BA (Hons) Illustration for Commercial Application lecturers and students have been working with the AOI to develop their newest Newcastle meet-up. AOI meet-ups are volunteer led and happen across the country, to encourage socialising amongst local creatives: “Illustration can be a lonely business at times – and we all benefit from getting out of the studio and chatting with others who are in the same boat.  We want to help connect illustrators and strengthen our creative community so they can support and learn from each other. To help with that, we facilitate a number of meet-ups, both in-person and online.”

Lecturers Carl Wilson and Kirsti Beautyman worked with AOI to organise the first North-East in-person meet up in Newcastle, with the help of our degree students who helped organise and make promotional materials as a part of there Negotiated Commercial Application Brief. Speaking of the their involvement Lecturer Carl Wilson said that the students were “superb” on the project and “contributed to the promotion of Mischief working alongside lecturers to create postcards, flyers and stickers to be given away at the event.”

Their meet-up Mischief “is an illustrators community for Newcastle to support and inspire one another. The meet-up is a place and space where you can learn new skills, attend masterclasses and workshops run by special guests, make new friends, find collaborators, enjoy inspiring talks and hang out together at friendly drink & draws.”

We caught up with student Jacob Short, 21, from Bishop Auckland about the work he made for the brief, his involvement in the event and what it’s like studying illustration at degree level. Read on to find out more.

You worked with lecturers Carl and Kirsti on the AOI meet up, tell us about it: 

The AOI meet-up came about as one of the Negotiated Commercial Application briefs. It was the first time this brief had been used for the module, so it really was a brand-new, real-world opportunity. The AOI have meet-ups across loads of cities in the UK, so I think its natural progression that they wanted to start one in Newcastle, and it was incredibly lucky that the people they chose to organise that happened to be Carl and Kirsti.

The brief was split into two parts, with the first half being to set up and organise the Mischief Meet-Up, which included creating the logo and brand identity, devising a workshop, as well as creating advertisements and even a small bit of merchandise for the event. The merchandise in question came in two forms, A5 risograph prints and stickers. We each created a risograph postcard each, but I made all of the stickers that included aspects of the work of others.

All of my designs I completed on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, I am proficient in both, but this project has increased my efficiency in using them as creative tools. The postcards were not only meant to advertise the event, but also a future event of our devising, which made up the second half of the project.

My postcard resembled a cartoonish, almost satirical, King of Diamonds playing card intercut with pizza iconography as our venue for the event was Gingerino’s Kitchen, a pizza place in Ouseburn, Newcastle. The design of my postcard was a comedic take on traditional playing card designs, almost in parody, and the idea just came to me and I felt it was a fun and relatively unique idea.

How did you find the meet-up?

The Mischief Meet-Up was a month after our projects start date and my nerves did build over the course of that month, but once I was at the event I was completely fine. I helped set up and tidy away, I was there to greet attendees and explain how the workshops would work, which meant I didn’t fully take part in the actual workshop itself, I was more there to help things run smoothly and make everyone comfortable.

As for industry contacts, it spread awareness of my illustration social media which gained a massive following after the event. During, I spent a lot of time talking to the attendees and listening to their stories and why they came to the event. I spread my name by word of mouth and as I say it then transferred over to social media, so it must have worked. It was also good for the second half of the project, organising our own event, as it gave us an insight into how they’re run and the opportunity to respond to feedback on this event in the planning of our own.

Tell us about any other projects you are excited about or working on!

At the moment its all just tidying up after this project and preparing for the break for summer. I have no planned projects during summer, though I will set myself some personal ones. I also have to start preparing some options for my third year and my final major project, but I do have some ideas brewing which I am excited about. The second half of this project was a lot of fun, I really sunk my teeth into it and have excelled the amount of work I usually do. My event is basically a massive games night, with an emphasis on building a community playing card deck. In preparation for this I ended up creating a fully illustrated deck of cards, a template for the box, a template for 3 different playing card games rules, 3 social media posts advertising the event, 3 posters and a foldable posterzine advertising my own and future events. So having just finished all of that it feels good, though I’m glad for a break over summer.

How do you find your degree?

Surprising is the word I would use, maybe even eye-opening. First year I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing, the tutors were always there to help inform and guide my work, but I never felt a strong connection to my own artwork. It’s only been during second year that I have started to understand a lot more about the industry and myself. Throughout second year my own artistic voice and style have begun truly developing into something recognisable.

When I first started uni I was just like “I like drawing characters and comics” but I was never very good at it, but in second year I’ve stopped thinking like that and just let my art flow from me naturally without too much thinking, and this has helped my style develop. And that style is more editorial illustration than I ever thought it would be, but I’m happy. The Illustration degree has been surprising and eye-opening because I never thought it would get me to where it has, I have a tendency to be a bit of a pessimist.

Do you think university is helping you develop skills for the industry & your career?

Massively. The tutors are all part of that industry as well, and most are very active parts of the industry, so having a direct insight into what it’s like is forever helpful. There are plenty of opportunities for self-promotion which they guide you through, especially so in second year, though sometimes it can be a struggle to balance alongside a project. I also work so that can cause even more difficulty balancing. The university aren’t here to teach you how to draw, they’re here to help you develop your own unique voice and style, to help organise a professional portfolio and to provide a window into the industry, which can hopefully be turned into a door.

What is your advice to a new student starting illustration in September?

Forget everything you think you know. It can sound cliché, but if you go into the course with an open mind and an open heart, don’t overthink things and listen to what your tutors are saying, then you will succeed. How much energy and enthusiasm you put into your projects will determine your success, so try and enjoy everything you do. If you don’t like the look or sound of a project brief, try your best to twist it in your favour whilst still adhering to the brief.

You can keep up to date with Jacobs work on his Instagram: @tall_king_illustrates

If you are interested in studying illustration at degree level make sure you take a look at our degree programme here. You can also book yourself on our next open day! Click this link for dates.