I felt nervous going into my interview, mostly because it was done through Teams, rather than human contact, which always feel weirder. Though, the fact that most of my friends and family live in a different country than my own has made me quite used to the video-chatting format. My overall grade for the professional interview was 70%, which I was quite happy about since that means I had a first for it. And, grades aside, I was especially pleased with the feedback I have been given on my portfolio. It really gave me an opportunity to understand what I could have done better and what aspects of my portfolio I need to change in the future.
The interview was accompanied by Richard Pay from Uniform, which is a design firm based on Liverpool. Previous to this interview I had only heard of Uniform by name while researching design opportunities in the city of Liverpool but having looked at their own before going into the interview, I was really looking forward to having someone with such experience in the industry give me feedback on my work.
The Introduction
FEEDBACK: Good illustration style. Why not use your illustrations on your title pages to present who you are straight away. Your introduction pages don’t reflect the feel of your following illustrations. You need to talk more about the decisions you have made on relation to the animation style and the type of illustrations used.
One thing I was not sure about even before doing the interview, was the photography I had used on the main introduction page. I completely understand and agreed with the feedback Richard gave me. I should try to represent myself as an animator and illustrator first and foremost by either creating an illustration for the beginning page or possibly using art that I have previously made that would show a sample of what I am capable of doing.
Project 1 - Wild Geese
FEEDBACK: Good to see the development work but the way this is presented could be improved, more scenes and not overlapped would work better. Using a full minute to show the animation is not the best use of the time for the interview. It would have been better to have a show reel and then to talk about the animation theme. Some lovely aspects to this project it would be good to see more screen shots of the animation as an opening page.
I understood from this that due to the time constraints of an interview, showing screenshots of the animations I have done as well as talking over them and explaining the story and project are the best to present it. I have also understood that, whilst showing development work is a good idea, I should not have been as concerned about having too many pages and instead have spread it out in a way that everything I put in one page does not become completely overwhelming.
Project 2 - Public Convenience
FEEDBACK: While you introduce the concept well it was not clear what the purpose of the brief was you need to spend time discussing purpose, problem and solution. Who is this animation aimed at? Where would it be seen? You need to give more detail as to the story behind the project.
I need to think better about doing work that does not just exist to look good and show skills but also has a purpose and an audience for it. The feedback for this project helped me realise that I need to do some further thinking into my projects.
Project 3 - Story Book
FEEDBACK: Good to see the images of the story book but would have liked to see the book mocked up to see clearly the double page spreads and how the pages work. Plus, cover design.
This was the first advice that I took and immediately changed, now having a complete mock-up of what the story book would look like in physical form as well as the cover page for it. I had initially not even considered showing more than the illustrations, however, being that this is meant to be an illustration book it makes sense that showing it physically is the best way to show the work.
Project 4 - Captivity:
FEEDBACK: The posters are OK but would have been good to see these side by side and there is no call to action, where will the posters be seen and how do you want people to react? You could work on the typography here, why not consider illustrating your type and using your illustration for the poster design?
The weakest point of this work was most definitely the typography, which was something I needed to work on more as well. It does not blend enough with the picture. Some mock-ups of these posters and where they would be shown would also have been good.
Project 5 - Corruption
FEEDBACK: Lovely animation but not sure of the content of this animation, where will it be seen and how will you get it in front of an audience? Consider your composition more here there is the need for some additional balance in the foreground.
Since this was just a sample of the overall story, I knew that the feedback for it would be exactly that. This shot in particular is meant to be an establishing shot. I have taken the feedback about the composition in consideration and will make the necessary changes as well as apply it to future scenes.
Take Away from Interview and Things That Need to be Improved:
Work on overall typography, as this is usually one of my weak points
Think more thoroughly about who you are designing to, who is your audience and where will your work be shown. Have more of a purpose to your work
Use more mockups
Sell myself better as an animator and illustrator