Review: Creative Inc.
Posted by Amy on Friday August 13, 2010
I’m a freelancer for more than two years now, and July marks the second anniversary of me striking out on my own. Prior to this I was a regional architecture and design magazine editor (and helped start the magazine, no less). I had a steady paycheck, a platform where I was rather established and also fun colleagues who were fun to work with.
I started Pikaland two years ago after I found that I loved illustration more than architecture. I traded in concrete and steel for ink and paper, and have never looked back since. Starting the journey into freelancing was terrifying, although it was personally satisfying. Not only was I running Pikaland, but I was also a freelance writer, juggling stories and features with magazines and newspapers to make ends meet, with the odd copywriting job in between.
I read (actually, devoured) a lot of books that helped me out when I was starting out. Books like My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire by Michelle Goodman, and Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco tuned me into how I can actually pull the whole thing off. Of both books, I found that Michelle Goodman’s book was more relevant (only because Craft Inc. didn’t really apply to what I was doing — I was offering a service rather than a finished product). Goodman’s book was my bible – dog eared and worn, I still flip through it to find nuggets of information that’s useful.
Title: Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business
Paperback: 184 pages
I found that more and more illustration commissions have come my way instead of writing assignments; which led me to order a copy of Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business, the latest book from Meg Mateo Ilasco in collaboration with Joy Deangdeelert Cho (of Oh Joy!)
CLICK HERE to read the full review!
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Copycats & lessons we can learn
Posted by Amy on Tuesday June 1, 2010
I’d like to take a moment to talk about something that I’m really passionate about. Remember the presentation I gave in Etsy’s Virtual Labs about creativity, competition and copycats? Well, the video above featuring Johanna Blakely giving a TED speech shares the same ideas, and it was an eye-opener to hear that in the fashion industry, everyone is running against each other and that competition is considered fair play. Before you clear your desk and throw your arms up in the air in exasperation, I’d like you to hear Johanna out and read what I have to say — I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic after.
We now live in a world that is different from what it was 5 years ago. With the age of the internet, everything is done twice, if not triple times as fast as before. What was previously unheard of before can now spread like wildfire, and with it came a wonderful surprise. No longer does anyone have to fit into one giant group. We now have niches and segmented group of people who are interested in vastly different things. Best of all, we have the ability to search and gather exactly what we want, whenever we want it.
What does this mean to you? Artists, illustrators, and designers can now freely do what they please and practice what they do best. They can now search and target their specific audience instead of trying hard to fit into a particular mold. And with it comes the work: your ability to challenge, innovate and make new things. And if you have your own business, you have to keep things fresh for your audience.
This isn’t limited to only artists — writers, bloggers, publishers; most industries should keep this in mind when they compete heavily among themselves. I’ll put it this way: everyone wants the bigger piece of the same pie – but for those who are looking and thinking ahead; they don’t want to be one of the maddening crowd. They’ll bake their own special pies, thankyouverymuch. Also, a lot of pressure is eliminated when you are focusing on building your own thing, rather than waste your energy to preserve your status quo against a slew of newcomers who can do it better, faster, cheaper for a general audience.
I once read that creativity is defined as the ability to channel various existing ideas and make them into something new and better. It isn’t something magical or limited to only a select few. Everyone can be creative — copycats are merely serving a need within a market (cheaper knock-offs, etc) that has nothing to do with YOUR market. Copycats are here to make money, designers and artists are here to make a difference. Which side are you on?
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Outside the box
Posted by Amy on Thursday May 27, 2010
outside the box from joseph Pelling on Vimeo.
I love this video, especially how excited the both of them are towards the end!
On another note, this is exactly how Jamie and I want the participants of the Pikaland Artist Bootcamp to feel — there’s going to be a lot of honest opinions, constructive criticism and most of all, valuable feedback and discussion about work.
The bootcamp isn’t just for beginners – it’s for artists of all stages in their career; those who are looking to explore new ways of seeing, and also those who would like to fine-tune their online presence. We won’t be teaching you how to set up an Etsy account, or how to befriend more people on Facebook – but rather discuss how you can use these vehicles (because that’s all they are) to push your work out there.
The Pikaland Artist Bootcamp starts next week, so isn’t it time you got yourself into gear?
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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