TALL BOYS SIMPSONS EXHIBITION

How It Started

My friend Shaun works at Tall Boys Beer Market and they have been looking for somebody to give them a Simpsons-themed exhibition. I shamelessly have been following this trend, but it has been enjoyable! Shaun actually asked me if I wanted to do the exhibition, I of course said yes!! 

I was originally going to put this forward as a main part of my COP project but timing was off and it all proved to be an INSANELY IMPORTANT part of my personal and professional journey!!
Making The Work


MAKING THE WORK! This was by far the most stressful part of doing this exhibition. Although most of the work for the exhibition was already made prior, I still had so much to do as I wanted to make a series of screen print to pull all the other work together, (these screen prints were totally new designs created especially for the exhibition).

KEEP IN MIND I HAD A MONTH TO DO THIS (not a long time at all)...

I completed some test prints of one design and I loved how they came out - I chose primary colours and would have these run across each print to keep them as a set. In the tests I thought the blue was too light, I wanted the colours to be more solid.

I ran into quite a serious issue with sizing too, I planned and planned over and over with the sizing and arrangement and number of prints... to which this barely mattered because everything changed.

Here's my notebook pages of me planning and re-planning the exhibition.

 When talking to Mike in the print room he suggested that I have my screen prints all different sizes so it allows for a bit more of a free flow on the wall. The number of prints I planned to do anyway was cut to fit in previous pieces of original work. So I had cut the appropriate ones down to square formats and then left some A2.

As well as prints I made zines for the exhibition - these are similar to my WORMSPIT zines, as they have a lot of work I did over Summer but I have added new sketchbook drawing and other Simpsons treats inside. Its almost like a programme for the exhibition.

Promo + Negotiating 


This was the first time I have properly had to negotiate pricing and things like that for my work and efforts. I understood from the outset that I wouldn't be getting paid for doing the exhibition, but I was designing a tote bag for them and also designing the posters/flyers for it too.

Tall Boys have done a sick job at promoting my work and the show, where they wanted me to actually partake in the branding of their business! So here I am up there with Johnny Wilkinson's work for Tall Boys. They also gave me my own page on their website with the information about my show.

Apart from promoting - I have literally done all the work toward this exhibition... it has been a MAD experience.

Because I am selling the screen prints, they are 4 colour, limited edition- I had to decide on the price, considering all the work I'd done to make them , all the valuable properties... at first I undersold myself and was going to sell them for £15... I got other opinions and doubled the price.

I had to also make multiple copies as well as the ones on display AND back them all... this took AGES and cost a fair whack for greyboard...

I designed the flyer myself!

Didn't print them all though, thank god...

I self promoted the bags that had been produced! Did some serious modelling...

I also did a lot of promoting on my social media! This was really important, to create a build up to the exhibition and update people with what was happening, what was gunna be sold, when and where it was, just constantly drilling it into people's subconscious that this was happening on a Thursday night in Leeds!

I was over the moon with how great the reception was here... Instagram was definitely the most suitable platform to do this kind of intense promo, but people really responded amazingly, better than anything else I've ever posted.

Set - Up

I luckily had Shaun to help me set-up the exhibition, put everything on the walls and organise what was and wasn't going to go up, this was the morning of the exhibition and I really don't think I would have been able to complete the task to the standard it was without Shaun.

Its so sick that the guys at Tall Boys wanted the exhibition to be without any filter or falseness... they wanted it to be as 'real' and 'raw' as possible, and the fact they wanted actual original, unedited pages from my sketchbook on the wall was so cool.

Launch

The launch was better than I could have imagined. The turn out was amazing, so many people were there who i did and didn't know. It was cool, seeing people snap chatting the event, taking pictures of my work and sharing it around. Some people (once finally realising that I was Lady Saliva) even said they wanted to collaborate with me.

It all got very emotional at one point! The bags and zines were definitely the best sellers.

Here's me in all my glory.

Post - Launch

So post - launch, it was really cool to come back and see my exhibition in a more calm kind of situation. 

I left a kind of comments book for people to draw in and leave feedback. When I came back to see it, the concertina book was actually full on one side... people had mostly drawn their own Simpsons fan art, which I thought was really nice. It reiterates a kind of idea of this bring together a community, which exhibitions do everywhere.

In terms of what money I made from selling work, I am leaving this til the end of the exhibition and will collect it when I take everything down. I think that will make it feel more like I've been paid to do job.

On Instagram people took photos and tagged my account in the post just like a  real artist/illustrator with a show! 

David from Independent Leeds put up a post after I emailed him about it (I got his email from the 170th LCA birthday), as well as other people posting about it too!

SUMMARY

This experience has been one of the best and most successful, boosting me forward in my journey as a young creative. More people now know who I am and I have proven myself to be extremely capable in time-keeping, doing a project to a very tight deadline and producing work that people want!!

This has been great for me, being the kind or creative that I am because I have not had to compromise my style or anarchic way of working. The people at Tall Boys wanted me to do this exhibition, because they like my unique way of doing things! They like my style and came to me because it fitted their vision.

THIS IS THE WAY I WANT TO WORK ALL THE TIME!!