Unit 11 Freelance work in Art and Design

This is a chart showing my skills and traits. It shows the potential employment jobs that I could have in the future and the specific skills needed to be used in that department. It also shows the documents needed to help develop the specific job.

Research requirements for a freelance business

A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a person who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. A company or an agency that resells their labour and that of others to its clients with or without project management and labour contributed by its regular employees sometimes represents these workers. Others are completely independent. "Independent contractor" would be the term used in a higher register of English.

Fields in which freelancing is common include: music, journalism, publishing, screenwriting, filmmaking, acting, photojournalism, cosmetics, fragrances, editing, photography, event planning, event management, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, copywriting, computer programming, web design, graphic design, website development, consulting, tour guiding, video editing, video production, translating, illustrating and micro jobs.

Tips for a successful freelance business

Maintain your focus

Freelancers say that the simplest way to maintain your focus is by reminding yourself that your financial and career fates are now solely in your hands; spouses and significant others can be helpful for such reminders as well. You’ll want to establish a solid book of business, enjoyable and reliable clients, and a significant backlog of work before turning off the afterburners for a while and relishing your newly established independence.

“I know the work I’m doing now is important to me, and I’m the one in control and in charge and calling the shots – and for me, that’s what helps keep the focus and motivation going, so I can continue to do that,” says Thomas Ingrassia, a former higher-education administrator who became a freelance entertainment manager five years ago in Holden, Mass.

Expect to be lonely at first

Especially if you’re moving from an office, factory or store full of people into a home office, the shift in the nature of your daily exposure to other people can be jarring. Even if you’ve got family or roommates around you in your new setting, you’ll be conducting almost all of your business on the phone or online.

“It’s a shock, even if you’re expecting it,” says Ted Demopoulos, who has been freelancing as an IT consultant for 16 years in Durham, N.H. “You’re not working toward a common cause with others. You’ve got to realize that freelancing isn’t for everyone.”

Antidotes to this awareness include spending more time with people outside the work environment, networking with other freelancers who are experiencing the same isolation, and optimizing the advantages of working alone – think of all the time you’re not wasting around the water cooler.

Solve the cash-flow challenge

You’ll find out quickly that ensuring consistent cash flow is the biggest problem for most freelancers. You can’t rely on a regular paycheck to arrive like clockwork. Cash advances for assignments or projects are rare. Typically you’re working for days, weeks or months to produce an acceptable product, and only then does the client’s 30-, 60- or 90-day clock start ticking toward paying you.

There are ways to combat this vulnerability. You can ask some key or supportive clients for quick turnarounds on invoices, for example. Photographer Steve Kovich’s solution to this problem, when he began freelancing two decades ago, was to quickly work up a financial reserve so that the vagaries of short-term cash flow wouldn’t bother him or leave him working hand-to-mouth.

“I try to keep a six-month buffer,” says the 42-year-old, St. Petersburg, Fla.-based photographer, “and I put it in a CD account so at least it’s making a tiny bit of interest.”

Prioritize marketing

Many freelancers say the biggest surprise to them has been how much marketing is required to keep their enterprise afloat and advancing. Client lists continually shift, even for the best freelancers, because of changes at their clients and other factors out of their control. No matter how good your business is now, marketing and selling yourself to potential new clients should be an important part of your routine.

And make sure your marketing is smart and targeted, not scattershot. “I only go after companies that are within an hour of where I’m located, because in my business, having face time is important,” says Josh Feinberg, owner of Computer Consulting 101 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Limit your exposure to major clients

We often say that your current customer is your best customer for a variety of reasons. However, a dilemma that eventually confronts most freelancers is how dependent to become on one or two large clients. When the relationship is humming and you’re fielding all the work you can from your biggest customer or two, the temptation can be amazingly great to make yourself essentially an outsourced arm of these cooperative clients.

But what happens when your key contact at the client unexpectedly leaves or is fired, or the customer’s business suddenly turns bad, or any manner of other ill fortune befalls your sugar daddy? Then, your dependence could quickly sink your freelancing business.

For this reason, many freelancers limit themselves to tying up no more than half, or maybe a slight majority, of their time and revenue potential with their largest client or two. “And what’s almost more important than that percentage,” says Demopoulos, “is that you have at least a few other big clients available to you. They don’t have to be ones that you’re necessarily doing a lot of work for right now, but maybe you have in the past or could in the future – if you need to turn to them because your biggest client disappears.”

