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Mariana interview

Today I interviewed an illustrator called Mariana Malhao who was recently featured on Its nice that. I really like her work and was interested to find out about not only her first steps after graduation, but her creative process. She Kindly responded and gave some some really good answers and tips.

The main thing that worries me at this point is how I'm going to stick with a group of creatives even after uni is over, I will have to move back home until I have enough money to move out again but I'm just hoping I am able to stay productive throughout this period.


Hi Mariana

Here are the questions 

- what university did you graduate at? And what were your first steps in terms of trying to look for work, and make illustration/ design your full time job?

Fine Arts School in Porto. Well, in the end of school we always have to chose between a personal project and an internship. I always thought I wanted to do the project but here in porto there's a group called Oficina Arara, they do silkscreen and I always liked their thing. So I decided to propose to do an internship there and they said yes. It was a quite relaxed thing there. It was quite nice that they took theirs interns to Barcelona with them to participate in the Gutter Fest. They go to a lot of independent art festivals, and It was one of my first attempts to have contact with the real world after school. I got more interested in them, at first I was participating in some and afterward I started to organize one with my friend Dylan Silva which is called Sábado-Feira. I Think that was a good start to get motivated, know more people and get them to know me. Also updating the portfolio was a good idea (and business card eheh). Things just started to appear... Well in that internship I also knew a person who worked in a publisher, and once he called me asking if I wanted to illustrate a book, and make some tests first. I was quite lucky.. but I think the whole process lead to that. 

- Any advice for a young creative who's just about to graduate and wants to enter the world of illustration?

Soooomeeee, so, after finishing university I still had a group of friends from there with who I would go around and do stuff. And we were in the same position.. no work. We started to go to those fairs and prepared our material in each others houses. The best thing we did was finding an atelier, its very nice to share a space with friends/creative people. You have contact everyday and get motivated by each other to keep working or doing some collaborations. So... keep doing your work even if you don't have any outside proposals and presenting it to the world can be nice.. those hashtags maybe help sometimes (I'm quite basic with them). Updating your portfolio. Having a business card (it can be a relaxed thing, sometimes we just make a big deal out of it). Hm... participating in fairs, going to those events. Have fun doing your work and be yourself :) Maybe there are more ways, but as an optimistic person I believe that it should happen naturally (but still with work).

- Your work is really nice! How did you develop this style? Has it been through lots of trial and error or have you always made work this way?

Thank you! I think there might have been some trials and error, but it started to appear more when I did some painting because I was using ink for a work and there was spare ink /left over ink and I just painted something fast not to waste it. And I liked that, the result and the process. I Stared to enjoy painting with ink in thin uncommitted way. And color, I really like color mixing. I just started to get comfortable doing this and enjoying the results and settled down to this style maybe eheh (If this was confusing let me know)

- I noticed your work was featured on it's nice that, how did you get in contact them? Or did they notice your work and contact you?
I was all dirty waiting to have bath and start the day (at 11am...) in my robe, quite lazy and received an e-mail from Daphne from It's Nice That saying she liked my work and wanted to have it featured on the website. I was very happy and surprised because she found me on instagram and I never used their hashtag :o so I guess I was quite lucky!

Cheers I appreciate it! 

I hope I could help! And that you don't die with my basic English. Thank you very much! :)

Joe

Some of Marianas work - 

Creative cv

Here is my design for the creative cv. I chose to include the dogs because it shows off some of my practical skills and even if someone can't be bothered to read it they will definitely see the drawing and it might encourage them to have a look at my portfolio

Logo/ More Business card Design ideas

with my logo I wanted to achieve something charming, memorable and recognisable whilst being as simple as possible. Originally I was going to use the other chicken image as my logo because i do quite like it but then I realised logos will probably work best being monochrome so it is easly printable into multiple surfaces and colours.

I wanted it to look hand drawn and slightly humorous, I took the same idea by using a chicken but this version is just much more simple. I drew a few outlines on chickens in china marker, then chose my favourite and added my initials into the middle. I chose the chicken because I spent so long drawing so many of them and I feel like thats what people on the course might know me for drawing this year. Also because I find them funny and the outline is perfect for putting initials inside.

This is a second version with my full name on, again sticking to the handmade look, which reflects my practice. I will use both of these logos and decide which one depending on the format. Sometimes the full name will be necessary but other times just the chicken will be needed.

Considering I have changed my logo this meant it would be wise to update the business card design. 

I have kept it fun and playful, hopefully it looks like something people would want to keep and not throw away. It is simple and includes the logo and all my information on the back yet looks lighthearted and reflects my work and personality  

Instagram

One of the ways I have been putting my work out there is through regular posts on instagram. This can be anything from sketchbook work to finished pieces, i also try and include small bits of my everyday life and travels such as exhibitions and buying prints etc. I do this because I believe it is important to add a bit of character into to the feed so that any potential employers or commissioners can see that you have a sense of humour and are easy to communicate and get along with.

I often get comments from other artists who like my work which sometimes gives me a much needed confidence boost. I also message other artists when ever I see something I really like, often its about what media they have used and the answer usually surprises me so its a great platform for getting tips and tricks from fellow illustrators