What's happening now...

The creative industry in the UK is one of the biggest contributors to the GDP, with a huge 8% and is continuing to grow. This is one of the main reasons I myself decided to peruse a career in the arts, almost two years ago.

After I lost my job due to ill-health I found it very difficult to get back into work. Many companies weren't hiring and if they were, the hours they were offering just weren't enough and with the emergence of zero-hours contracts, job security was non-existent. Add that to the fact that what I was trained for, many others had the same qualifications, the same experience and the same level of competence that I was boasting about on my CV's, it literally felt I was lost in a proverbial sea of Business Admin!

After speaking to the National Careers service during a scheduled meeting set up by the Job Centre itself, I got to speaking about my love of art and how I would have loved to do something with it. Lorna was thrilled by this, though at the time I didn't completely understand why and after we discussed the ways in which I could get myself back into education, she explained that, even in a recession, the creative industries continue to grow and thrive, unlike many others.

The UK as a whole is known for their creative exports, with £1 in ever £10 coming from the creative sector. Boasting the second biggest design sector in the world, employing over 1.5 million people and worth a staggering £36 billion a year, the UK is a cultural role model, with London one of the most influential cities in the world.

So what is happening now? Up and down the country there are exhibitions and events that draw the creative elite of the UK for a chance to display their work on a very influential stage.

The House of Illustration opened its doors to its first permanent home at the heart of Kings Cross regeneration area of London. They host all matter of illustrations, featuring masters past and present as well as emerging art. From adverts to animation, political satire to scientific drawings, the House of Illustration is definitely the place to be seen.

https://www.houseofillustration.org.uk

The London Illustration Fair is another unique home grown event for artists to come together and sell their work to a wide audience of people, who come from all over the world to purchase original pieces and affordable prints.

http://www.thelondonillustrationfair.co.uk/about-us/

There are many events and stages for any budding illustrator to launch themselves from in London, but what about our own region, the North East?

The Animex, in Middlesbrough an annual animation fair, hosted by Tees University. A number of leading animation artists and the studios they represent, come to display their work and provide workshops for this interested in breaking into the industry. Studios involved include Dreamworks and Disney Pixar as well as many others.

SCENe, which stands for Sunderland Creative Enterprise Network is a social networking team who advertise and inform the public about events happening in and around the city of Sunderland. This is a great way to stay up to date about events happing in and around the city of Sunderland. Events such as the Sunderland Shorts Film Festival which will be taking place in various places around the city on the 2nd July 2015.

We also have a host of galleries and exhibitions in institutions like MIMA and North East Art Collective.

How to write a...

Today we discussed effective writing and the different ways in which approaching a subject can be written about. This will be especially handy for submitting the report at the end of this unit.

The report must be on one of the subjects we have covered and include my thoughts on where I might fit in the industry.

• Reports - These are a written account of something that has been observed and investigated and is based on any research that has been done. It is the presentation of analysed information.
• Essay - These are the presentation of opinion and seek to answer a question. The question posed is then answered with in the content. An essay is a piece of writing on a particular subject that is analysed and an academic opinion is based upon.

Both Reports and Essay's follow a similar layout. They have an introduction and conclusion, with the main bulk of the discussion and analysing being in the centre. Referenced images and Bibliography are also included in both.

Research

What am I exploring?

How will I research?

Read the brief and learning outcomes.

Think of a title.

Be creative about it.

Primary research

• Questionnaires (Survey Monkey).
• Interviews (Peer to peer, Contact industry professionals).
• Visits.
• Own experiences (This is the only research that you can base your own opinion off).

Secondary Research

• Books.
• Magazines.
• Internet.
• Journal.

Cover sheet

• Neat and tidy.
• Legible.
• Name.
• Report Title.
• Module title.

Contents Page

• Page number.
• Contents.
• Bibliography.

Main body

• Should include primary and secondary research.
• Tell the reader what I discovered.
• Explore subject
• Can include Questionnaires
• Include opinion.
• Graphs, tables and charts, images.

Conclusion

• What have discovered?
• What's important to me? Where I see myself? What I have concluded about the information I have gathered.
• Images.

Life after my Degree

Today we were asked, once we had completed our degree what area of the discipline we wanted to go into.

There are many fields of Illustration, more now than ever before. Illustrators are no longer confined to children's books or scientific texts. Now we have magazines, books (of various content), walls, billboards, clothing, skin, floors, ceilings, interior and exterior platforms. There is not a surface or medium an illustrator cannot create.

But my degree can lead into other careers, the most obvious one being to teach.


Teaching

Going on to teach requires me to gain a teaching qualification, such as a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (a PGDE), but to gain entry for this qualification requires a good level of Math and English.

There are a number of ways in which I could gain this qualification. One is through a college or university or by working in the schools themselves via School-Centered Initial Teacher Training (SCITT).

• College and University: If I chose to study for a PGDE in a college or university, I would have to apply for this via UCAS in the same way I applied for my Degree. This would require me to take out further tuition fee and support loans. I would also be given a placement in schools to gain hands on experience.
• SCITT: Training directly with the schools, I am placed within the actual classroom, on the frontlines. I earn a salary and may receive additional help with the cost of the tuition fees. This largely depends on the school and the area in which I am to be teaching.

Give these choices, I feel the best route would be with the School-Centered Initial Teacher Training.



Art Therapist



Another, rather unusual, career track would be into the Health and Social care track as an Art Therapist.

I have already had some experience working with families who have suffered domestic abuse and the breakdown of the family unit due to this abuse. During my time working as a support worker for this charity, I attempted to bring art as a means to relax into the lives of some of the families who were open to the idea.

To become qualified as an Art Therapist, usually a first degree in a relevant subject is required. Then I would need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Fees are somewhat different compared to the teaching qualifications. There is no specific course in a college or university to teach this subject, training would have to be done at NHS institutions who are funding the course.

The student is also required to pay their own tuition fees, unless they're already working within the field then their employer may cover these costs.

Students are trained in the psychology of image making, therapeutic relationships, the importance of boundaries and psychological and psychotherapeutic practice.