kind of run with it. I was reading a book this weekend that suggests that you should show work that was for a client, or for a specific situation… so clients can see how you’d handle a problem. I don’t really do it this way– I treat my postcards as an excuse to make artwork I’d like to do but never have time for. I’ll get an idea in my head and then have trouble shaking it, although it doesn’t mean I stick with one image– my most recent job I was really wanting to draw a tiger no matter what, and I was really interested in rickshaws in Asia, but I did several drawings I wound up feeling didn’t fit right for the postcard. So I simplified for the restraints of the card and started looking at other things, other connotations of the word tiger, and thought of flying tiger– which led to looking up barnstorming, and then biplanes… not everything got used as planned, but I’m still pretty happy with the image.

So I guess my way’s pretty backwards. I don’t choose old images– I like working with new problems, and mostly I just try to work in such a way that feels like it stays true to what I am wanting to put across without stagnating. If it feels right to me, I go with it. It seems to have worked all right so far!

In August of 2007, you made your illustration mailing list available for purchase; this is a gold mine of contact information. What were your ideas behind this?

Meg: Well, I’ve been working on my list for a couple of years now. I haven’t bought other lists from companies because they’re usually pretty high-priced and I always thought ‘I could just do this myself.’ So any time I see magazines or newspapers I look for contacts– but of course while this is totally doable, it’s so time intensive to have to update… so after a few times of wanting to gouge my eyes out updating it, I thought, ‘I bet other people hate doing this too.’ I won’t deny, I also figured I could use the money. But it’s pretty low-cost compared to what other places do– I am not getting rich at it, but it helps finance mailing efforts for me, so I am happy to help other people out and share information. That’s something I’ve always been big on– the sharing of information. I’ve always hated it when people stayed close-lipped about things– process, resources, how to break into illustration– I think it makes it more daunting for illustrators sometimes. Some people have asked me why I’m helping my competitors out there, but I don’t think it’s shooting myself in the foot- competition is healthy, as is the exchange of ideas, sources, and whatever. If I were using a great company to make some kind of item, I’d want to tell others so that the company would get more business– same thing with this. I’m just one of those people who loves process and the sharing of ideas and resources, I guess. Maybe it doesn’t make me rich, but it makes me feel good anyway.

What are your thoughts on stock illustration sites?

Meg: So far I don’t really have much of a thought on it– I haven’t ever been approached for it. I think stock works for certain applications– but most of the art directors I work with love hiring illustrators for specific projects. For their assignments, stock would never do. I suppose it undervalues illustration quite often– I’m not a fan of that. But if you can find a good one that’ll pay you fairly, then I don’t really hate the idea. It’s just apples and oranges– some venues can do with standard illustration– but a lot of places need the custom jobs that we get hired on for.

How can illustrators as a whole work together to keep original illustrations as the first option in the minds of art directors?

Meg: I’d just say, work your hardest. Sure ideally I would love all magazines to be all illustration all the time– but of course certain things it just doesn’t work for anymore. Photography is going to exist there too– but if you are out there creating stellar illustrations and really creative, curious work, it will keep inspiring art directors to work with us. And keep letting them know you exist, of course.

Before we conclude, can you provide an official Meg Hunt off-the-wall tip for illustrators?

Meg: This probably isn’t off the wall but more common sense. This business takes time to get into. I’m not even remotely the best person to ask this– I am still struggling to break my way in myself. But you’ve got to realize you’re going to fail, you’re going to have setbacks. Keep your chin up and keep hustling– make sure you learn about the business side as well as the creative side, don’t be afraid to make your mark–learn about taxes, be smart! Know that you cannot know everything– you have to ask advice and learn a lot and make mistakes and find out what you need to find out. Get health insurance in case something bad happens. And most of all, don’t stagnate. Learn, try, fail, try again– do what you can and be excited by the world around you–absorb what you can, it may come in handy later. Make sure to keep friends– this business can be lonely. The more well-rounded you become the more it will affect your artwork and keep changing you for the better. This is all I know and what I try to live by.

Below you will find a small sample of Meg’s work. Find more of her wonderful illustrations and thoughts here:

• Meg Hunt Dot Com
• Meg Hunt’s Trade Secrets
• Another Meg Hunt Interview - Design Inspiration
• Meg Hunt’s Blog

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Pownce is the hot new item to send stuff to your friends. By stuff I mean messages, links, events and even files. You can send things via your browser or install Adobe’s AIR and use the Pownce desktop application. Sure it will be great to exchange all of these things but the real benefit that I’m predicting from this is an easier way to network with people by being able to exchange your interests.Sure this can already be accomplished, everyone has their favorite instant messenger or social network site but I think creative people in general will like Pownce. It’s well designed and it is geared toward networking which is a good thing for anyone in the Illustration Industry.

Pownce can be used to send out an announcement of your upcoming art show or send out your latest illustration to your favorite art directors. It’s all about who you know and as things become more competitive it is even more important to keep the people that you know up-to-date in what your doing.

Pownce accounts are currently invitation only. They are letting people in slowly to allow their system to grow as the user base grows. You can submit your email address to get in line for an invitation code. People who are given an account have six invitations to give out to their friends. Be nice to your friend so that you can give one of your codes to your good friend here at Say Hello Beard.

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Have you ever been in public and ran into a person that you haven’t seen in a long time and realize after the conversation ends that you want to share contact information? Even though that old friend or acquaintance isn’t in the same industry that you are in, it is very likely that they know someone who can send work your way.

How about when you bump into someone at a bookstore whom has a similar interest or is in your favorite section because they are looking for a how to draw book or how to design a flyer for their business. This happens and it’s a great opportunity to save them the money of buying a new book by doing the work for them. Whammy, you have a new client but you don’t have sample of your work or an easy reminder of how to contact you.

Thats where a pocket portfolio comes in handy. This is where we go old school with a twist. The simple answer is a variable image business card at half the size or a Moo Card.

Moo Cards are perfect because you can print static contact information such as your name, number, and URL on one side and have various images print on the other side. Images can be drawn from your photo collection on Flickr as well as most other popular online photo collection sites. It’s great because you can have various illustrations or designs to choose from instead of having 100 cards with the same image on the front or back.

The size is great as well. Perfect for keeping a few on you at all times. People also find them really interesting because of the unique size. These little gems become keep sakes usually going in notebooks or on cork boards, makeing them a perfect reminder of your work and how they can contact you.

You can also trade your pocket portfolios with other moo card lovers. One tip I will recommend is to make a couple of different sets of cards with contact specific information. One for personal contacts and another one for business contacts. Below is some common information that you may want to include for each type of contact.

Personal Contacts:

• Name
• Number
• Social Network Contact Name (Myspace, Virb, Facebook, etc.)
• Address
• Email

Business Contacts:

• Name
• Number’s (Office, Cell, Home)
• Fax
• Portfolio URL
• Email

So the next time you bump into someone that could use your skills or could use an update to what you are doing in life, slip them a little sample of your work.

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