The Good Ship Illustration

This week our Katie chats to Katy Cowan, founding editor of Creative Boom, the independent platform that's been cheering on creatives of every background for 17 years. It started as a side project dreamed up on a sun lounger on her honeymoon (true story!) and now reaches over 300,000 readers a month.

If you've ever wondered how illustrators get picked up by Creative Boom, Katy tells us everythiiiiing: keep sharing your work, keep your Instagram active, and make your website a nice 'n' friendly place for journalists/art directors to land. 
Grab a notebook, this one's full of amazin' tips 💛
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Meet Katy
01:00 – Gatekeeping
03:00 – Goody gatekeepers
04:00 – "You're not in trouble"
05:00 – Marketing when you're shy
06:30 – Hiding behind the brand
07:00 – 2024
10:30 – A new brainstorming buddy
11:30 – AI, the nuanced bit
14:30 – Where the work is
15:30 – The perfect storm
16:30 – The tightrope
17:30 – The future is human
19:30 – The courage to be disliked
20:30 – Getting featured
23:30 – Press-ready websites
25:00 – GEO
25:30 – Honeymoon ideas
26:30 – Slipped Disc
27:00 – Being enough

Links mentioned:

🌟 Creative Boom: https://www.creativeboom.com
🎧 The Creative Boom Podcast: https://www.creativeboom.com/podcast/
📸 Creative Boom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativeboom/
🎶 Katy's personal Instagram (for the Slipped Disc DJ videos): https://www.instagram.com/katylcowan/
🎨 Sarah Martinon, the illustrator behind the Hermès campaign Katy mentions: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmartinon/
🚢 The Good Ship Illustration: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

Byeeee for now!