There are some possible options to do after I have completed my unit at collage. The options list below...

1. Study a higher education qualification full or part-time at a university or college

2. Go on to an Apprenticeship, Advanced Apprenticeship or Higher Apprenticeship

3. Study full-time or part-time at a further education college

4. Get a job

My personal option would be to go to University and study Computer Games Design course at the University of South Wales. But if I were to set up a freelance business, it would include creating multiple games on Flash Professional, Unity 3D and Scratch. Hopefully the multiple games that would be produced could be found on multiple free gaming sites such as 'Friv', 'Miniclip' and so on. Hopefully  the games produced will interset people and would praise the game(s), which could make some game companies interested in giving me a job. One potential way to make money is to get a part-time job working as a waiter, a checkout etc to make money weekly, which would be put towards the monthly salary of the flat and the rest for food, drink, comfort and so on. Another potential way to make money is to stay and live with my parents, since I wouldn't have to get a job, pay monthly bills, keep buying food and get my own place. Though after a while my parents may criticise me for being lazy, not getting a job etc and may ask me to leave the household. This probably wouldn't happen though as my main intention is to go to University, complete the 3 year course and get employed soon after. This way, I would make more money, do exactly what I want (Video Artist) and would keep me busy 10/6 (10 hours a day, 6 days a week).

Research marketing and networking requirements for your freelance business and organise progression opportunities

Marketing Managers are responsible for a wide variety of tasks within the complex and competitive modern business environment. A Marketing Manager will be responsible for everything from planning strategies to promoting a product or service to as wide an audience as possible by means of events, websites and advertising.

All Marketing Managers play an important role in the life of a business organisation. They usually specialise in a particular product or market, such as financial services, fashion or ‘fast moving consumer goods’. As part of the job, Marketing Managers are required to undertake tasks which range from the identification of target markets and the promotion of products and services. However, a Marketing Manager will have to carry out all these tasks whilst bearing in mind the budget and time scales available to the company.

Marketing managers typically start on a salary somewhere between £25,000 and £40,000. However, as with any career, the wage you earn will depend on experience and qualifications. Nevertheless, as one gains experience, the possibilities are endless. A senior Marketing Manager can expect to earn up to £50,000 per year.

Typical responsibilities include:

• Analysing and researching market trends
• Identifying target markets
• Organising marketing campaigns
• Managing budgets
• Producing or commissioning promotional material
• Managing the productivity of campaigns
• Delegating tasks to marketing executives
• Communicating information with colleagues and market actors
• Attending conferences, product launches and networking events

Most employers will expect marketing managers to have graduated in a business or marketing-related degree and to have completed a professional qualification such as a Chartered Institute of Marketing Professional Diploma or an Institute of Direct Marketing Diploma in Direct and Interactive Marketing. Competence in a foreign language will invariably be a welcome addition to your CV.

Marketing managers need to have an excellent knowledge of the product or service they represent. Other important skills include:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Good organisational skills
• A willingness to meet deadlines effectively
• A highly-motivated attitude when dealing with the tasks at hand
• Excellent team-leadership skills
• High confidence levels
• The ability to thrive in pressured or stressful situations
• The ability to solve problems as they arise
• Astute budgeting skills
• A committed and flexible attitude to the job
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Good networking abilities
• Good attention to detail
• The ability to multi-task

It goes without saying that experience is essential in order to succeed in such a competitive field. Prospective Marketing Managers will be expected to have significant experience working as a marketing executive or other related role. However, firms will look favourably on any evidence, which suggests that a prospective employee has thrived whilst working within a position of responsibility.

Marketing Managers are employed in a wide variety of companies and organisations. A Marketing Manager may be employed by any sort of body - from a charity or a small business to a large multinational company. The majority of Marketing Managers work in-house, focusing on the marketing of one particular product or service. As a Marketing Manager, you might also have the opportunity to work at the freelance level. This can be more lucrative. However, you should only undertake this version of the job if you have formed excellent contacts and have gained considerable experience.

