D A N I E L H E A T H
Today we were lucky enough to have a lecture with bespoke artist and designer Daniel Heath. I found his lecture really inspiring. He talked to us about his work for an hour or so, and was really honest about how he got to where he is now. It was exciting to hear about his journey and he gave us some top tips. One of the main tips he gave to us was that if you spend money on anything, make sure it it photographing your work. High quality photographs play an enormous role in getting your work out there. Another point he made, was that if you want people to see your work, you need to make it easy for publishers to feature in their magazines. This means the less work they have to do, the more likely they will feature your work. In other words, if you send them your high quality photos, and even go as far as writing a blurb about your work and sending it to them, they are more likely to put your work out there. Following on from this, it is a good idea to keep your contacts from university. These are the people who will be able to help you later on. Daniel told us how one of his friends did photography, another could make table legs from wood, etc and these contacts have been vital to his work.
To be successful, another key point he made was that most projects are worth doing for the press, they may not necessarily make you a profit, you may only break even, but they are worth doing strictly for publicity. You need to get your work out there through as many opportunites as possible. Its all about word of mouth. Another good way to show your work, is through London Design Festival, and simialar festivals which enable you to meet other designers for possible collaborations, and to get your work known.
I found Daniel's lecture so inspiring that I decided to go and speak to him some more afterwards. I wanted to find out more about being self employed, do you get lonely? Is it hard making every decision on your own? I spoke to him for about half an hour and he gave me some good answers. He told me that it isnt really lonely, as you are always working with others to produce you work, he said that sometimes it is nice to be on your own after a busy week.
I have found the whole experience really invaluable and it has inspired me to think about pursuing self employment; an avenue which I thought i'd never go down. Another point which I took from the lecture, is that being self employed is quite exciting. It is possible to travel through work, gain experience from everywhere, and work with many different people. Each project is new and different from the last one. I find this aspect appealing as I like change, and I work much better when I am challenged.
Today has definitely given me some food for thought.
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