180 style art fashion design

For the aspiring illustrator I would advise that you develop your own body of work. You should put together a portfolio that illustrates your own personality and the type of work that excites you. The keyword here is "passion". When your work focuses on something deeply felt and earnestly expressed it will naturally convey its importance and find a home. It will create a powerful connection and become true and compelling for others. Be true to yourself.

Find out where your passion is, this leads to an area of specialization (fashion, children’s books, what have you). Do research on names and addresses of magazines, and companies of interest. Put together a list of goals

Europe is easier to approach than the USA, working internationally helps you on both continents. Europe is hipper than the US. Be professional, check your phone and email on a regular basis.

Do email mailings, but not too often. Send small files and a link to your website, this is very important. Postcards, personal notes, portfolio drop off, personal meetings with art directors are all necessary, you need direct feedback. Build your confidence and don’t take feedback personally.

Depending on your personality, you will need an agent. You will need one for sure in the countries where you don’t live.

In general, you must stay in constant communication, ask as many questions as possible, stay focused, yet open to other areas such as webdesign, department stores, and cd covers. Always persue individual work, travel, and attend exhibitions.

My first commission from the New Yorker

During the second year of my MFA studies at SVA, we had critiques conducted by a guest from the profession. This guest would pick a few people and critique their work. This is how I first met Owen Phillips, the Creative Director of the New Yorker. A day later he called me at SVA and commissioned me to do a piece on an Italian Opera, a Love Drama, of course!

I couldn’t believe it. I was full of joy! It was a tight deadline (he called on Wednesday 3.00 pm and the piece needed to be done by Friday morning 9.00 am) so I started right away. I basically worked for 48 hours straight as I had not really figured out how to combine my chine colle technique with the computer at that time in my career. Many problems occurred. The piece was finally done by 8.00 am on Friday morning and I tried to clean myself up as much as possible in the restrooms of SVA before I jumped on the subway to deliver the piece to Owen in person. He looked at it while asking how it went and I answered: "Really well, no problems whatsoever." Owen Phillips loved the piece. I happily went home to bed and dreamed of a lovely Italian Opera playing in New York.

The reason I am telling you this story is to explain how my illustration career got started. I was very lucky and this first commission was followed by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Travelling back and forth during the summer months (in order to escape the heat & humidity of the city) I would show those pieces to European clients that were very much impressed. Working for both the European and American markets helped my career to take off even further.

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