Personal Branding

One aspect of the animation industry that is extremely important is personal branding. This is the image that will stick in a person's mind after they've seen your work. In my case, the goal isn't to freelance after university, but having branding behind me means that if I ever needed to freelance, or chose to start up my own small business, I have all of the logos and fonts ready to go, with only some minor tweaks potentially needed.

Business cards are a key part of putting yourself out there in any industry, not just animation. They allow you to quickly and easily give someone your information without the risk of getting anything wrong, such as writing down the wrong digit in a phone number, or mis-spelling something in your email address. A business card works to show your brand, as well as who you are as an artist and which areas you specialise in.

Having looked at a variety of different business cards for people in the animation industry, be it for animating, or character design, I was able to work out what sort of thing I wanted to achieve in my business card. I wanted it to deliver my information correctly and professionally, while also looking fun and portray who I am as a person, and the sort of art I like to create. My main source of inspiration for my business card was from the artist, Erin Leffler, and Instagram artist who works for both ‘Lucas Film’ and ‘Marvel merchandising’. I have followed Erin on Instagram for a number of years and she is a constant source of inspiration to me in terms of the level I aspire to be at in the industry, as well as in the companies I aspire to work for. From looking at her business card, I knew I wanted to ensure I included some of my own art work on what will be the front of the card. This not only shows companies my brand, but also means they can see my artwork from the start, and immediately know my skill set.