Woah! Apparently it's the end of 2008 already. Did anyone see which way it went? It really has been an amazing year for me, and I feel very lucky to have worked on some great online projects (such as MTV Move Your Lips and Foster's Ride the Scuba), to have had the chance to illustrate for television (No Heroics), and also to have been asked to create a piece for the test-shoot of a movie (Paul). And then there was the Mark Millar comic piece for 4Talent, where I even got to show my work to the man himself. All things which, when I left my web design job to go freelance, just wouldn't have seemed like realistic goals. I know how hard I've worked over the last few years (I think it was Sam Goldwyn who said "The harder I work, the luckier I get"), but even so I've had to pinch myself a few times to check that I'm awake this year.
Before I wind things down for the holidays though, there's one final piece of news I wanted to share with you. After three and a half happy (well, mostly!) years as a freelancer, working with great people, at great places, and on many great projects, on the 1st December I became Senior Art Director at
Preloaded. I hadn't actually been looking to settle down per se, but things have been unbelievably hectic of late, so being able to get directly involved with some challenging projects from one 'base', as it were, was exactly the kind of change I needed.
Also, in their generosity Preloaded have built some flexibility into the role, which means I can continue to pursue personal projects. It's unbelievably cool to think that a company I've admired for so long have recognised that my own ventures and the work we're doing together don't need to be mutually exclusive, and we're all excited to see where we can take things next.
In the short term this means that a portfolio redesign is imminent, with the focus firmly back on my illustration work, so keep an eye out for that in the near(ish) future. But either way, I'm still always on the lookout for interesting projects to get involved with, so feel free to get in touch if you think I'd be a good fit for something, whether it's on the illustrative or graphic design side.
And there we have it then. Have a Happy Christmas and New Year everyone, and thanks for all your support, kind comments and inspiration over the last twelve months. You rock!
