Christine Pym
Posted by Amy on Wednesday March 3, 2010
Beautiful watercolour illustrations from Christine Pym who studied Illustration for Children’s Publishing at the North East Wales Institute in the UK. She’s illustrated one book entitled The Tail of the Whale which will be out soon! I love how she talks about achieving a balance between your own vision and what the market wants in this blog post of hers on her experience after she graduated from university.
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Eva Juliet
Posted by Amy on Thursday February 18, 2010
Lovely inspiring messages from Eva Juliet.
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Red Lemon Club
Posted by Amy on Monday February 15, 2010
There’s loads of blogs out there that teach you about online self-promotion for the digital area. There’s ProBlogger for bloggers, Future Buzz for digital marketing and PR and for a more lively (and vicarious traipse down one lady’s career), there’s the Brazen Careerist blog by Penelope Trunk.
Now, there’s one for creatives as well. The Red Lemon Club is run by Alex Mathers and is for creatives, including artists, musicians, performance artists, writers and designers, but anyone wishing to promote themselves more effectively on the web can also use this as a fresh online resource for getting through to your audience on the internet.
A good starting point would be this article: The Human Side to Online Self Promotion.
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Plagiarism: Write in!
Posted by Amy on Friday January 8, 2010
The next topic of the Good to Know zine is Plagiarism, and we’ve moved the submission deadline to the 31st of January due to the festivities. So for those who wanted to participate but couldn’t do so last month, now’s your chance! I’d love to hear more about what you think about plagiarism; whether you have been on the receiving end or not, and if you think that there’s a way to better combat it.
Also, Theresa wrote in a few weeks ago with a question, to which I’ve answered her below about the same matter:
Hi Amy,
I was given your info based on a question I have. I am looking at starting my own line of design work. I am concerned about stealing. What is your advice on copyrighting and protecting my work. I don’t know how to stop users from right clicking to do a save pic as… Can you offer me any advice?
Hi Theresa,
Considering how much a problem copycats pose to designers everywhere, I’d say that it’s normal to obsess over this. However, there is no foolproof way to NOT be copied. Right-clicking is only one way. Some may just lift your work on the spot and just recreate it on their own software. If someone wants to copy, they’ll find a hundred and one way of doing it.
My advice? Just begin. Create. And if you’re being copied? It means two things: Your work is fabulous (hurrah!) and you can publicly denounce the perpetrator while creating even better, more magnificent stuff to put out there.
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What do you think? Send in your thoughts, ideas and critique to amy{AT}pikaland.com to be included in the next issue!
P/S: To make things sweeter, all participants will receive the full PDF of the issue, plus a special discounted rate for the physical copy!
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I want to explore life
Posted by Amy on Wednesday December 9, 2009
That says everything, doesn’t it?
{From the inspired art of Marie-Chantale Turgeon}
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Get your hand out of the cookie jar
Posted by Amy on Friday November 27, 2009
Because you don’t want to end up like Santa at the end of the video, that’s why.
Great thinking from Jessica Gonacha Swift — print these babies out and stick them all about!
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Plagiarism: Share your thoughts!
Posted by Amy on Wednesday November 25, 2009
Some of us has been there before. You see the work on the screen and you swear you’ve seen it before.
You did. Only it was in the pages of your portfolio.
When someone copies your work, it’s a crime against the spirit of sharing that is prevalent online. I got my first taste of plagiarism when I found out that my designs were ripped off from a collegemate and boy, was I in a fit. Short of busting his chops and pulling him by the collar, being there in person made it easier to let him know exactly how I felt. Happily for everyone (especially the offender) he made the right choice of re-doing his project, and still remained in one piece – and I did not press the matter further with my lecturers.
But what about in cyberspace where we can’t threaten others physically? Or when there isn’t someone to play referee? How do you go about stopping the person from benefiting from your hard work?
And so, the topic for this the *7th issue of the Good to Know project* is:
What are your thoughts on plagiarism?
Have you ever been a victim?
What did you do when someone copied your work?
I’ve sent this invitation to mailing list subscribers, but I thought readers might want to weigh in on this topic as well, as it’s one of the biggest pet peeve anyone could have. Email me at amy{AT}pikaland.com your thoughts and experiences by 30th November and if you’d like to submit an illustration to go with it, we most certainly welcome it as well!
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How I discovered my secret powers
Posted by Amy on Thursday November 12, 2009
Not me, but Keri Smith did.
I am a big advocate for change in the education system, particularly because I was an ackward child that kept asking a lot of questions that no one wanted to answer. I was happy to read that I wasn’t the only one who struggled with this!
From thinking that children these days aren’t being stimulated enough creatively, to dealing with people who lack that eagerness to learn new things (mostly because they grew up in that environment) – I have a bone to pick with the system.
So read on to what Keri has to say – I am inspired, and I’m sure you will be too.
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Giveaway: Do you get jealous/envious of other people's work?
Posted by Amy on Thursday October 29, 2009
The latest issue of the Good to Know zine is out, and this time we’re dealing with jealousy and envy. Forty artists/illustrators took part this time round and there’s 48 page of advice and inspiration for all!
++GIVEAWAY TIME!++
To celebrate the launch, we’re giving away TWO issues of this zine; one each to lucky commentors who tell us when was the last time you felt that pang of jealousy or envy.
Giveaway ends on 5th November, and if you can’t wait, you can always get your own copy at the Good to Know project page where you’ll also find past issues of the zine.
To participate for future rounds or to be updated when the new issue is out, just sign up for our mailing list!
UPDATE: Commenting has now closed, thanks for participating!
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Getting out of the box: Etsy virtual labs recap #2
Posted by Amy on Thursday October 22, 2009
Jamie Shelman sure knew how to keep her hands busy during my talk! ;)
For those who were eagerly awaiting my second chapter of the recap, I apologize for the delay! For the rest who might be wondering what this article is about, well, this is the second installment of the Etsy Virtual Labs recap of my talk, “Getting out of the box”. You can read the first one over here.
Now on to the good stuff.
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#2: Perseverance
The truth is, no one starts out fabulous. The Beatles sure didn’t. Tiger Woods for sure didn’t just pick up his golf stick and swung his way to victory.
They practiced a lot. And I bet they failed a lot too — which wasn’t mentioned much – not as much as the wins. That’s one thing I actually wish people would stress and share more stories of – their perseverance and the hard work – and knocks – that brought them there. That was one of the reason why I started the Good to Know project – so everyone can share their advice and inspire others along the way.
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