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Well hello,

I realized the other day that I haven't posted here for about a month, I want to apologize to my dedicated fans (Mother) and give an insightful reason why that's been the case.

Well this past month has been crazy busy, I've been making out card orders and invoices, 4 artwork commissions and a host of other small bits and bobs that made me lose track of this beloved blog.

Then it occurred to me.

It's April. Of course. It's so bloody obvious!

I'll elaborate, (slightly nodding to a previous blog post about trends) I've noticed after the last few years of doing freelance (coupled with working in an art gallery/retail environment) That times of the year peak. It seems obvious now you think of it, different parts of the year are obviously more popular than some parts, with some being in particular very slow and inactive. I have made this rather amazing crude line chart based on my experiences, to give a better visual example to what I mean:

You can see that the most popular time of year is April and November - December.

April - beginning of the new tax year, people will be tight leading up to this but soon as you pass go again, it all kicks off.

November - December: Leading up to Christmas, hugely popular and busy.

Least popular months are January and July.

January - Everyone will be a bit sore after Xmas and the New Year, so wouldn't necessarily indulge in art and design bits and bobs.

July - This is a bit of a vague one as June and August can apply too - it's holiday season. The majority of people would rather spend their hard earned cash on a break away and with a few cheeky cocktails in the sun.

Like I said it's seems completely obvious when you notice it, and explains why freelancing in a creative career can not only feel massively inconsistent but can also feel like your career is a living manic depression.

Point is - for anyone who'd like to take my advice that is - don't get discouraged. It's bloody hard, but helping notice the trend in your field (I do feel that chart above can apply to a lot of different areas) can help you address where you need to improve. For me, I needed something that sold consistently which is how the greeting cards came about - because everyone has a birthday! This has proved to be a successful venture as I've sold 480 cards in the past 12 months (more than a card a day!) I'm sure you can find your 'greeting card'..

 

Anyway, enough of me trying to solve life's problems. I'm going to do a follow up blog post later in the week so you can get your fill of stimulant for your visual palette. 

Apologies for a more wordier blog entry than usual - it feels good have to a small break from making/thinking about visuals to be honest. But nonetheless reminds me of what my old tutor used to say me at art school, in his thick Belfast accent:

"We're visual animals Jamie! We need to be taught how to read but not how to look"

Until next time. Toodle do.

Tellers artwork.

Hullo.

I've recently designed some artwork for the band and good friends Tellers.

Having been to a few of their gigs I always had a vague idea that a repeated linear artwork would really suit them, stuff like waves/optical illusions close to a Bridget Riley style (who I've been a massive fan of since Year 7 art class). The idea of simple lines repeating themselves to make a grander composition is a lovely and intricate idea. The band touch on a Math Rock genre, which has it's emphasis on complex layers so I knew this aesthetic would go down well.

So from here, I looked at similar themed bands to get an idea of styles and trends, a lot of them had this style of geometric shapes, tessellations and detailed illustrations, which is right up my street.
As a sucker for word play I thought I'd play around with the Math aspect a bit more. At design school it was ingrained into us that when it comes to composition, you must always consider the rule of thirds and the golden ratio. Now, the golden ratio is intimately interconnected with the Fibonacci sequence and from this I remember there was a spiral in particular using this rule, it seemed pretty obvious that this was a good place to start.

So I played around with it a bit, did a few variations including different fonts but we decided to settle with the original logo. Here are a few of the initial ideas:

I added the logo in the last one to give it a better visual context. The guys liked this one so I developed it into a few different versions to make sure all aspects were covered. After a few adjustments the band decided that the this one was the best one to use. They wanted the logo to be made a bit larger which I was fine to do, there's an inside joke that clients generally ask for their logos to be bigger, here's an article that talks about it.


Since this will be predominately used on their web profiles and social networks, it does make sense for the logo to be a bit larger - think what it would be like as a thumbnail image - no point of having it smaller if the logo is too small to actually read. I can feel my ears burning as typographers will be casting a menacing eye over the centering and where the top left of the 'T' lingers over some of the artwork - the logo is right orientated so is a bit asymmetrical, not necessarily a bad thing it just means it won't be bang in the middle. Here it is:

Very happy with this, the band have released their EP this weekend, which I highly recommend. They were also played on the 'BBC London introducing..' radio show last night so congrats on that!


Click here to check out their awesome EP.


Here's their Facebook and Twitter links. Soundcloud for good measure too.




Toodle do.


 

Abstract photos.

Aloha.

I've been making a collection of photos for about the past 2 years, they're essentially images that were either about to be deleted, forgotten on a camera, taken by accident or taken whilst inebriated (Drawing similarities to the Nightbus Chronicles I used to do). They're mostly from my iPhone and digital SLR. What I like about them is the mystery. Some you can make out, others you can't. Without getting too deep I like the idea that none of them are preconceived as a pose, or a selfie or anything like that. I've never been a huge fan of posing for a photo, it feels forced and I usually end up pulling a weird face.

