hi rob!
hope this email finds you well and calm! hows the build up to the show going? we hope its all running smoothly!
no probs at all about the questions - we'll try and be interesting with our answers :D:D
we're looking forward to seeing all the work in the final show - good luck with everything!!
m and k
in a few words could you give an outline of who you are and what you do?
We are Mike and Katie and we set up our illustration company TADO in 2003. We mostly do illustration work but work across a very wide range of projects with an equally wide range of clients!
How did you start out as a designer / illustrator, what difficulty's did you have starting out and what would you suggest to an developing designer trying to get a foot into the industry?
We decided to set up straight from uni without any experience at all. this was probably very foolish but it meant we had to learn quickly and learn the hard way. we spent a lot of time doing research and promotion work as well as lots of free jobs for friends, magazines and design sites. at this point it was a lot of hard work - both of us were working part time jobs and keeping motivated was quite hard sometimes.
we would say the biggest piece of advice we could give anyone is to research, research and research again about where to target your work and who you should be showing it to.
You've got a sick range of work high profile work, but what advice would you give some one to help them brake into the design market and get there work out there?
as above really - decide where you think you want or can see your work working and target the people who need to see it - whether it be magazine editors, creative directors or directors. make sure you always send a personal email and be prepared for lots of being ignored! however it only takes one of them to see your stuff and like it to get the ball rolling! keep on pushing your stuff and promoting yourself. it'll take a while but hard work always pays off eventually.
Your design and artwork are used across a range of different formats, but which format do you most enjoy working with and why? do you think it is a good idea for up and coming illustrators to widen the range and versatility and work in these different formats?
we dont really have a particular favourite format - we enjoy all of our projects for different reasons! we think its a great thing to do as many things as possible - we'd certainly get bored very quickly if we kept doping the same stuff all the time. these days its an important skill to be able to apply your look over pretty much anything, whether its a tv ad, a product or a website.
having a style and producing the quantity of work you have, how do you keep new designs fresh and different to your other projects?
we have no idea really! we just keep drawing what we want to! its good for us to have each other as we can always compare stuff and get feedback from each other - being able to do that is very important, whether its from a friend or colleague.
Is there a specific context you prefer designing within e.g skate products, fashion, wall murals etc?
nope!
What percentage of your work is made up of your self directed design work, against the client lead briefs?
these days we'd say maybe 15% is self-directed. we always try to do 1 art show per year which is when we get to go mental and do our own thing!
is there specific things that clients like about your work and just ask you to do something similar to piece in your portfolio?
yeah, you always get clients that will want you to do exactly the same thing but slightly different! sometimes its quite hard not to get pigeon-holed into doing the same things.
if you could apply your designs to anything what would it be? and what design would you make for it?
(in words or drawing accepted!)
we'd love to design a huge blimp airship!! in the shape of a panda! :D:D
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