find me here now!

I am so bad at getting myself to do useful things. I will sit around in the mornings before work literally willing myself to get up and get dressed and won't be able to even stand up. So naturally I'm not the best person at being motivated, but I do get inspired really easily. I'm hoping that if I can keep myself organised for now and inspire myself using moodboards etc, I'll get the energy to do self-motivated projects. There's so much that I want to do - and have to do if I want to get anywhere - so I have to force myself. I've just finished three years of university so I think it's natural for most people to want to relax a bit after that but I know that if I stop, I just won't get started again! I'm not going to be naive and think that I'll do everything that I want to but I have to try at least. Anyway, rants aside here's a few things that brought me to this post. 

This is the first post on my remodelled 'lifestyle' blog - I'll still be writing about illustration but now that I'm no longer a student I wanted this to be a much more personal space for me to blog. It's pretty terrifying that I'm not a student any more and I have to try and find a real job (eek!) but I have to stay inspired and motivated.

The previous Sunday Laura and I went to Vintage Village in Stockport's Victorian market hall. It's such a good quality fair, home to great vintage and craft traders and as always we had a blast! Vintage Village is on the second Sunday of every month and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. This Saturday (23rd) is National Market day so there's going to be a little bit from all the different markets that are offered at the hall, including Vintage Village and The Handmade Market, which I've taken part in before and actually have a table at again this Sunday! So make sure to pop down this weekend for the fun of the fairs.

If you know me, you'll know I love my dog and I've become obsessed with everything to do with dogs, so I went on a little mission at VV to find the best dog themed items.

After my portfolio viewing with Stuart of Thoughtful, I got to thinking about how my work has been portrayed in the photos I've taken. For the book I really wanted the foods to be in 'setting' but Stuart said it would make a big difference to photograph them in a more minimal setting, so this is what I've done using the mini-cove. I've put a vintage-effect filter over them so they 'match' the rest of my work but I don't even think they need it. The only problem I have is you can see how dirty the mini-cove is in most of them! I'm quite happy with how they've turned out though, mostly, and I'll be able to put them in my portfolio so I don't have to drag the real things around. I'm going to display them for the deadline and possibly in the show as I think it shows a good contrast between the foods in context, out of context and the real things.

Reflecting on my last blog post about my hopes, fears and opportunities, I was definitely in the ‘hopes’ frame of mind. I don’t think that’s a bad thing – I’m an optimistic person but right now the influence of looming deadlines and the show are making me a little bit fearful. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in the past few months, finding and keeping my style in a way I really enjoy working has been a big step because it means that everything I make is fun and I think that’s so important. Making my book has been challenging for me because I had a really clear vision of what I wanted from it and I think that put a bit too much pressure on it, but the main thing is that it puts some of my work into a clearer context.

 To contrast the vivid colours and patterns that are non-stop throughout the pages of my book, I’ve also experimented with photographing my work in a more plain setting using the mini-cove and some gorgeous 50s style melamine crockery (generously lent to me from Mr Murray) and I love the outcome of those, too. I think with the book I was so obsessed that the cakes were in the right ‘setting’ that it ended up being a bit over the top and with the more minimal photography there’s more chance to let the work shine. I will be presenting the prints of these on the deadline along with the book and the pieces themselves so it should be a good way of seeing them out of context, in contexts and in person!

I’m really excited about the show – I hope to have a full sized fridge in my exhibition space with all the new foods I’ve made inside. I’m a bit worried about how it will pan out but I have a month now to make it come together, fingers crossed! Along with the fridge I’d like to have a decadent vintage tea party with all my cakes, that’s something that will be more doable at this point in time so that’s why I’m thinking more about my fridge. After that we’ll be packing up the show and shipping it off to London for D&AD New Blood – that’s right, we’re actually going! So I’m really hopeful about exhibiting there and making some connections when we’re down there. I was really unprepared when we went to London the last time so I really want to make sure I’m going to be busy meeting people in June.

Something I’d really love to do is work with fashion and advertising – it’s definitely something I’m going to look into after graduation when I start to set myself up with my shop properly. I have had so much fun making wacky costumes and accessories so that’s something I want to keep on doing. I’d have loved to keep my shop running through this year but I’ve just been too busy to make stuff all the time alongside the work I’ve been making for FMP.

A couple of weeks ago I had a table at a craft fair on my own but it was a total letdown, the weather was awful so hardly anyone turned up, I only made about £10 and the table was £20 so it was just a complete waste of time and energy. I would like to do more craft fairs and not let that one bury my confidence but I want to focus on the aesthetic of my work and my audience and honing my skills so I can make a really diverse product line. I’m really excited about things I have planned out in my head, I just need to make sure I keep the drive and energy I have had this year to keep making and keeping it enjoyable.

