The Offhours #28: All the Above
Drawings, Quotes, Lettering & Notes.
👋🏾 Hi, welcome to The Offhours, a share of illustrations, drawings, thoughts and links. Thanks for being here, you’re amazing, tell a friend.
IYKYK
There’s something that feels limiting about titles, and too focused on other. A decent title does the thing where it helps people identify you faster—which is beneficial for making a living, and that whole survival in a capitalist country thing. But, still, not a fan.
I’ve always called, and seen myself as an “Artist”. Going into art school I knew I wanted to focus on Graphic Design, but I had such high interests in painting, printmaking, screen printing and drawing. All of it really. I did it a lot of it before and I just wanted to be immersed in it all and learn new things.
I’ve seen the title “Graphic Designer” evolve and change over my career. When I left college it was with a degree in “Visual Communication Design”. I had to explain to people that it was another way of saying graphic designer. Now there’s all types of little distinctions that help people to stand out, and/or align with niche’s.
The titles of “graphic designer” and “Illustrator” have thankfully benefited me my whole career, but as I try to feed the ~ Artist~ in me, and find balance with my skillsets, I’ve found that “Graphic Artist” more suits the type of work I’m creating, and want to continue doing.
“… graphic artists create visuals that communicate emotions, stories, or ideas through illustrations, characters, cartoons, and more.“
It’s a slight distinction, but a good one. The term popped into my head, and I thought maybe I should look at the differences. The description made so much sense for the work I’ve been doing. Even at face value, it helps to combine the Design and Illustration sides of my work. And it has artist in the title, which brings it home. It all bleeds together anyway.
At the heart of it all is expression and communication. Expression is about understanding yourself, and your abilities, while communication is about understanding people and being able to relate to them. Whether personal work or commercial, that ying and yang is needed. The real distinction I think, is the objectives/goals that are present.
Titles are hard, but being comfortable with the one you embrace is clutch.
🖼️ This Week
Throw back lettering pieces from my daily drawing project. Whatever phrases stood out in tv shows, music, books or conversations—I would save and try to interpret visual energy for. I’m not about hustle culture, but I do enjoy a good song with it mentioned. Probably the last of digging into this set. More collage work and new tings next time.
See the previous posts :
https://offhours.substack.com/p/offhours-weekly-21-lists-of-goals
https://offhours.substack.com/p/offhours-weekly-22-find-a-hook
📸 Linky Links
Listening: “OWN2 - April & Vista“ - Incredible duo, who recently linked with my other favorite group Little Dragon. I have this song on repeat as the weather is warming up.
Reading: “The Rabbit and the Banjo” by Brian Collins, from the creative firm by the same name. A nice lymric about what true problem solving can do. Collins produces some of the dopest projects and brand refreshes around. Very refreshing to see solid research, quirk and sharp design combine.
Reading: “Bring Your Vector Art To Life” - Nice tutorial on adding textures to vector art in Illustrator using a masking approach.
Watching: “Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze in Studio” - First time seeing her work come across my feed. The figures and how she allows them to move across the paper is really engaging.
Stay Wonderful.