603 - Brief 03 - Blog Research

Properly began considering the approach of the various blogs I am inspired by and interact with regularly. They are all aimed at one thousand plus audiences - mostly creatives and people who appreciate art/design  (a very broad audience, but they are global platforms, so will take into account their approaches to ensure I am adopting similar techniques to intrigue and satisfy viewers to come back).  Because of their popularity they all have a website platform which the audience can interact with, as well as the instagram platform to further boost their reach.

- Its Nice That
- Visual Melt
- Josiah Craven 

Its Nice That

It’s Nice That believes passionately that creative inspiration is for everyone and by championing the most exciting and engaging work online, in print and through their events programme, they aim to open up the artistic world to the widest possible audience. 

They feature works by artists of all disciplines and write extensive article features and interviews for them.

Founded in 2007, It’s Nice That has grown across many platforms and reaches over a million people each month. 

These include the

- website which is updated daily

- a bi-annual magazine Printed Pages

- the monthly Nicer Tuesdays talks series.

Visual Melt

- Visual Melt is Leif Podhajsky's personal inspiration blog

- Contains the more psychedelic and surrealist works that are influencing his practise

- Provides background of the artist and the concept of their work

- Often carries out an interview with them, which is featured on the website (directed to via the constantly updated link in the bio on instagram, this is advertised on each individual post too)

Researchhh by Josiah Craven

- doesn't actually post any captions on the instagram or website

- simply features and tags the artist he is inspired by

- no conversation started - or if there is it is all done privately - purely for inspiration

The Design Kids - Frankie Ratford 

The Design Kids is a global design platform which not only features creatives work but it summarises the creative happenings and jobs on offer in that city too.

The site features the blog, but is more directed towards each cities interaction with the creative industries and whats on offer, whereas the instagram is purely dedicated to the featuring and exposure of artists work.

Frankie came in and did a talk and after hearing her talk about all the experiences and adventures she has been involved in since graduating, it has inspired me and given me more confidence to be more open about the future. I do want to get experience in a studio first, but exploring and traveling is definitely something which has always intrigued me - and her talk definitely showed how you can do what you love and have so much fun practically with design too, not being tied to just one place all the time.

She highlighted the importance of being pro-active and keeping inspirations alive in the creative world, as well as balancing this with your personal interests to inject that extra bit of passion! But also how important it is to be nice to everyone and try to make friends/connections wherever you go, because you never know when they will come in handy! She has already started building her TDK empire around the globe! Having representatives and communities growing in cities all over!

Through her ran workshop, she discusses how everywhere she goes she is building the Design Kids name, making friends, featuring creatives works on the growing blog (website & instagram) and also getting those artists to act as reps for their city - reflecting on the creative influences and also what there is on offer.

This is when various potential career routes for the future began ticking over in my brain. These directions are important to consider when considering who with and where I would like to complete placements. To explore these directions, I aim to research more into the highlighted job roles, as well as speaking to individuals in the particular creative fields. 

This research has taught me the importance of having a website once your platform has fully taken off - to begin with I will not need one as I begin building the audience on Instagram first, but as the idea develops as could the possibilities of a website.

In terms of the considered tone of voice of this platforms they are all using very professional and official language, and most encourage engagement of the audience through hashtags and tags to get featured. The bigger platforms like It'sNiceThat are obviously more exclusive, but they encourage interactivity with the audience through organised monthly talks and other workshops and events on offer (how could I consider something similar to kick-start things?)

However, the blog Researchhh by Josiah Craven feels more obtainable for me at this point. Earlier down the feed it is clear how he is actively trying to engage and interact with the artists he is featuring to build bridges and start conversations similar to my mission statement, yet now he has more of a following and works full time, he doesn't actually make use of any written background to the works featured - it is purely a visual investigation. The blog still gets attention but it is clear how I will need to build the following in the first place similar to how he did through interacting with my audience and putting their engagement first.  Yet I will always be a chattier and interactive person so will always try to make the most of the created opportunities to chat with those I am inspired by.