3x3 Student Show No 10 Winners Announced

More schools. More entries. More countries. Our international student show continues to grow each year. This year entries came in from eighteen countries and ninety-three colleges, universities and art schools. It’s exciting to see work from all over the world and I’m sure this won't be the last time we see these artists.

Our judges were extremely tough this year, while many wonderful entries came just shy of getting into the show, for the first time we have no Best of Show winner and fewer medals. The judges were looking for work that was truly unique and timely—work that you’d expect from the next generation of illustrators. There was no quota given so it was up to the judges to determine how many pieces would get into the show. All judging was done digitally so there were no undue influences and judges were not allowed to vote for their student’s work.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Gold
Monica Garwood, California College of the Arts
Lisa Perrin, Maryland Institute College of Art

Silver
Boyoun Kim, School of Visual Arts

Bronze
Ping Hua Chou*, Academy of Art University

Distinguished Merit
Kari Brooks, Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta
Ping Hua Chou, Academy of Art University
Tal Granot, Bezalel Academy for Art and Design
Niv Tishbi, Universität der Künste Berlin
Ulrike Zöllner, University of Art Berlin

Merit
Liisa Aaltio, OCAD University
Emma Ahlqvist, Edinburgh College of Art
Justinas Alisauskas, Ballyfermot College of Further Education
Matthew Burrows*, School of Visual Arts
Reina Castellanos*, Savannah College of Art and Design
Jun Cen, Maryland Institute College of Art
Ziyue Chen, Ringling College of Art and Design
Nomi Chi, Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Ryan Cho*, Art Center College of Design
Boyeon Choi, School of Visual Arts
Ping Hua Chou*, Academy of Art University
Hye Jin Chung, School of Visual Arts
Min Gyo Chung*, OCAD University
Katie Davis, Parsons the New School for Design
Kristen Davis, Parsons the New School for Design
Deshi Deng, Ringling College of Art and Design
Trudi Esberger, Anglia Ruskin University
Jackie Ferrentino, Rhode Island School of Design
Linnea Gad, Parsons the New School for Design
Caleb Heisey, Tyler School of Art
Rebecca Hendin, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Lauren Hess, Rhode Island School of Design
Pablo Iglesias, Sheridan College
Masuko Jo, Parsons the New School for Design
Keren Katz, School of Visual Arts
Nuri Keli, Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta
Boyoun Kim*, School of Visual Arts
Lori Klopp, Syracuse University
Chi Kuan Christina Kong, OCAD University
Jay Lang, OCAD University
Tina Le, Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Leftstudio, Savannah College of Art and Design
Coney Leung, Art Center College of Design
Rachel Levit, Parsons the New School for Design
Rujun Liu, Rhode Island School of Design
Jeff Lowry, The University of Arizona
Ashley Mackenzie, OCAD University
Evan Mazellan, Indiana Wesleyan University
Meredith Miotke, College for Creative Studies
Armineh Moghadasi, Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta
Nick Nazzaro, The Art Institute of Boston
Hugh O'Connor, Dublin Institute of Technology
Suharu Ogawa, OCAD University
Monica Ramos, Parsons the New School for Design
Ramona Ring, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences 
Jonny Ruzzo, School of Visual Arts
Cun Shi, School of Visual Arts
Meghann Stephenson, Parsons the New School for Design
Janet Sung, Parsons the New School for Design
Ayumi Takahashi*, Art Center College of Design
Cyndi Waldron, Utah Valley University
Liz Wikstrom, Rhode Island School of Design
Ji Hyun Yu*, University of Applied Sciences Mainz
Ai Zhang, Savannah College of Art & Design

* Denotes more than one entry

Cover illustration for the digital Student Show Annual by Lisa Perrin, MICA

Open Call to Artists & Designers - Deadline July 8th

Illustrator David Ercolini’s fiance contacted me about a new program open to New York-area artists and designers. Based on the model of Community Supported Agriculture where shareholders invest in a local farm and receive a monthly share of fruits and vegetables, Brooklyn Community Supported Art + Design (CSA+D) is a subscription service for locally-produced art and design and is part of a national movement to provide a new marketplace for local artists and to make contemporary art accessible and affordable.

