Contextual Research

Kelly Holmes Contextual studies Unit Four Unit Five Unit Six

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The end frame from my showreel. 

The small animation I though just added a cute end to the showreel. Almost like a goodbye hug! 

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As mentioned previously I have multiple sites and blogs - so to entice my followers I decided to use the first from my showreel to create this image and posted it the night before. Hopefully getting people excited and ready for my showreel. 

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I recently found this artists portfolio. I have followed her for a while and never knew that she had this site - mostly due to it not being publicised too much. I think this could be due to her using her blogs more as a way of showing her work.

I really like the look of her website and first page. However I think the text is a little too small and struggled with viewing her images as it required me to use the arrows on my keyboard. Not knowing this I tried to use my mouse and found it wouldn't move smoothly. 

I think this is a good site of if you don't think about users not knowing how to use your site it can put them off looking at your work even if it is really great. 

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Domain Name

I decided to go with the domain name kelly-marie.net. 

the '.net' was because '.co.uk' was taken. 

the 'kelly-marie' was due to not wanting to include my last name so people don't even hesitate and think it may be the runner. I also think kelly marie flows nicely and seems a more professional name. 

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I filmed myself whilst drawing as it was mentioned someone had previously done this. I’m not sure whether I’d like to use this in my showreel or for my portfolio. 

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Music for Showreel

For my first year I chose a piece that was light hearted and fun - this really seemed to work with my work and style. 

So I have decided to go with something similar - however a little more modern. I chose the instrumental version of the song Love Love Love by Train. I think this music is very unlikely to offend anyone and also has a good number of beats that I can edit the visuals to. 

Showreel

Collecting all of my work together I am having trouble selecting which pieces to include - mostly as I think I am being too over critical. I think I will just go trough and cut up the pieces keeping the smaller sections that I like and see what works together. 

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After a crit where we were able to see other people’s sites I became aware that there was also another student who was using a similar colour palette to me. 

I decided to go back to the colour palettes that I had looked at and decided to work with more of the palette colours that I had originally dismissed. 

Having previously dismissed the pink I brought it back, choosing a few shades darker and only using it to highlight the page once selected. Hopefully this will not make the colour fade so much as the lighter shade had. 

As the other student had used green a lot I chose to use, again, a darker shade - using it only for when the mouse if hovered over the text for the menu and then 

For highlight behind the text on the option page for sketchbook or life drawing. 

Hopefully with me using two creams and toning down the colour on my site it will look less like the others students. I chose to do this as I didn’t wan’t people to look at my site and be reminded of another artist - especially as we come from the same university. i didn’t want some one to happen upon both our sites and have them not look at mine as it resembles theirs too much. 

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http://dhardyillustration.carbonmade.com/

I found this portfolio through a simple google search. My first impression is  i’m not impressed at all…the site feels unfinished and not cared about.I really wasn’t interested in looking through the persons work because of the design of the portfolio. 

They haven’t included their name on the homepage so I didn’t know their name until I clicked on their contact page. 

I’ve added this link to my research as although their work is really good the portfolio itself i feel is a good example of how to put someone off from looking through your site as this was how I felt when it first loaded up.

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Once I had chosen the font for my name I decided to include one of my sketches with my name. One that although was coloured digitally it still had the sketchy lines giving the hand drawn feel. 

This is going to be at the top of my website - however this isn’t my logo. As I go throughout  my career I will change this sketch with different ones. 

Having made an online presence through other social medias like tumblr and wordpress I want people to remember my name rather than being confused with seeing a logo suddenly. I also feel not focusing on a logo will mean if someone recommends me they will be able to search my name rather than just think ‘oh i remember their logo - what was their name again’. Plus I feel with my having the same name as the famous runner if people link me to her I am half way to being remembered but I would like them to think ‘Kelly Marie’ rather than just oh the non runner. 

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2d character animation showreel

The intro to this showreel was quite long (the whole showreel is pretty long) and I think this demonstrates how having a long reel can cause people’s attention span to wander. My own actually did during half of the reel. Which isn’t a good sign at all. 

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I use other social media sites to show my work and connect with people - these sites are a little more informal and have large paragraphs about my work and the process from the idea to the final piece. I thought it would be interesting and also a good idea to connect them all by placing links. However I wanted people to notice these links, as well as another way to showcase my work I decided to create the buttons you see above. 

Each holds the logo of the site with an illustration of mine. Even though I thought that these worked and looked good during a crit they were questioned and debated whether they were a good idea/ off putting/ or just confusing. 

At first I really wanted to keep these - however after taking a break from designing my site I came back and realised that they didn’t work that well with my theme (mostly the blue) and were also quite distracting from my actual work. Which really isn’t something I wanted. I chose to take them off and replace them with more minimal buttons.  

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This is the font I have decided to use for my name. I really like this as it looks handwritten and will work with the sketchbook look I am hoping to get out of my portfolio.  This gives my site a more informal feel I think - also this is a style that I have noted a few female animators have gone for (more curvy and stylised font) i think it is mostly to do with being a feminine look and also giving it a more personal finish. 

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Although working for a company that focus's so heavily on visual effects wouldn't be top of my list - I though it would be a good idea just to see what exactly such a company would want an from an applicant. 

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Portfolio site for Miranda Yeo

I really like this look for a portfolio - white/clean and the use of banners for the links to other sites

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Miranda Yeo Dawn is a student about to graduate. She does mostly 2D animation. I have followed her work for a while on social media sites and know she is on the higher end of the quality of people I will be competing against for jobs.

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2D animation Showreel 2013

I assumed that this was a students showreel. I thought this was interesting as they had chosen not to include music and also their reel consists of almost entirely rough animation tests. 

I do think however that this shows their animation process off and would be a good idea as a reel you could submit to a client/company when looking to get hired. Possibly not the type of reel to include as the opening page of my online portfolio. 

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Nick Animation Careers

This is a really in depth website and extremely useful to get history about the studio. Their history page has information on all their shows from the first three in 1991 to their newest in 2014. 

They also have a page called 'Artist's corner' 

Each person has more information about them.

Their jobs page also holds a lot of information about their internships and also how to apply for a job with specifics also.

PORTFOLIO SUBMISSIONS

Q: What should be included in an artistic submission?

• A Signed Submission Release Form – http://nas.nick.com/SubmissionReleaseForm.pdf • A Portfolio • A Resume • A Cover letter stating the position you are applying for

Q: What does Nick look for in reel submissions?

Customize you reel/portfolio for the specific opening! CG Artists: • An online reel is preferred • Your reel should be at least 3-5 minutes long • A shot break down must be included • Put your best work first • Put a title card at the beginning and the end of your reel 2D Artists: An online portfolio is preferred but you have the option to mail it to the studio. • Organize your portfolio by discipline with your primary discipline first. The discipline for which you are applying should consume most of your portfolio • Strong life drawings of both humans, creatures and animals

• A diverse array of styles – but keep in mind the show style in which you are applying 

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Hiring FAQs : Blue Sky Studios

These questions have very short and to the point answers - mostly as the information can be found on other pages in more detail. 

What is really interesting, as well as getting information about hiring, they supply information about an internship program for graduate students. This is something I am defiantly going to look more into.