Marketing Managers are employed in a wide variety of companies and organisations. A Marketing Manager may be employed by any sort of body - from a charity or a small business to a large multinational company. The majority of Marketing Managers work in-house, focusing on the marketing of one particular product or service. As a Marketing Manager, you might also have the opportunity to work at the freelance level. This can be more lucrative. However, you should only undertake this version of the job if you have formed excellent contacts and have gained considerable experience.

As a Marketing Manager the opportunities available to you for career progression are substantial and you should make the most of these. Successful Marketing Managers often progress to senior management positions. With further experience one could then go on to become a marketing director who oversees the entire marketing department.

10 Year Plan Template

This is my 10 year plan template. Shows what I plan to do in the future. Although the timestream is larger then 10 years, this is because after I would get a job, the years after that would be very similar, that's why it is more like 40 years rather then 10. I am happy with my plans for the future, whether I will achieve them is yet to be seen, but at least I have my ideal future planned out.

Artist Statement

My work consists of many different formats, from Cinema 4D, to Photoshop, to Flash Professional. Many of my artwork, along with many other pieces of artwork relating the industry of video games, is not being portrayed as a piece of art. I personally disagree with those views as with no artwork to show off for our games, there will no creativity to show off to the potential investors, game designers and so on. Every person linked in the games industry has to have some sort of creativity.

Since I am of a young age in the gaming industry, my pieces of artwork are very different from each other, since I am still at collage. From all the work that has been created and posted on blogger, it shows that I have a creative mind and can create and design many ideas and creations, which is, of course, very important in the gaming industry since there are almost an infinite number of ideas. It is difficult as to how to exactly rate or say how good/bad my work is, since I have plenty of years ahead to say how my work, designs and models are.  

Unit 51 3D Computer Modelling

Cinema 4D Tutorials

This is the completed 3D shapes for the first tutorial out of two. In this exercise we made different 3D shapes using the Cinema 4D software that include shadows from the created shapes and tones. This exercise is very helpful to help create images and structures in 3D, which is essential to any game company. I found this particular exercise fairly easy, although there are 1 or 2 moments where I struggled, to make the cube solid and have tones on it and the placement of the shadows, which was affected where 'the light' was.

1. Add cube from the primitive shapes menu, all selected primitive objects will be auto positioned at '0' XYZ coordinate. 

2. Now add Sphere object from the primitive shapes menu (the Sphere will initially be hidden behind the cube) and position 300cm along the Z axis, entering values in the coordinate manager. 

3. Now add a cone object from the primitive shapes menu and position -300cm along the Z axis, entering values in the coordinate manager.

4. From the object > scene menu, select a floor object.

5. Select the cube, sphere and cone in the objects manager. (Either drag or shift key selection).

6. Now enter 100cm on the Y axis position in the coordinates manager.

7. Go to the materials manager, (bottom left menu on the screen). Select new material. Then double click on the material thumbnail to open materials editor.

8. In the material editor, ensure the colour box is checked, then select a red colour by moving the slider.

9. In the material editor, click on the reflection box and adjust brightness to 20%. Then close the material editor.

10. Now drag the red materials thumbnail from the material manager to the cube icon in the objects manager.

11. Repeat step 7 to 10 to create a blue material and a green material and apply these materials to the sphere and cone objects in the objects material. (The materials thumbnail from the material manager could also be placed directly onto the objects in the main view).

12. Go to the materials manager and create a new material. Select colour from the left menu, then click on texture > surface > checkerboard.

13. Select the reflection and apply a 20% reflection to the checkerboard texture.

14. Add an omni light object.

15. Select the light object in the objects manager, then position the light object using the coordinates below. (Input these values into the coordinates manager).

16. In the object attributes manager, increase the light intensity to 150% and apply a soft shadow map.

This is the completed iPod from the second tutorial out of two. In this exercise we had to create an iPod using cinema 4D as if it were sitting on a table with the help of the tones and lighting. Like the previous task, I found this tutorial very useful to help create 3D objects and show them as if they were real. I found this particular task quite difficult and time consuming, but that was mostly due to human error/misjudgement. However, I managed to completed the task with ease once the problem was solved.

After the successful completion of the previous two tasks, I attempted to create a 3D image of my own. I attempted to make a 'Tie Fighter' from the Star Wars movie. I think that this attempt was quite successful. On the plus side, the overall design of the Tie Fighter, the background and the shadow effects are good. However I think that the ship design could be improved, that was due to lack of experience in using Cinema 3D. The background also helps the overall design of this project to show the Tie Fighter as if it were flying on a planet.