Ultimately, that’s what all my fears boil down to. I’ve been asked the following question roughly 6 thousand times over the past few weeks and the thing that scares me is that I truly do not know the answer: ‘so what are you going to do after uni?’, I keep saying I would really love to keep doing this and that but honestly everything costs money and that’s what worries me. It’s all very well and good to create things to sell in my shop and make more costumes and work to show to prospective advertising agencies etc but all these things are costly and there’s always that niggling voice in the back of my mind that will be telling me I have to ‘find a real job’, eek!

The thing that’s comforting in these times of doubt is hearing stories from other illustrators. I remember the Lord Whitney talk when they were telling us about how the first months after graduating they had temp jobs to support them because they couldn’t afford to do work for people otherwise, they said that there’s a difficult balance between being able to do the work you love and getting the bread and butter money as well.

There are a few steps that I need to take now – gaining the confidence to be more outgoing with presenting my work to other creatives and (gasp!) potential clients, carrying on pushing my self-promotion until absolutely everyone has heard of and is sick of the words ‘Made by Millie’ and making myself as accessible and diverse as possible. I think one really good thing about making the animation for FMP is that I realised that I can actually do things like that if I put my mind to it – at first I really hated the idea that we had to make an animation because ‘I’m rubbish with technology!’ and in the end I really enjoyed it and it’s something I can do more of in the future because I made myself learn how to do it. The most important thing is showing people that you can do anything, and realising that actually, you probably can.

Baked by Millie from Millie Connors on Vimeo.

As part of my Final Major Project, I have to make some form of animation to go onto my website. At first I was a bit wary because I've already got quite a bit to do, but after some thought, I've decided that anything that could potentially give me an extra skill and more versatile to clients can't be a bad thing!


So, I've decided to do an animation that will tie in with my FMP, which is a cookbook featuring my felt cakes. It's going to be a stop-motion which goes through all the steps of my Vanilla Cupcake recipe. I am in the process of making all the 'ingredients', which will include eggs, flour, butter etc. I plan to use my DSLR, a tripod, and a long-distance remote, for extra ease and to eliminate camera shake. Rosie has very kindly agreed to let me use her beautiful kitchen and have her as my wonderful model once again for shooting! 


The animation will go through the process of assembling the ingredients together, mixing everything together (following the recipe), spooning the 'batter' into the felt cupcake cases, placing the tray in the oven and the cupcakes 'rising', then taking them out to cool, piping on the buttercream, adding sprinkles and then enjoying at a tea party!


I've still got a few elements to make, but I just wanted to show what I have so far. I'm feeling really optimistic about the animation after my burst of inspiration and I’m really excited to see how it goes. I want there to be a mixture of made and real objects, as with my book, for example I’ve made a felt kitchen timer. I’m not really sure how well it reads as a kitchen timer when it is static, but I’ve made a really quick (and messy!) stop-motion on my phone as an example of how it will move. This will be for when the cakes are baking.

Assembling 'cupcake cases'

Finished cases, two eggs and one cupcake!

Spatula, wooden spoon, kitchen timer, butter, knife.

setting up - looking nervous!

being in the way...

On Friday we visited Serpents Tail, which is a lovely independent publisher with a commitment to publish non-mainstream books and have won numerous awards. I felt lucky to have been able to speak with Niamh Murray, the Marketing Director, and she told us a lot about how they work with illustrators and other artists on their book covers.
She told us about what happens when they decide to commission an artist, and gave us an example of the cover design brief. It was interesting to see how the cover is briefed to artists and then pitched to a team, much like a group tutorial!

We were also told about how now, when artists are commissioned to design a book cover, they need to take into consideration how the thumbnail of the book cover will look on Amazon, for example the text would need to be quite prominent so it’s legible on such a small thumbnail. It’s amazing how much things change through technology – I never would have thought of that but obviously because Amazon will be one of their biggest distributors that will be a really important factor.

Niamh discussed how in the pitch the artist needs to be thick skinned and they need to be able to yield to suggestions of changes. Obviously if you’ve worked really hard on creating a beautiful cover you’ll be a bit reluctant to change it, but these people know what sells and that’s the important part. Then Niamh was able to get the art director of the company, Peter Dyer, to have a quick scan of our portfolios.

He spoke with us all individually, which was really kind of him considering he was probably very busy. When my turn came he looked quickly through the pages of my portfolio, and said that his favourite part of my work was the hand-stitched type featuring in the cookbook and on my Craig Oldham poster, which I don’t think is one of my best pieces but I’m now glad that I left it in my portfolio! He was telling me about how they’re doing a book at the moment about a family that’s falling apart, and he’s considering doing an ironic ‘home sweet home’ sampler with the stitches coming loose, which I really related to and thought it would be a really great response to the story.

