Creative Report Initial Ideas Critique

Today I had a critique with Dom and a few of my peers in which I spoke about my initial ideas for my creative report. I mentioned the type of things that interest me/relevant to my practice, as well as the design practitioners that I'd like to focus on.

I mentioned that I would love to focus on my two favourite designers/illustrators; Hattie Stewart and Webcomic Name (Alex Norris). I said that I was worried about using them as my main focus for my creative report as they are so big in the creative world so I may not get a response, however Dom mentioned not to worry about this as everyone is experiencing this issue and that I wont know until I try. The other artist that I'd like to focus on is Neil Carribine; an illustrator from Sheffield, I would probably be able to speak to him easier than my other two favourites as he is more local.

All three of the artists that I would like to focus on use the same sort of aesthetic; very wacky, fun, bright, jazzy and sometimes humorous. This is extremely relevant to my practice as this is the aesthetic that I often use in my own work, I hardly ever make work that is minimal- my style is more out there and jazzy, quite crazy at times.

I am also interested in the way these artists went from being independent freelance artists to now being so big in the design world and working for huge brands. This mainly applies to Hattie Stewart as she has previously worked for brands like Mac and Apple. Webcomic name and Neil Carribine also follow the same wacky aesthetic, but in a more humorous way. Additionally, researching a small artist (Neil Carribine) with the two larger ones creates an interesting contrast whilst still maintaining the same concept and aesthetic focus throughout my creative report.

I have begun to research into how I would contact my chosen design practitioners. Hattie Stewart and Webcomic Name (Alex Norris) are both from/working in London. All of the artists provide an email address.

Hattie Stewart: cheeky@hattiestewart.com

Webcomic Name (Alex Norris): webcomicname@gmail.com

Neil Carribine: hello@neilcarribineoriginal.com

I have started to make a list of possible questions that I would like to ask, I will select and develop a small selection from these;

• How did you go from being a small independent designer to working for such massive brands? What was the process? (This question mainly applies to Hattie Stewart)
• How did you go about putting yourself out there? Or was it just something that came with time, did the public just slowly start to discover you?
• Do you prefer to make work just for yourself/for fun or work for brands/commissions?
• Do you feel like your work reflects your personality and general life? (As I feel like my work is quite crazy, out there and sometimes girly...which reflects my personality)
• What advice would you give to your younger self designer?
• Who influences your work/you as a designer? (This doesn't have to be an artist, could even be family members, music artists, a group of people etc)
• Would you collaborate with designers/studios that don't have the same wacky, fun, snazzy aesthetic as your work? If not, why?