Learning from others

Even though I always keep myself updated with what other artists are doing, I found myself learning from people surrounding me more. Its easier to compare myself with people who have the same years experience as me and the same environment as to compare myself with someone I barely know their circumstances. The reason I am saying this, is because I saw Simona's Behance and I was impressed by the way she presented her work. And since we have the same level of experience, I felt that I need to raise my standards and better present my work. This made me think of when looking for  a job, although I dislike working with other people and would prefer to work on my own a freelancer or in a small agency, I think I wont be learning much.

Illustrator.

I have been chasing Dar Al Adab for over three weeks now, last time I called they said they'll email me the next day, but I haven't heard since. I was excited when I got a response from them the first time, but it doesn't seem I can take that as my only job. I got an offer from Badir, but I have no idea what kind of job it is, again he was supposed to email me with job description this week, but I didn't get anything so far. I am praying that the job Badir's got would be in my area of interest, since he have seen my portfolio and its all illustrations, so I hope it would be something in that field. If not, then I am considering to apply for masters in Illustration at LCC so I can later work for Times of Oman. I currently do not feel confident of my illustration skills. If I started freelancing for book covers, then that would improve my illustration skills significantly and later on I can apply for Times of Oman.

When designing the cards for Lingue Mundi, I found myself struggling with doing corporate work. I find myself more into illustrations and contemporary art. And I feel working in design agencies and for organisations in Oman wont help me improve my skills.

So I need to look for more freelance work, perhaps even in the UK. Also I need to apply for internship with Penguin and Big Active and hope they would agree to sponsor me.

So if you ask me where do I see myself in two years, then it would probably be either book cover freelancing as a full time job or working in Times of Oman.

Another reason why I am thinking of applying for masters, is that then I would be able to teach in universities and colleges.

Plan A & B

This was another challenging project. I find open projects harder than the specific ones. I did try so many ideas and came up with the last one accidentally, but I am quite happy with the final outcome. Not sure if it suits the brief, but it was more conceptual than commercial. I cant think of any job would require to develop similar designs.. maybe branding. I do find myself enjoying briefs that involve working with illustrator more than anything else. Also briefs which require using modern style (book cover, V&A and menu) rather than something that appeals to the mass.
Thinking about my career aspirations, I think working in an in-house suits me more, as there would be less people to deal with. Also maybe a smaller agency would be better, as I work my best on my own, the only thing is that I wouldn't be learning much. For now I have two plans ..

Plan A
Freelance with Bloomsbury and Oman Sail/ Times of Oman

Plan B
Times of Oman or Oman Sail.

Update 02/05/15
My plans have been certainly changed. I really want to do masters in Illustration in order to have my desired job which is either working for Times of Oman or freelancing. I am not going to have a second plan, because there's no reason why I wouldn't be offered to do my masters.

Research and Experimenting

This so far has been my least favourite module. I did struggle a lot with coming up with an idea for the campaign, and even the solution I came up with wasn't vey creative. If anything, this has taught me that I do not want to work in an advertisement field. I enjoy making artwork more than researching and finding solutions. I was a bit disappointed with the grades. I think I have put on so much effort on researching that I didn't spent enough time developing my concept and trying new ones. I was trying to work like everyone else; researching for long and then decide on one idea and go forward with it, but I realised that it doesn't work well with me. I find myself producing the best work when I spent a little time on research (one or two days) and then start experimenting digitally and research in between when needed - my design process is not very organised, but I prefer it this way. I did that with the book cover project, I managed to have 5 drafts and I liked most of them. But then maybe because book cover is my strongest point.

Work Opportunities in Oman

1. The Wave Muscat

HR Office:  Ahmed Al-Areimi

The Purpose of the Job
To provide an in house graphic design capability to support the sales, marketing and communications requirements of the company and help to streamline the use of  external design and marketing companies
The Job Main Responsibilities:The graphic designer's job may involve managing more than one design brief at a time and allocating the relevant amount of time according to the value of the job or outsourcing the job/project to work in conjunction with lead creative agencies and design companies. Typical activities include:

• meeting clients or account managers to discuss the business objectives and requirements of the job;

• interpreting the client's business needs and developing a concept to suit their purpose;

• estimating the time required to complete the work and providing quotes for clients in line with the company’s procurement policies;

• developing design briefs by gathering information and data through research;

• thinking creatively to produce new ideas and concepts;

• using innovation to redefine a design brief within the constraints of cost and time;

• presenting finalised ideas and concepts to clients or account managers;

• working with a wide range of media, including photography and computer-aided design (CAD);

• proofreading to produce accurate and high-quality work;

• contributing ideas and design artwork to the overall brief;

• demonstrating illustrative skills with rough sketches;

• working on layouts and artworking pages ready for print;

• keeping abreast of emerging technologies in new media, particularly design programs such as InDesign, QuarkXPress, FreeHand, Illustrator, Photoshop, 3ds Max, Acrobat, Director, Dreamweaver and Flash;

• developing interactive design;

• commissioning illustrators and photographers;

working as part of a team with printers, copywriters, photographers, stylists, illustrators, other designers, account executives, web developers and marketing specialists

Desired Skills and Experience
Education:      Bachelors degree in Design.
Experience:        At least 5 years work experience with the property industry
         

Required Skills:Self –disciplined, with excellent time management skills, and flexible in order to achieve results
Demonstrated experience with producing print ready artwork
An eye for detail and creativity.
Good inter-personal skills and ability to deal with people from diverse backgrounds.
Self-confident, decisive, resilient and the ability to thrive under pressure in a fast moving environment.
Flexibility with hours and mobility
Omani Drivers licence

2. Oman Sail
 HR manager: Khudham al harthy
The only reason that makes me want to apply for this, is that I will be working alongside Nabhan Abdullatif, one of my favourite designers. Since its in house, most of their work is corporative and branding, not really my area of interest. But I don't have much logo/ text based project, might need to rework on the menu.