x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

James Martin (aka @MadebyJames) is baaack! Part one was your starter, and this week is the chonky main course. James did promise to come back with something v useful, and he kept his word.
Buckle in for a step-by-step formula to help you build relationships with the people you'd love to work with. 
There is absolutely NO cold emailing or cheesey self-promotion involved. 
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Welcome back James, and why part two is all about the practical stuff
 01:00 – A brand is really just a way of getting more opportunity
 02:00 – What James means by "opportunity design"
 02:45 – The book Obvious Adams
 04:00 – Why you should ask your clients for feedback, not other creatives
 06:00 – Why complicated marketing advice makes us feel silly
 07:30 – Good business relationships take time (you can't skip straight to "here's my work, give me money")
 09:00 – Sandboxes: pressure-free 20-minute conversations
 10:45 – Introvert? Start your first sandbox with a friend
 11:50 – Everything good in your life started with one conversation
 13:30 – Physical mailers and the "effort heuristic"
 15:45 – The 5-3-1 framework: five existing clients, three strategic relationships, one aspirational one
 19:00 – Focusing on just nine people, and starting a relationship journal
 21:30 – The time exchange library
 23:30 – What to send when you're following the seven email rule
 26:30 – Asking for a sandbox
 28:00 – The "second portfolio": gifting a scrappy idea that solves their problem
 30:45 – Reciprocity
 33:30 – Getting ready for when they look you up: your bio, profile pic and a "how to work with me" PDF
 37:00 – Cold emails are gross and they don't even work
Links mentioned:
• Part one of our chat with James was last week (we'll add the link here when we have it)
 • James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
 • James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
 • James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
 • James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding
 • Obvious Adams by Robert R. Updegraff
 • Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hype-yourself-a-no-nonsense-pr-toolkit-for-small-businesses-lucy-werner/b3b30df91155c107?ean=9781788601238&next=t&affiliate=11858&ref=hypeyourself.com
 • Our episode with Kira Matthews (the seven email rule): https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-7-email-rule-pitching-your-work-to-illustration/id1526470404?i=1000757654276 
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Trigger warning: In this episode, James talks openly about his experience of childhood sexual abuse, as well as addiction (drugs and alcohol). It's mentioned briefly in the 06:52 to 11:00 section and discussed again from 45:23. There's also plenty of strong language throughout. Look after yourself and skip this episode/seek support if you need it.
This week our Katie is chatting to James Martin, AKA @MadebyJames. He's a designer, author, Canva design advisory board member & creative partner at Lincoln Design Co.
James is nice an' honest about the wiggly creative career road that got him to where he is today.
We chat about the "gravity of average" and why everyone's starting to look and sound the same, an economist with two ice cream sellers on a beach 🍦, whether there's any point becoming an illustrator now AI is here aaaand why your weirdness is more valuable than ever. 😎 FLY YOUR FREAK FLAG!!
ALSO, this is part one of two - next instalment is coming next week.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Welcome James Martin, aka Made by James, and a quick intro to who he is and what he does
 02:43 – The world has never been more distracting
 06:29 – James's journey: school, trauma, addiction, and finding his way to an art foundation
 11:00 – Falling forward into graphic design
 15:03 – Following your gut and doing more of what lights you up
 18:09 – Writing No Bullsh*t Branding
 21:11 – Ddopamine
 25:06 – Is there any point becoming an illustrator now that AI is here?
 29:54 – The "gravity of average" and how systems pull everyone towards the middle
 32:53 – Hotelling's Law, ice cream sellers on a beach, and why opportunity lives at the edges
 38:08 – Time, the long game, and "automate the predictable, humanise the meaningful"
 41:44 – Bring back dilly dallying!
 42:04 – Your weirdness as your difference: taste, story and point of view
 45:23 – Feeling scared to be yourself, and why James chose to share his story
 49:29 – Being real online vs oversharing, and sharing from the scar, not the open wound
 52:24 – Gary V, 500 pieces of content a week, and the performance trap
 53:11 – James's mission, his three-step plan, and eating your own dog food
 56:10 – Round two is coming!
Links mentioned:
James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This week, you're stuck with Katie and Helen again, answering more of your businessy questions (Tania's back next week! Don't cry! She's coming back, really!)
RIP to our dear friend and editor Deirdre McDermott of Walker Books, who died recently. Dee was a legend. We don't have the words to do her justice here, but we miss her very very much. 💛  And of course, Smelly Peggy too.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Helen and Katie are back
 00:45 – Any consistency hacks? Katie's summer of posting every day
 01:45 – Reposting old posts
 02:45 – When your illustration work 'flops'
 03:30 – Stop when the fun runs out
 04:30 – Illustrator's boob
 06:15 – 2012 washing powder
 08:00 – The rise and pause of Katie's jobs board
 10:45 – Being misunderstood online
 11:45 – "Get over yourself"
 13:00 – Helen's online school visit that didn't quite work
 15:45 – Lessons
 17:00 – Helen's year out
 18:45 – Finding Your Creative Voice
 19:30 – Remembering Deirdre McDermott of Walker Books
Links mentioned:
Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag (with Helen's video about her year out): https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freak-flag
Helen's free online school visit: https://www.helenstephens.com/virtual-school-visit
Walker Books: https://www.walker.co.uk
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
p.s. It's the last day! The Illustration Business Club doors close TONIGHT, Friday 9th October, at 10pm UK time. There's an option to pay in 10 smaller instalments, and we'd love to see you in there before they shut. https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This week it's just Helen and Katie here (helloo - Tania was off in Naples eating pizza for us. We were living vicariously through her.)
Let's get stuck in and answer your excellent questions about marketing your illustration work. 
"I just don't know where to begin!" and overcoming our arch nemesis: cringe. 
Plus SLOTH FACTS. You're welcome.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Time off is good for you, and good for business
 01:00 – Helen's short, intense work bursts on the latest Salty book
 02:00 – Take the bus
 03:00 – "Where do I start with marketing?"
 04:00 – Trying on hats (and taking them back off)
 04:45 – The creative car and the business car
 06:00 – Brilliant work nobody sees vs brilliant marketing that needs more art car time
 07:00 – Seven ways to get your work in front of picture book publishers
 08:30 – Low-pressure Instagram and the overflowing camera roll
 09:30 – If we were starting again: website, portfolio etc.
 11:00 – Ditch the "aspiring", "wannabe" and "itty bitty" labels
 11:30 – Cringe
 12:45 – Caveman brains
 15:00 – It's not meant to be easy
 16:15 – "How do I get over myself?"
 17:15 – Seeking validation vs showing up to share your goodies
 18:00 – Illustration Business Club doors are open, plus the new 10-pay option
 19:45 – Art Club, sloth ribs and a guinea pig Wild West village
Links mentioned:
Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
The Association of Illustrators: https://theaoi.com
SCBWI British Isles: https://britishisles.scbwi.org
Northumberland Zoo: https://www.northumberlandzoo.co.uk/
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
p.s. Get your illustration business ducks in a row. 🐥 🐥 🐥 The Illustration Business Club doors are open now, with a new option to pay in 10 smaller instalments. 
We'd love to have you sailing with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