Illustrator Progression - BAIL104

Holly Exley
I chose to look into Holly Exley's progression from graduation to her profession, in order to take inspiration from her development process.

Holly graduated from Middlesex University in 2010, and although she had the aspiration to become a full time illustrator she sustained a full time job as a waitress until 2013. During this time she focused on building her portfolio, by concentrating on the areas of illustration that she wanted to work on - namely food illustration. Also during this time, as she was spending her time doing work that she didn't enjoy, it enhanced her desire to pursue illustration full time.

From this she started to get commissions from different clients, and this started a snow ball effect. By getting her work out there, and through different recommendations from clients, Holly started to build up her client base. She did try sending postcards and examples of her illustrations to companies that she would like to work with, but found this not to be effective. Instead she continues to use social media to enable her illustrations to reach large audiences and to catch the eye of future clients.

Exley was signed to the AOI, but soon found that she lost the personal connection between her and the clients, and so decided that it would be better to work freelance and to promote her own work. She is now able to take on several projects on at a time, and continues to stay active on social media such as: Instagram and YouTube, and is now to earn a living doing illustration full time.

Ben Tallon

Tallon did a talk about becoming an illustrator at PCA, and it was surprising to hear how different his approach was in comparison to Exley's. Instead of relying on social media, he took a very 'hands on' approach, and found what to be most effective for him, was to contact companies directly. Whereas Exley found this not to be effective, Tallon claims it to be the key to gaining commissions. He says that in a world where technology is taking over, he believes that taking that extra step and speaking to people on the phone gave them an instant personal connection, which made him stand out from the rest.

This shows that different illustrators took different approaches in to becoming full time illustrators. It all comes down to being understanding, resilient, approachable & professional, in order to gain commissions.