How it works 
Selected artists or designers receive a $3,000 commission to create 50 pieces, which can be part of an edition ex: a series of etchings in an edition of 50 signed prints or a photograph in an edition of 50 prints, or 50 signed serigraphs. Or you may choose to provide unique, individual works.

CSA+D is looking for a diverse range of work across disciplines—including printmaking, photography, collage, table-top, book art, ceramics, textiles, t-shirt designs, drawings, paintings, calendars and more. Each participating artist or designer will receive a $3,000 commission for the edition they create and there is no fee to apply. Artists are not required to reside in Brooklyn as long as they can deliver work to a specific Brooklyn location on the required date. Commissions will be paid to artists/designers upon delivery of the work to CSA+D.

Interested collectors will be able to purchase a share (or half share) from CSA+D, the shares are $500 for 6 pieces and $250 for 3 pieces.

The Jury
Jurors selecting the artists and designers include Charles Hively, Kathleen Massara and Susan Walsh. Charles Hively is the founder of 3x3, The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration. Prior to founding 3x3 Hively was co-publisher at Graphis magazine, founder and creative director of two award-winning advertising and design firms and was vice-president and creative director of two major national advertising agencies. Hively has a degree in fine art and began his career as an illustrator. Kathleen Massara is the Huffington Post’s Arts & Culture editor and the former literary editor of Flavorwire.com. She has written for N+1, Popular Science, The Sunday Times and other publications. Sue Walsh is the Senior Designer at Milton Glaser Incorporated and also operates an independent design consultancy. Before landing at Milton Glaser Incorporated, she worked at The New York Times and The Museum of Modern Art.

For questions regarding the program or application process contact Dianne Debicella or Jill Peterson at CSADBrooklyn@gmail.com, to apply click here.

Deadline: July 8th

Coming Attraction: New Yorker Cartoonist Movie

VERY SEMI-SERIOUS is an offbeat meditation on humor, art and the genius of the single panel. The film takes an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the New Yorker and introduces the cartooning legends and hopefuls who create the iconic cartoons that have inspired, baffled—and occasionally pissed off—all of us for decades.

The film is now in production, with a target release date of Winter 2014. See the trailer here.

3x3 ProShow Winners Announced

I’ve never been prouder than looking at the results of this year’s show. What a selection of outstanding work from all over the world. Our Best of Show winner is from the United Kingdom. Of the seven gold medals, five came from outside the United States. Of our seven Silver medals, six are from overseas and a little more than half our Bronze medals were from outside the United States. My dream has always been to be the only true international show for illustration. While we’re based in the US our shows receive entries from all over the world, we don’t claim to be an American show, our claim is to be an international show. This year proves it.

As always our judges had a difficult time selecting all our winners. In a lot of cases, as in the past, many entries were just one vote shy of getting into the show. With the addition of several new categories and the quality of entries, we have more than double the number of accepted entries making this our largest show ever. For a complete list of all the winners go online to our web site.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Best of Show
Chris Thornley at Raid71, Sequential - United Kingdom

Gold
André Carrilho, Comics/Cartoons - Portugal
André da Loba, Animation - USA
Leonardo Espinosa, Editorial-Conceptual - USA
Alessandro Gottardo, Advertising - Italy
Aad Goudappel, Annual Reports - The Netherlands
Yann Legendre, Books - France
Dietmar Reinhard, Books - Germany

Silver
Ella Cohen, Posters - Israel
Ella Cohen, Editorial-Travel - Israel
Asaf Hanuka, Comics/Cartoons - Israel
Bill Mayer, Editorial-Conceptual - USA
Emiliano Ponzi, Covers - Italy
Emiliano Ponzi, Editorial-Conceptual - Italy
Lucinda Schreiber, Animation - Australia

Bronze
Harry Campbell, Unpublished - USA
Bojana Dimitrovski, Fashion - Serbia
João Fazenda, Books - Portugal
Aad Goudappel, Posters - The Netherlands
Keith Negley, Editorial-Conceptual - USA
Keith Negley, Unpublished - USA
Hsinping Pan, Covers - USA
Emiliano Ponzi, Editorial-Travel - Italy
Steve Simpson, Advertising - Ireland

We’re working on the ProShow annual now and also designing the medals. More news to follow.

