LBFL is a small website design agency that designs websites for various kinds of people and websites. In the future I could potentially see myself working in an agency when I get started, so this is why I have chosen to speak with LBFL. They work with a lot of people across the world, a lot in france and Monaco, so it would be a really great chance to get myself out of england too! With everything going digital lately i figured it would be a good step to take into getting myself out there. My work could be seen by hundreds of people & spread fast over the internet. The internet is really the best thing since sliced bread. Working over the internet also means that you an work from home, which is a lot cheaper than travelling everyday, so you get more time and money to spend getting yourself out there in other ways, though also it would probably be very beneficial to be surrounded by people in an office, being able to travel around more could get that done too.
After talking for about 30 minutes about the industry and the style of illustration out there, it became apparent fairly soon that my illustrations weren't completely fitting the categories. The manager was showing me various different websites that he thought was linked into my work and explaining the different audiences for websites. He told me that my style of drawing is fairly unique and that the audience for it would be the odd websites, probably designed for arty companies and illustrators themselves. He told me in order for me to sell my work the best bet would be to sell my art online in something like a Deviantart account (which i already have) and to do some freelance, which is the way a lot of illustrators are taking their work now. I must present yourself as an illustrator because website design doesn't fall exactly into what kind of things ive drawn. Magazine design would also be a possibility given my experience in university and my style, it all comes down to the style! he told me that my work is contemporary and it adds character and value to an article or something more specific. I am looking in the wrong area for now, i need to develop my digital art skills and layout techniques before I would do well in the web design industry. He recommended this American website to me that he has been following and said that the things on the website is aimed more at my area (http://tympanus.net/codrops/), and it has some really useful information for people like me, who are learning how to aster the art of web design (coding? OH NO!). I would go far if i could harness my abilities and rework it for that type of thing. Although I don't really want to go too graphic with my work because i am comfortable with it, I can't pick and choose because at the end of the day I have to make a living from drawing, and it is more than okay to have a mix. I explained this to him and he said that mixing is a really good idea. I would designing for a cutting edge look. If i started to practice on illustrator and put my drawings through there, it could work really well. He said since it's in demand, theres not much else out there, but because of my illustrative style it could be a new 'thing'. He also said i could try to look into photography, and other electronic methods of producing work, it is all in demand, and could make make my style develop really well into something that is diverse and would have the ability to be use in any sphere. I also asked him about animation and how much that is in demand for the web industry, but he said i shouldn't try to overload myself with too much at once, animation isn;t that important, and it's mostly simple flash animations that take a long time to make. He also told me that the key to web design is all in the layout, and the drawing come after that. It's very specific and there are many different categories, for each different client.
He said this is how he could vision my work.
So yeah, huge success! I've learnt so much about the web design industry coming out of that visit. The web design industry sounds like it's set it standards, and my work will have to grow before i can ace it there, but I definitely think i should give digital drawings a try!
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