Peter also said that some more quirky advertising agencies might like my characters – mostly the ice cream man - and that I should try those and also fashion magazines. It made me think that I really enjoyed making the ice cream costume and that I’d love to make more costumes and definitely a bit less lo-fi. I also realised that lettering is really important for my portfolio and it’s definitely something that I think about last in my work. It was a really useful portfolio visit and I’m grateful that he could take the time to speak to me.

On Thursday afternoon we ventured over to Somerset House for Pick Me Up 2012. I didn’t know much about what was going on before we went, but needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. The graphic arts fair housed an exhibition of work by selected rising stars of the graphic arts world, which were all great, I always love to see up and coming artists’ work and see what is popular.

After going around the exhibition we decided to go outside and have something to eat, so I was glad I got the multiple entry pass! So useful, and then we went upstairs to where the art collectives and galleries had exhibition spaces, and again they were all really amazing, there was work on display and on sale from illustrators that I love including Gemma Correll and Jessica Dance. Lizzy Stewart was also there – me and Laura had a bit of a cringe moment when we saw her work and started squealing and cooing and then realised she was stood right behind us! Very embarrassing.

There was a lot of amazing work; it was so difficult to walk around knowing I couldn’t afford to buy anything! It was also really interesting to see how the work had been set up – it gave me a lot of ideas for my final major project! I definitely want to visit Pick Me Up again next year and perhaps one day get involved in being in the fair (wishful). Unfortunately we didn’t get to see anyone give a talk but it was still a great visit and I really enjoyed it.

On Thursday we were lucky enough to go to the Nobrow shop in Shoreditch and have a little look around their studio and talk to Dan about how they started up and how they mean to go on. As most of you already know, Nobrow started off with the magazine, which usually had a theme and was a collaboration with other illustrators and artists to showcase their work. They intended to publish this annually, and things just took off from there.

Now they print Nobrow Press books in runs of anywhere between 1,500 to 6,000 copies and they’re distributed around the globe. They still print small runs of handmade books, which fall under the category of Nobrow Small Press. Everything in the shop is absolutely beautiful and unique, it’s hard to look around without buying anything! We were given a quick tour of the studio where they print and the stockroom which was piled high to the ceiling with boxes of books ready to be distributed.

They’re promoting Hilda and the Midnight Giant currently, and for the occasion they commissioned Felt Mistress to create a gorgeous giant Hilda plush doll! It was great to see it in the flesh as I love Felt Mistress’ work so much, and I also really like the way they work with artists like this.

Nobrow have just launched Nobrow France, where they publish French editions of their most popular books, and they also stock lots of beautiful French children’s books in the shop. The French children’s books are so gorgeous and sophisticated, it’s really interesting to think how children there are so much more visually stimulated than children here, who seem to be more literarily stimulated.

It was a great visit as I’ve never seen the shop before, and it was interesting to see how they work in the studio – it was really funny how they had loud jazz music playing as people were working away on their macs!

When we arrived to London on Wednesday, it was a bit of a mad rush to get to the hostel, drop off our suitcases and then go to DDB advertising agency. We eventually got there (a little bit late) but nobody really noticed so it was fine! We met with Daniel Moorey, the art buyer and he had quite a lot of interesting bits of information which will be helpful I think after we graduate in knowing the sorts of things that people of those companies are interested in and looking for.

Firstly he told us a little bit about the company and some of their top clients, and spoke a little bit about how they work with artists – they work with artists around the globe, so contact is largely via email and on the phone. I think it’s really interesting how much technology has changed the way these things happen, for example he was saying how when they work with older illustrators, sometimes they can be a bit frustrated when they’re asked to tweak their design, as a few years ago the case would be that they would send the original artwork by post so if anything had to be changed it had to be a fairly large part or there wouldn’t be much point.

Then he spoke about how they find the artists to commission – he had a list of bookmarks for illustrators, photographers, graphic designers and typographers, either their individual website or their agents’. He said he remembers roughly artists’ styles and so when they have to commission someone he has an idea in his head straight away of who he wants, and then it’s just a matter of contacting them to see if they’re available.

Daniel was absolutely lovely and helpful, and he said that nowadays it’s much less likely for a client to refuse an illustration on their advertisement; it used to be that adverts were largely photographical but now people are a lot more flexible when it comes to illustration. He also told us about what he likes to see when people send him links to their portfolios, not to make an email that looks very busy, just a simple, large font that addresses who the person is, if they have an agent who their agent is, a link to their website and possibly a few low-res images that will give a quick indication of their style.

We've just got back from London, and the trip was absolutely fantastic. After fretting for ages that we wouldn't have enough portfolio visits, I decided to just let it go and enjoy the trip, and we squeezed in so much stuff! We went to DDB Advertising agents, the Nobrow shop, Pick me up, Serpents tail publishers and the V&A Museum of Childhood to name just a few! I will blog about all of these important visits but first, some self-indulgent photos of the trip. I love taking pictures anywhere but I always feel really inspired in lovely places.