Task 2: Scan the horizon

Where would I like to work, short & long term 
Long term, not that interested in animation. To be honest. The last 3 years have taught me that my mental health should be the priority. Working in the creative sector with all of its job insecurities makes me anxious. I also don't think I'm good enough witch makes me depressed. I would like a job with more stability. Probably in teaching, although I know it isn't completely stress free or stable. I might do freelance on the side. I've always wanted to set up my own Etsy shop. I might do that. I defiantly want to do a Masters. More to prove to myself that I can do it than anything else. Any Masters will also benefit my teaching pursuits. (refer to The Master Plan) 

Short term, I'd like to try and get a job in something creative although I don't think I'll last. I want to set up a website so that I can sell things. I also want to attend craft fairs and sell stuff there. So pretty much freelance? Overall, I'd like to have a job in something creative, but if not teaching will be my fall back. 

I know about my dream role 
My dream is to have a stable job as a concept/ visual development artist, background designer/painter but also tell my own stories on the side. Whether that be though animation, comics or illustrations I don't know. I'd be looking for jobs around Merseyide, to be closer to family and within a 2hr commuting distance from wherever i'm living. That gives me plenty of scope. It means Leeds will still be on the table as well as Manchester, Chester, Huddersfield, Birmingham  and some (if not most?) of Wales. To do this I need to get better at drawing, specifically perspective and human proportions/anatomy. I also need to get better at colouring/shading and lighting 

Who I know that might help me get a foot in the door.
Industry contacts? 
Collaborators? Friends from uni.But also, i have quite a few friends from back home that have jobs within the creative industry. Everyone is someone to potentially network with. So that includes friends made on the course. Especially certain ones who have decided to set up there own studio. 
Commissions and Potential clients?I can get commissions by attending networking events and selling my work at comic cons, conventions, raft fairs and flea markets. Liverpool Baltic Triangle would be a great place to do this as well as Liverpool comic con and Wirral comic con. 

Networking opportunities based upon where you want to work 
Festivals (and Comic Cons)
Threshold, Chester Animation Festival, Manchester Animation Festival, Wirral Comic Con, Liverpool Comic Con
Networking events and Industry meetups?
Social Media Meetup, https://twitter.com/Social_Meetup 
I can lean how to better manage my professional social medias and use them as a tool to build an audience
Connect The Dots https://the-dots.com/
This is a networking event aimed at connecting freelance people to each other and to company's.
FACT https://www.fact.co.uk/
FACT always has things going on with regards to networking. They primarily a cinema but they do loads of cool networking stuff and they work closely with the BFI.
Opportunities for chats and pubs where people go after work?
Everyone and everyone in Liverpool that works within the creative industry has been to or at least heard of Peter Kavanagh's Pub. I could ask in there if anyone  knows if there are any job openings or creative opportunity. I can also meet people to collaborate and chat.

The other place people go is the Baltic Triangle.Its full of small local creative business.There is the Baltic Creative and The Baltic Social where all the cool arty-hipster type like to hang out. This would provide many networking opportunity. 

Task 1: Review your presence

My practice
I don't consider myself to be specifically an animator. My practice involves visual development and background design but I'm also a visual storyteller. I think I'd want to tell stories on important or current topics that people might not necessarily be aware of.

I just don't know if I want them to be animated. This will be achieved either digitally and traditionally by Photoshop, Illustrator , After Effects and TvPaint. I want to make and tell stories like Isao Takahata.  I want to get other people to create them for me, whilst I take a more producer/directorial role. 

My skillset 
Academic writing, comic and concept art, storytelling, background and set design. Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and TvPaint

The Master Plan (very original, I know) 
So I have a plan A ,B ,C and D, because I like to over think things. 

Plan A) Leeds is dead to me. To be honest it never felt alive so I want to move back to Liverpool for a year, where there is much creative opportunity at the moment at places such as, Littlewood Studios, the Baltic Triangle etc. I would like a position in a retail job, whilst working freelance at the same time, probably setting up an Etsy shop and attending art/craft conventions or have 1 year to get into industry, if that goes to plan then yay! Carry on, if not then...

Plan B) after that year, go back to university to study a Master's in Visual Communication. I've been to a couple of open days already. I was thinking of applying to at least Teeside, Hull and York St John. My Master's research will be focused on examining Japan's society and culture through different lenses and seeing what stories I can tell from that and how best to tell them. It'll also give me an excuse to travel to Japan which has been a really big dream for me for a really long time. I would also be the 1st person in my family to get a Master's degree. 

Plan C) all of the above, but after my Masters, if I still am not able to get into industry. I will go back to school yet again, and get a PGCE and become a teacher. 

Plan D) if everything goes wrong this year and I fail miserably, by the University's own regulations, I should still be awarded a Degree. Although, it just won't be with Honours . So that should be enough to allow me to go onto an Open Masters, which I will take in creative writing and teaching . After that, I'll try to get a PGCE and become an assistant teacher or tutor. 

My online presence in light of my earlier responses
I feel as though i had an unhealthy relationship with social media. I would go on it and compare my work to others. It made me anxious and paranoid that I wasn't doing or working hard enough to improve or that I wasn't posting enough. But I do need to post more often in order to build an audience for my practice. I need to engage with that audience by using features, such as Instagram stories. I also need to cross-post on multiple platforms, such as, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.