After more successful attempts in making 3D shapes, objects and vehicles (ish), I decided to use my improved skills with Cinema 4D to create another vehicle. This particular design is Jim Clark's F1 lotus car in the 1967 F1 world championship. I am particularly pleased with the overall design of this 3D model. On the positive side, it does bare a striking resemblance as to what I wanted to make, with the body, wheels and so on looking very alike to the real life pictures. On the negative side, however, it could have been improved, particularly with the design of the engine, which lacks detail from the image(s). Overall, though, I think this task was a success and, with further training, could solve the engine detail.

These images are taken from the latest task that was given to us. In this, we had to create some glasses of some sort from a new technique. I found this task difficult to begin with, but after solving one part, this task was easy from then on. I am relatively pleased with the final outcomes of each of the glass sets. There were some problems however. First, although the glass sets are good, I couldn't help but feel that it could be better, such as improving the shadow detail and the glass itself. The glass bowl doesn't have a shadow. That may be because of the position of the Omni Light or that the glass bowl itself isn't that well designed. Overall, I have mixed views on these designs, seeing as the task is completed, but that the designs could be/look better.

After continuous success in designing vehicles into 3D models, I decided to try and make a character in 3D. My character of choice is 'Wreck-It Ralph'. I have strong mixed views on this design. On the positive side, I am very happy with it considering it is my first attempt at making a character in 3D. His feet are designed well in my opinion, as are his head and clothes. I am also pleased with the shape of his body, although I did receive help in doing so. On the negative side, I am a little disappointed with the design of his hands, not particularly the fingers, but the thumbs and the detail on the hands also disappoints me. However, seeing as this is my first attempt at making a character in 3D, I am happy with the overall results. 

These two images above are from a task provided to use. It shows a glowing armoured sphere with unique patterns on it. The creation of this 3D object came from a tutorial online. I couldn't fully complete the object from the tutorial because the person who was creating it had a few more features, such as 'MoGraph', which was unavailable. Unfortunately, two of the features on the system are important to make the overall image similar to the one in the tutorial, it includes the yellow lights glowing, with the glow being shown on the floor.

Despite the missing features, I decided to carry on with the tutorial, because if I didn't it would have been a waste of time. Overall, I am relatively happy with the final outcome, although the missing features on the sphere does disappoint me. This tutorial helped with in how to edit an object and make it look sharp and tidy.

This is an example of a character created in 'Cinema 4D'. There are already sketches of this character in my sketchbook. The character is a villager from China/Vietnam and has learned in the ways in the martial art skills. This character is the one mentioned in my 10 page document in a different unit. Although this is a example of the character, it is not the selected character design, as the selected character design is shown later.

This is another example of a character design, however this example is an enemy for a game which relates to another unit. This character clearly shows a pirate of some sort with a shotgun. There are more different pirates mentioned in the other unit, in that one has a flail and another has a sword. Like the previous design, this is not the final character design. To a certain extent, I am happy with this design, especially the hat and the shotgun. But I feel that it was a little too easy due to the use of the 'figure' shape.

The two images above are an object called a 'Portal Gun' from the popular game franchise 'Portal'. I managed to create this object by using the 'Bezier tool', hence why there is an image of the portal gun on a plane with the object. Once I did each part of the gun using the tool, I rotated each piece to make it look more similar to the gun. I also added the colours as close as possible. I am happy with the final outcome of the images since it was my first time using the 'Bezier tool', but it could still be better in that I could have added the glow effect on the core of the gun, since I only discovered the glow effect recently.

This is a character design by using the 'Bezier tool' of 'Sack-Boy' from the popular game franchise 'Little Big Planet'. This took quite some to do since it was my first time at both uploading an image onto a plane and using the 'Bezier tool'. This took some time to do since it was my first time at using the bezier tool but I think the final outcome is very good. I am very happy with the final outcome since if people were to say who it was, they would easily recognise the object unless they were unaware of the game. 

