His most regular clients are The Financial Times and Highlife magazine (British Airways). However he has also managed to work for clients such as; Nike, Footlocker, RedBull UK, Samsung, Which?, Nividia, BBC History, Neptune Investment, Bloomsbury Publishing, Panorama Magazine (Italia), The Times Educational Supplement, Druglink, The British Medical Journal, Like The Wind Magazine, La Revue (France), Ammo Magazine, Popshots Poetry.
Within his day to day life he started out working within the Editorial sector after progressing with his career developing work for publishing and advertisement. When coming across his work he explains that most briefs are very different, some are detailed producing an image for you so for example 1 idea could be drawn up. However some are very brief and allows you to be very creative in your response therefore allowing you to come up with 3-4 initial draw ups. Whilst woking on initial ideas he mainly uses Adobe Photoshop by using the brush tool, he finds this very helpful in order to draw up quick ideas. Luke explains that 'The Rough' as he likes to call it, is a minefield to overcome ideas by exploring different designs.
Once a chosen idea has been selected both by you the artist and the client he explained the next stage of his process; 'The Drawing'. This is where he breaks up his design into quarters so he can focus on a small area at a time, he found this a better technique allowing him to concentrate. He also starts to use mono printing for his work. This is a form of print making where the image can only be made once, therefore if an error is made you either start all over again or you try to re-amend the work, which in turn helps you to focus and draw more successfully giving you confidence in your skill set. Luke particularly likes Mono printing because of this as it is challenging in comparison to pencil drawing as you are easily able to rub it out and correct it, it is also bland and grey.
After this comes 'The Final Image', of which he knits together within photoshop the 4 quarters to create the overall design. He then manipulates his idea by adding colour and depth. He likes his designs to have an edgy look rather than just a filled in block style, he ensures shadows and highlights differentiate the image adding pattern and texture as well.
Finally the last process is called 'In Print' of which Luke explained that it is about the finished outcome or product. Also that the best thing is when you see your work afterwards within the paper or online, as it makes you feel satisfied with the hard work and effort that you have put in, but also for justifying purpose.
As an illustrator Luke Waller has two type of styles for drawing, of which they are etching and cross-hatching. He gave us advice explaining that whilst in education don't worry about a particular style, learn lots of techniques to help build up your repertoire as an artist but then essentially build your own style. Which is one of his main regrets whilst at Uni as he wasted time worrying about this rather than layering his skills. He explained as an artist within the future industry that combinations of techniques are essential within todays market as it is what makes you different to everyone else.
Luke Waller also explained to us that there are many routes into the business however his trick is to talk to Art Directors, building up a confident relationship between the two, working alongside efficiently but also pleasing them, as that is essentially what you are there to do, and being paid for.
In terms of future careers within the creative world, he suggested to not head towards Agencies straight away, he explained this as he was able to learn independence and to build his portfolio and style within his own pace which is what is essential to make yourself stand out. He also explained that some Agencies shadow you slightly and take control over your creative skills and creates a narrow path for you to head down.
On average salaries vary however for editorial work similar to his small prints you can be looking for £250-£400. For publishing you looking around £500-£1000. Lastly for Advertising that is where the big sums add up.
Luke Waller insisted that Self Promotion is key and that without it he would not of got where he is today. He explained various types however he uses Instagram, Twitter, Blogs, Email and Phone. Email is a traditional and easy way for clients and Art Directors to contact you professionally. However social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter allow you to post examples of your work with the potential of people, Art Directors from all over the world to follow you, and contact you to create your next big investment and project.
Here are some examples of his work, but also pieces that particularly interest me;
This image stands out for the vibrancy of the green but for the range of tones throughout, the clash of red automatically grabs your eye. The colours remind you of night vision, like as if looking back at recorded footage. A 3D effect has been made due to the shading around subjects which makes the drawing look realistic to the viewer. This drawing was created for a book review, however when looking at the image you wouldn't expect an older audience, due to it's contemporary style.
Similarly to the above image i think this drawing would be for a younger audience due to it's modern style and theme. The drawing represents to me youth and fresh new ideas. This was created for Red bull UK, therefore the image represents a clear representation of the target audience, not only due to colours but the actual composition and bright neon signs at the top representing a bold and bubbly atmosphere to grab a younger audience. However due to the range of bold bright colours it shows the energy you will get from the drink to all viewers.
This drawing was produced for The Financial Times, showing Alan Johnson in 2014. It represents him well as he stands out in comparison to the background design/ pattern due to the repetition of blue with the contrast of orange/nude. This image shows a modern contemporary style of which you would not expect the target audience being The Financial Times. It shows how companies are starting to move with society to gain a larger audience.
Finally this drawing is used for Druglink magazine for one of their online covers, marking the 10th anniversary of a report covering the hidden harm on children that are affected by drug abusing families. His idea was to have a metaphorical harm (the rain) falling
down on the family, with all the passers by being protected with their umbrellas. I particularly like how he has used an innovative idea to portray a message through a modern bright style, that automatically grabs your eye as a viewer. You can see that the dark colour represents the sadness outside however the brightly coloured umbrellas then represent the happiness and other world almost like a parallel world.
Bibliography
http://www.lukewaller.co.uk/
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