3x3 Illustration Annual No. 10 cover - Illustration by René Milot - Canada

For What It's Worth 34

Your postcard mailings aren’t working; all the money you’re spending on mailing lists, printing and postage is a waste of money. You may think by sending an excellent drawing that you’re grabbing the attention of art directors. You’re not. For the most part they come in, go in a stack of other mail and are headed for the trash within seconds of arriving. I’m speaking from personal experience, over thirty years of experience of receiving postcard mailings from illustrators. Of the six postcards I received today, I chucked all but one.

It came as no surprise when I looked over the judging sheets of the Self-Promotion category in our current 3x3 ProShow, by and large illustrators voted for pieces that the art directors didn’t. Our illustrator judges appreciated the art; our art director judges missed the message. That’s the biggest problem with postcards from illustrators, there is no message. Just imagine an art director getting your mailing, what do you want their response to be? I can tell you what you don’t want the reaction to be: "WTF, Huh, So-What or Why? Yet time after time that’s exactly what my reaction is. You must go beyond just creating a wonderful piece of art. As art directors we expect you to be able to draw—why else would you call yourself an illustrator—but what we want you to do is think. Think about who is getting your mailing, think about the image you choose, the language you put on the back and even how you address the postcard. We all know you’re not just sending out one post card, you’re sending out hundreds or more so we don’t appreciate receiving something that isn’t even personalized. So you’ve lost us even before we turn the card over to see the image. Think you’re getting around this by just posting on social media? Read on.

Say you’ve done a better job addressing your card, now how are you choosing your image? Are you choosing one that is relevant to my needs? Or just your favorite image? I know you’ve been told to show work you’re interested in doing in a style you’re comfortable with but the science of promotion goes way deeper than that. You are the image-maker, what you show is a reflection of you, so if it’s a confusing image then I suspect you're not a together illustrator. If you’re sending me images of food and I’m an art director of a science publication then there is a total disconnect. And a lost opportunity. Keep in mind I’m not only judging your style—we know that’s subjective—I’m judging your content and context. Yet this happens over and over again, the wrong image sent to the wrong audience and then you wonder why nobody takes notice. You think you’ll avoid the postcard route and post illustrations simply to show something new. The sharing thing isn’t working for over 80-percent of the art directors out there. The majority are still relying on postcards to find new illustrators, not social media.

It’s criminal how little you’re told about how to promote yourself, for most of you it’s just trial and error, that is if you’re even promoting yourself. Or you could be that rare person that hit the big time right off the bat, no need to promote as one job leads to another. But unless you’re that person you’re hurting yourself more than you’re helping yourself every time you mail a postcard. Too many well-versed illustrators are not getting the work they deserve simply by their actions of poor self-promotion.

An advertiser on television has 30-seconds to “sell” you on their product, you have a millisecond. The choices we art directors make are instantaneous. Just like our judges, it’s either “In” or “Out”. You may be saying, “I did get a job off a postcard or my blog or my email or my posting.” Yes, that is possible but look at all the opportunities that are out there and the masses of art directors you’ve not even touched, either physically or emotionally. There is an untapped market out there, one that needs to be convinced to use illustration.

So while I applaud you who are promoting yourself, take care on how, when and what you promote. There is a science to it.

All of this holds true whether or not I were holding a self-promotion workshop but it’s an even better reason to attend. I spent $2,500, not including hotel reservations or airfare, to attend a one-day workshop where I learned just who I should be directing my energies towards, which prospects were the easiest to persuade and how to approach them. The event changed the way I looked at promotion. For a much smaller fee you can discover the science of it all too. Check it out.