Submitting to the AOI World Illustration Awards, SWOT Analysis

February 18, 2022

Submitting to the AOI World Illustration Awards, SWOT Analysis

Since finishing my Project Development hand-in, I've been looking for potential ways to utilise the finals I produced during last semester. One such project was 'Edgelands and Ruins' when I produced many prints and a handbound book which all have commercial value. I'd love to market my print work to local galleries like The Old School Gallery in Alnmouth, possibly The Baltic or Yorkshire Sculpture Park's giftshops. While visiting both places, you can see they sell a large variety of artists work with the artist socks, calendars, books and prints so this would be a good opportunity to get my work seen by visitors to the gallery.

'Journey into an Industrial Landscape', Amelia Palmer, 2022

While I continue to look into selling my work, I wanted to take the opportunity to enter the AOI World Illustration Awards. This is an award I've always wanted to enter as it has a variety of categories ranging from editorial to children's publishing. Since it's a worldwide showcase, it's highly renowned in the creative industry, popular among students and young people hoping to make a name for themselves in the creative industry. The competition is judged by industry professionals, so it is a great opportunity to get your work seen with a chance of it being chosen among the 500 projects longlisted each year. By utilising the work I produced in my personal project, 'Edgelands and Ruins', it shows that it has the potential to be a commercial product. This final year is all about commercial realisation so I've pushed myself to think about the purpose of my illustrations, and how they could be mass-produced or applied to product/merchandise. This will also be great for the final show where I'll hopefully be selling prints of my project work and smaller zines.

Before entering the competition I did a lot of research on previous longlisted and shortlisted entries, looking at the types of artwork that the judges are looking for. This was hard to judge as the entries were so varied- also a good thing as it shows the judges favour diversity and is looking for innovative ideas, using a variety of materials and processes. The two categories that interested me most were 'Commercial Publishing' and 'Alternative Publishing'. In both categories, you could explore narrative without a target audience in zines, graphic novels, handmade books, poetry or anthologies. I liked that there didn't have to be a defined audience and felt this fitted my explorative book. It was also interesting to see how people had displayed their entries in either book mock-ups or digital images.

Some of the shortlisted entries included Amy Moss, a recent graduate of Edinburgh College of Art. She was the Alternative Publishing category winner for her zine 'From London, Heading South', documenting how the landscape changed from a busy London to a quiet Cornwall. The piece was created in pencil and shows that simplicity in process and materials is sometimes the most effective route. I loved this entry in its simplicity and relatability, showing a realistic journey that audiences can relate to.

'From London, Heading South', Amy Moss, 2021

Another piece I loved was by Darya Martynova who created an illustrated poetry book called 'The Infinite Garden', with narrative illustrations to visually represent a collection of poems. These mock-ups looked very professional and were similar to the approach I was looking for.

'The Infinite Garden', Darya Martynova, 2021

Producing the Final Images

Once I had good quality scans of the riso-printed pages, I was able to play around with them in Photoshop. Editing images is something I've become good at through experience and constantly utilising these skills through project work. Instead of just using the original digital files, I wanted the riso versions as they have a beautiful texture and add continuity through the book with colour and tone. I've recently discovered a website called 'MockupWorld' which allows you to download Photoshop mock-ups for products ranging from cans to shipping containers and walls. I love the variety and how easy they are to use, set into layers so you can just add your images.

I decided to use mockups as they made my book look more professional and allowed the focus to be on the imagery rather than the background or lighting. With each image on a separate layer, I was able to play around with the exposure and vibrance. I'm happy with the outcome and feel the green background adds depth and contrast with the white pages. Since making the imagery, I've completed the submission process and previewed my page that would be on the website if selected- which looked very cool! Below is the information I submitted along with the images, I'll update this blog if I hear anything in the next few weeks!