3. Times of Oman (Muscat Press & Publishing House)
They have really talented in house team, and most of their work is illustration based. I might not be qualified to work with them, but there's no harm in trying. But I need to illustrate more regularly, so I have a good amount of work and practice to be suitable for the job.

4. e.Oman
5. Oman Oil Company (Communication Office)
6. Shell
7. Omran
Even though its a corporate work, but I like their house style guide and they seem open about new ideas.

8. Bader Al Hinai
9. Scientific College of Design
10. Ministries
11. Oman TV
I talked to a friend who works there and she said most of the work they do is animation (show intro, ending, credits, sting etc.) and branding once in a while. I am not quite sure if thats what I want to do.

12. Takatuf
13. Royal Opera House

Senior Graphic Designer
Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design or a related field At least 3 years of experience in graphic design Proficiency in design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and InDesign Proficiency in the design and programming of websites Applicants are to present a portfolio of their design work with the application Experience in designing marketing campaigns and advertisements Fluent in Arabic and English, both oral and written 

Looking at the job description, I don't think this is suitable for me; they have a very strict house style guide and this will limit my creativity.

15. Bait Al Zubair
I am going to ask the career service if I should email Bait Al Zubair and ask if they have any art related job opportunity.

16. Suza Events
17. TBWA/Zeenah
I have just checked their profile and I am not very found of their work style. Very Traditional and photoshop based. I just talked to a friend who did an internship there and she confirmed it. So its off my list.

18. Alalamah
They have a really good designer, but they are mainly into branding.

19. SABCO

Update 02/05/15
Most of the above do cooperate work and branding, which is my least favourite thing to do and I am not good at it. Times of Oman is the only one I really want to work in, but I don't feel confident in my skills and I don't want to look immature compared to them.
I am still not quite sure about Bait Al Zubair, I looked into the job role of Art Curators and I am a bit hesitant as it is very similar to event planning and I am not sure if I want to get into that.

Book cover freelancer

I have been thinking what my dream job would be. I did three internships and I disliked them all. I didn't like the events internship because it involved a lot of other side jobs like product and interior design and it was very corporate work. The magazine internship felt a bit uncreative and unchallenging, the same layout and design every week with very few changes. This made me worry a bit as there seem to be a very few things that interest me. And I did see myself being more creative when working on my own. I am currently thinking of working in a publishing agency, but there are no publishing agencies in Oman. Penguin is a place I truly want to work in, even a work placement would do it. And even if I got job there, I don't want to settle in the UK for the rest of my life. I am currently thinking of working as a freelancer (setting a contract) with a publishing agency, but I am still not quite sure if thats possible or whether it exists. I came across a Qatari publishing house called Bloomsburry but theres no mention of graphic design vacancies in their careers page which made me think that they might be dealing with freelancers. Dar Al Saqi is another publishing house which I might consider contacting.

1. Freelance Academic Book Cover Designers Bloomsbury is always interested to hear from talented freelance book cover designers. Please feel free to send examples of your work or a link to your online portfolio toacademicdesigners@bloomsbury.com.

2. Just found job opportunity for a children illustrator freelancer on Bloomsburry Qatar.
http://www.bqfp.com.qa/illustrator-submissions

3. Dar Al Farabi http://dar-alfarabi.com
4. Dar Madarek www.mdrek.com

Update 02/05/15
I got an offer from Dar Al Adab, but they stopped responding back. Others either ignored me or said they have already in house designers and they'll contact me when they need help, but no response so far. I was quite upset in the beginning, because thats really what I wanted to do, but thinking about it now, it gave me the chance of thinking more in applying for masters. I always believed that when things do not go according to my desire, it's because there is something better planned for me. I really hope I get an offer at LCC, not only because it has always been my dream, but now I feel I need it to develop myself.

Personal work

Ever since I started uni, I wanted to do some side personal work, but I couldn't think of any. I tried few times, but I gave up easily. While I was in London during christmas break, we came across a foundation/first year italian student who was selling his work. His work was done in A5s and A6s using sharpies which I absolutely loved. I thought why cant I do the same? I have set a target to paint everyday till easter break, by then I would have improved a lot and might give it a shot and sell my work. Its not something I am planning to live on, but just for my self-esteem and would be a good break from my other coursework. I was thinking of having children's illustration as a reference and I will start from tonight. I also got back to reading this year which helped me to broaden my vision a lot and had a good impact on my projects than just focusing on uni work.

Update 02/05/15
As much as I love illustrating, I find it extremely hard to do it without a brief and a deadline. I know I have the ability to be a good illustrator and succeed in this area, but as much as I tried, I couldn't do it. This is why I intend to do a master degree in illustration. At first, I was thinking its either I do it in London or I don't do it at all. But now, thinking about it, I can work independently and I am self motivated, but I just need a dedicated time for it and a little push. Also, while doing the master degree, I will be looking for an illustration freelance opportunities, so once I graduate, I will have secured few jobs. The jobs I have been offered so far aren't in my area of interest, I know I will do well in them but I they are not my dream jobs. I fought hard to study what I want, so I want to love my job. I am a fighter, I can do it!