Ian Davidson
First Class BA Hons Illustration and Graphics - Coventry University
iandavidsonart@gmail.com
(+44) 7407408174
St Albans
Professional Summary
I am an accomplished creative, passionate about painting, graphics, illustration and music. Since completing my degree I have been working as a freelance creative in London, helping my clients realise the visual potential of their projects. I enjoy working with other people collaboratively to achieve the best outcome and find out what visual direction they want to take in support of their vision.
I have worked on many different types of projects as clients will all want something slightly different. I think my ability to tackle any design challenge that comes my way is a key part of my skill set. I enjoy taking the things I have learned so far throughout my career and applying them to new situations and mediums, however unfamiliar they may seem. I have loved the challenge of learning new mediums, systems and ways of working throughout my freelance career; I am eager to learn more.
Scriberia-London, Illustration work placement June 2019
This gave me insight into the workings of a professional graphical facilitation environment. A lot of time goes into producing, editing and finalising work that is to the very high levels expected by the large corporations that hire illustration companies.
I really enjoyed being able to work as part of a team here. It helped me experience the ways large projects can be broken down into their requisite parts and everyone can work on the bit that is best suited for them. Within my freelance work I don’t usually get to work in this way, but it is an environment that I thrive in and I want to work as part of a team with other creative, passionate people again.
The work I did at Scriberia was mostly “live scribing”. This is a large part of what they do as a company. Live scribing involves going to talks, lectures, or workshops and drawing live responses to the content. These take the form of infographic illustrations, that boil down the ideas and themes into cartoons in the company style. These are then digitised and cleaned on photoshop. Doing this helped me develop my ability to respond quickly to ideas and to learn to communicate clearly using company specific styles and techniques.
Poster I created in an hour for an internal lecture at Scriberia
“live scribe” sketch note I made during a talk and workshop from Elizabeth Hobbs about her career and technique
The Horn- St Albans, Bar Tender 2017-2019, CUBE Agency- London 2022 (Rosewood Hotel, Century Club)
Learned a lot about working as a team to complete tasks. This helped show me the importance of using the skills and knowledge of people around you, and vice versa, putting yourself forward and stepping up when you can help the team
Helped develop my interpersonal skills. Most of the time in a pub you are dealing with customers and helping fulfil what they want in a polite timely manner, listening to concerns and answering questions. These skills apply whether delivering a pint or a picture
Freelance design work - Highlights
Illustration and Graphics
In my freelance career I’ve worked on graphics based projects for many different clients. Their needs are always different, and I enjoy the variety of outcomes that occur depending on how the will be used. A lot of the work I do, has been music centred (band logos and posters etc) but I have also created logos and branding for small businesses and events, like food trucks.
Animation
I worked on short animations throughout University, without it being my sole focus. But through my freelance work I have worked on three animation commissions. Two promotional animations and then also one full length animated music video. This was one of the hardest projects I have ever worked on, especially in regard to time management. However, I am now much better at visualising through time as well, and thinking about moving image projects. These freelance projects have massively improved my skills in Adobe Animate and Premiere Pro.
Client work - instagram advert for pop singer
Uni brief - animation festival advert
Uni brief - children’s cereal advert
Client work - promotional music video
Client work - animated music video
Painting
A large proportion of the work I have been doing as a freelancer has been painting. I have developed a practice as a portrait artist, for pets and people, and most importantly as a creator of cover art. I have made lots of covers in different styles and mediums with many different musicians. This has afforded me great skills at interpreting others general ideas and producing a finished outcome.
T-shirts + printing
I have been commissioned to design several t-shirts. Not always for musicians. I also re-designed the t-shirts sold in the small village of Ardfern in Scotland. As well as designing t-shirts for regular mass production printing I have also been commissioned to hand print t-shirts. This has helped my lino cutting and printing skills which I have been developing at every stage of my art education. Sometimes on the very large orders the timing can get very tight, as there is a lot to do with printing, drying times, and heat setting. This has helped my time management skills.
Filming and editing music videos
I really enjoy filming and editing videos. I like to let the style and mood of the content lead the direction of my editing. This leads the work to have a very individual, quirky style. But I am quick to pick up new skills and technology. I am always eager to learn from those more knowledgeable than me.