This reminds me of a time when a couple of friends and I went on a holiday to La Rochelle a few of years ago. I had my SLR with me and we started talking about how holiday photos are generally forced to make you look like you're having fun all the time (don't get me wrong, holidays are super fun) but there was that element of 'we're on holiday so it must be fun' which seemed forced, especially when you think of the fact that the majority of photos that you're ever in, is of you holiday.
So we hilariously came up with the idea we should try and look like we're having an awful time despite our beautiful surroundings. There were some pretty funny results and it was genuinely a lot more fun than doing cheesy smiles. Here are a few examples below, the last one is my favourite:
(Featuring Leo and Adam).

So back to the point, this collection is essentially unplanned and unposed photos that have a slightly interesting end product. Who says I couldn't sell!

I really like the one with white trousers - it's quite striking. I definitely recognize a few situations, if anyone can figure out some of the finer details in the pictures, I'm all ears.

TTFN

New Facebook page.

It happened.

Zuckerberg's charming curls finally entwined their way into my soul and forced me to make a Facebook page. I'm quite self aware how self centered this is, especially just naming the page as 'Jamie Kyle' and not a variation of 'Jamie Kyle illustration' or 'jkdraws' or 'like a fox'. I spent an hour typing, deleting and retyping different names for this page, really can't believe it took me so long. I came to the conclusion that I'd like to represent myself, rather than a brand or an alias. I guess a part of me doesn't want to hide behind something?

"No one will suspect a thing"

But why create a page? Well, similar to my Twitter account the vast majority of my followers are people I don't know and I like that. They chose to follow me due to my interests in art and design and that's fun. So, with my normal Facebook profile, I know a lot of 'Facebook friends' are interested in what I'm doing, but not all of them. So I figured that those who like my stuff can still follow me, as well as people I don't know directly follow me if they're interested too, I'm making it a choice. Vote Jamie! Democracy Jamie! Huzzah.

"Like his page, punk"

Here's the page: facebook.com/jamiekyleillustration

 

But it wasn't me officer, I've been framed.

Good day!

A nice aspect of working in an art gallery with a framing department is that I can frame my own artworks for a good price. I decided I wanted to frame this gum artwork I did as I'm planning on making a series of these works. I also wanted to frame it as the artwork itself is quite fragile and I wanted to help preserve it.
I picked it up the other day and was very happy with the results.

Then my brain perked up and was all like "I'm sure everyone would love to hear your insights about framing, Jamie!" to which I replied "Gee brain, that's a swell idea, let's indulge!"
A bit of inspiration from Chris Cooley's blog is that the accompanying text will be provided with an awesome soundtrack so make sure you click here first, then proceed to read onwards on this crazy textual adventure.

So here are a few insightful insights that I've learnt for anyone that fancies themselves as a bit of an interior design nut or are looking to get something framed. The important thing about getting artwork framed is to choose a frame that compliments the artwork (duh). I often see it where the frame is chosen above everything else and becomes the main focus or overall becomes too distracting. I went for a black matt box frame to keep it fairly contemporary, introducing a new or different colour that hasn't already been established is a very bad idea.

 

Mounting, homeslice.

This is quite an integral part of framing any artwork, it can be often overlooked or not considered important - I get a lot of customers who think this and admittedly when I first started I certainly thought it wasn't important. It's important for the following reasons: 

It acts as negative and breathing space for the artwork, a small or no border can often make the frame look like it's visually choking the image. This helps give the artwork a sense of presence as well. But more importantly it helps protect the artwork, the typical mount is a window mount that sits on top of the artwork and raises the glass away it, protecting it from damage.

You have a lot of choices in colour too. There's like a million shades of white - "You could say 50 shades of white!" I proclaim to customers, quickly followed by silence and a drifting appearance of tumbleweed. But seriously, I'd like anyone to try and point out the different between 'ice white' and 'polar white'. 

So, since this is a 3D artwork I went for a lay-on mount as opposed to a window mount which sits on top of the artwork as a bevel.

 

Box frame/fillets, dude.
Now since I've gone for a lay on mount, the artwork will have to be in a box frame which contains fillets (cluck). These are spacers that keep the glass away from the artwork, providing depth. If you're looking to get a box frame, it's good to get a chunky amount of depth, I went for 15mm for this. Technically you can make as much depth as you want, it's just down to how the deep the actual profile of the frame is (see picture below) This frame is about 30mm deep, so it has enough space for the artwork, fillets and glass.
Interestingly box frames are very much in trend and proving to be a popular choice for contemporary works, perhaps because the window mount technique can look a bit old fashioned or dated?

Phwoar, look at the depth on this beast.

Righteous glazing
Last of all, your glass. I went for 'normal' glass as specialized glass can jump up a lot in price. Even though normal glass is cost effective, you can see from the photo above that it will have a lot of reflection. You can go for a non-reflective glass to avoid this or ultimately hang the piece where natural light won't evade it too much. There's museum quality glass that offers better clarity (I think the iron is removed, which is usually a blue or green tinge that you get in most glass) and has a UV filter. This is great for protecting any valuable artwork or anything that will be directly and constantly in sunlight, as the sun loves to ruin colours over time. That pesky sun.

So there you go, hope this incredible insight helps anyone with any framing thoughts. If anyone has any framing questions I'd be happy to answer to the best of my ability. You could say I have the hang of it now. Right?.. Right?.. Ah there's the door!

TTFN

Jamie