This is a level example made on cinema 4D. It shows the character crossing a bridge with his weapons in possession. This level design took some time to complete mostly due to the river length and the design and editing of the huts in the background. Overall, I am quite happy with the final outcome, although it is still a little too simple, but I still like the overall design of the level, with the textures of the bridge, river, the sky to name some features that I am happy with the composition and overall design of the level in which the elements are brought together nicely to make the level example look good. 

This is another design from Cinema 4D. It shows a 'Pokemon Battle' between two Pokemon. I am very happy with the overall design of both the environment and each of the Pokemon shown. It took about 3 hours to complete this with each Pokemon taking an hour and a half to complete. 

Research on 3D characters and Environments

Most 3d artists’ portfolios have at least a beautiful woman character in it and it will be no surprise that you’ll find a lot of them here. Now besides the curious gazing at these 3d pictures, you must realize the sisyphean work that is being put in these characters, the long hours to create the render and then applying the high quality texture to get incredible the incredible results illustrated below.

Below is a object created to look like a 'Lightsaber' from the film franchise 'Star Wars'. There is a tutorial online on how the glow on the Lightsaber blade is done, with the link below. The Lightsaber handle was created handmade by myself. I am very happy with the overall look of the Lightsaber, particularly the handle since it was made myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOkSRuUHe-4

These images above are the handmade 'Lightsaber' that I created on Cinema 4D. The lightsaber blade was initially made from a tutorial, shown with the link above. The handle, however, was handmade using a series of techniques learnt over the past few weeks (such as the extract tool, the editing tool etc). Overall, I am extremely happy with the final outcome, since the images above show that I used the correct tools and techniques to create the lightsaber. There are two things that I am not happy with unfortunately. The first feature that I am not happy with is the lightsaber blade itself, is slightly shorter then the normal blade, which isn't noticeably at first but is obvious with more in-depth analysis. The second feature that I am unhappy with is the lightsaber blade's colour is not reflected on the ground surface as well as in the link. This is because he had a feature on his system that i didn't have.

These images above are the many different positions of the character. It shows that the final character is based on a warrior from Vietnam/China. The silver cone on his right hand is a shield while the cone on the left hand is the staff. I found this task to be not too difficult due to the lessons I learnt on extracting and selecting individual spaces. Overall, I am happy with the final outcome since I intended to fit with the character design of the game concept for Unit 68. Although I admit that the design of the character is simply, that is what I intended to work with the character concept.

These images above are the environments that have been created in Cinema 4D. It also includes the character to really bring the environment to life. Overall I am very happy with the final outcome of these images. The tower had parts extracted from it to create multiple surfaces. They were extracted again to create a barrier which carries a crossbow. The characters shown are the enemies in the game, known as the 'Pirates'. Some are controlling the crossbows and others are throwing boulders. The background and surface also work with the tower, since the floor looks like a grassy terrain, while the sky is to show that the tower is big. There are some features in the images that I am unhappy with however. One feature that I am unhappy with are the design of the crossbows on the tower. The design of them is far too simple and flat. Another feature I am unhappy with is although I like the design of the tower, the entrances to the tower are either too small or too untidy.

This is a Mindmap to show the features most crucial to the 3D Modelling and their designs. To create a successful 3D model, the creator of the image needs to think about the above features, for example, does the background combine well with the characters' emotions? Does the Omni Light need to be repositioned to bring out the best look of the city? Are the textures correct on each specific bit of the 3D Model? These need to be analysed correctly and, if possible, need fixing, otherwise you will get criticized and told to redesign the model, causing more stress and so on.

Over the course of these two + months, I have learnt many new techniques that have and will help me develop many different ideas and models. Thanks to Cinema 4D and the different tutorials, I was able to create many different models, characters and environments that contribute and show my work. Overall, I am happy with the final outcomes of my creations on Cinema 4D, both the character/environment and general creations (at the time they were made). The character, though I admit was a simple/easy to do design due to using the 'Figure' object on Cinema 4D, I made many modifications to the object such as changing/adding materials, extracting parts of the object and adding effects to work with the object(s), such as the staff, shield, hat and so on. The environment was more difficult and time consuming then the character. This was mostly down to being too much content to function at the same speed, but it was also down to the environment itself, since there was much extracting to do on the tower and adding the enemy characters on the tower, eight on each floor. Though there one or two untidy features on the environment, I am still happy with the work that I produced considering the time I have used Cinema 4D and its functions.