Reviewing Statement of Intent

Reviewing Statement of Intent

Reflecting back on my statement of intent, I feel as though I've excelled with some of my intentions, but perhaps not quite achieved some others. I would confidently say that I have explored  the context of music based illustration. The many briefs undertaken for La Bete Blooms and Warren Records are testament to that. I'd also add that within the genre of music illustration I've gone beyond the obvious contexts of gig posters and album artwork, and explored other aspects such as story boarding for a music video, illustrating a logo, and getting to grips with hand rendered type alongside my image making. Working with live clients has also allowed me to professionalize my practice within this context, which will be very useful going forward and leaving the course.

When it comes to undertaking more self initiated briefs however, I don't feel as though I've really made the time since writing this statement of intent. It's been very difficult for me to balance the live briefs and uni work at the same time. While I've been able to use these live briefs as uni work, I've also had to blog about them, take the time out for workshops, crits, visiting practitioners, and complete both COP and PPP throughout the year. With all this in mind, I haven't really had the time to focus on a self initiated brief other than my final major project. I think this is also in part due to the fact that what I like most about self initiated projects is that they are personal. While I understand blogging for this course is necessary, it's not something I enjoy doing, and I think having to blog about a personal led project would leave me feeling a little down about it and unable to enjoy it as much. This goes for my intention of creating more zines and self publications, I think it's something I'd rather do outside of the realm of academia. 

I've definitely kept up my momentum with live briefs, I have a number of commissions already lined up within the coming weeks and months, and it's something I plan on keeping up. I also think it'll be a lot easier to balance my live work and my personal work once uni is out of the way (sorry LCA but let me go). I'd also like to think I've continued to put human emotion into most of the briefs I've completed this year. At no point did I feel as though I was taking on a brief 'purely for the sake of doing it' or 'purely for the grade'. I've believed in all of the projects I've done this year, which is a great feeling to be leaving this course with.