The Good Ship Illustration

This week Katie talks to Sophie Greenwood off of Three Beams Thinking. Sophie's a screen printer, business mentor and founder of Super Seconds Festival. 
If anyone's ever told you that you can't be both creative and spreadsheety then they're LYING because look! Sophie exists! 
If you’ve ever ignored your own time blocks out of pure rebellion, said yes to a job because “what if this is the last time anyone ever asks me to do an illustration project?”, or promised to do something in six weeks because you’ll definitely be less busy then (you won’t), this one is for youuu.
We talk co-working, blocking out rest, energy audits, being 163% over capacity, and why time tracking might be the secret to fixing your pricing.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Meet Sophie
 01:30 – Co-working
 03:30 – Ops to print
 05:00 – Incubate sessions
 07:30 – Puddle or river
 08:00 – Experiment mode
 09:30 – Time blocking
 12:00 – Block rest
 14:30 – Energy audit
 16:30 – Burnout lessons
 18:00 – 163% booked
 19:30 – The data says no
 20:30 – Time tracking
 24:30 – Pricing truths
 26:30 – Post-It strategy
 28:30 – Eat the frog?
 30:30 – Six-week illusion
 31:30 – Eisenhower Matrix
 36:00 – Phone jail
 37:30 – Find Sophie
Links & Tools Mentioned:
🧠 Sophie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebeamsthinking
💼 Sophie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiegreenwoodthreebeams/
👕 Super Seconds Festival: https://www.supersecondsfestival.co.uk/
📖 Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey
⏳ Juliet Funt (The Six-Week Illusion)
⏱️ Toggl
⏱️ Harvest
⏱️ Moxie
🍅 The Pomodoro Technique
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
BY THE WAY, if you're a Good Shipper on any of our paid courses, you get access to our every-2-weeks co-working sessions :) 
Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

It's Tania Willis is in the hot seat this week (have you heard of her? That name rings a bell...) and our Katie is grilling her about maps! 
We dug out our dusty listener question spreadsheet and the first one out was a good 'un: how long does a map take? 
HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING? 
Tania is going to tell you. Just hit play and snuggle in, ok?
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – How long?
 02:30 – Map scales
 04:30 – Off-plan fantasy
 05:30 – Blue and green
 07:30 – Problem-solving
 09:00 – That dog
 11:30 – Mouse mats?!
 13:30 – Accidental cartography
 15:00 – Morning pages
 19:00 – Resistance
 20:30 – Play first
 21:30 – Black outlines
 22:00 – Peer pressure
Links mentioned:
🎨 Free colour workshop (in the freebies section): https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com
📖 The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: https://juliacameronlive.com
🌱 Creative Wellbeing by Studio Emie: https://www.emmi.co.uk/the-creative-wellbeing-handbook
🚩 Freak Flag: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
P.S. Are you feelin' a bit stuck? May we recommend the genius (and free!) colour workshop? It's v low pressure paint-along vibes. Aaand it’s what got Helen to ditch her black outlines for her book Smelly Peggy!
TADAAA: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/colour
Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

This week our Katie chats to Katy Cowan, founding editor of Creative Boom, the independent platform that's been cheering on creatives of every background for 17 years. It started as a side project dreamed up on a sun lounger on her honeymoon (true story!) and now reaches over 300,000 readers a month.

If you've ever wondered how illustrators get picked up by Creative Boom, Katy tells us everythiiiiing: keep sharing your work, keep your Instagram active, and make your website a nice 'n' friendly place for journalists/art directors to land. 
Grab a notebook, this one's full of amazin' tips 💛
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Meet Katy
01:00 – Gatekeeping
03:00 – Goody gatekeepers
04:00 – "You're not in trouble"
05:00 – Marketing when you're shy
06:30 – Hiding behind the brand
07:00 – 2024
10:30 – A new brainstorming buddy
11:30 – AI, the nuanced bit
14:30 – Where the work is
15:30 – The perfect storm
16:30 – The tightrope
17:30 – The future is human
19:30 – The courage to be disliked
20:30 – Getting featured
23:30 – Press-ready websites
25:00 – GEO
25:30 – Honeymoon ideas
26:30 – Slipped Disc
27:00 – Being enough

Links mentioned:

🌟 Creative Boom: https://www.creativeboom.com
🎧 The Creative Boom Podcast: https://www.creativeboom.com/podcast/
📸 Creative Boom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativeboom/
🎶 Katy's personal Instagram (for the Slipped Disc DJ videos): https://www.instagram.com/katylcowan/
🎨 Sarah Martinon, the illustrator behind the Hermès campaign Katy mentions: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmartinon/
🚢 The Good Ship Illustration: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

Byeeee for now!

x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

James Martin (aka @MadebyJames) is baaack! Part one was your starter, and this week is the chonky main course. James did promise to come back with something v useful, and he kept his word.
Buckle in for a step-by-step formula to help you build relationships with the people you'd love to work with. 
There is absolutely NO cold emailing or cheesey self-promotion involved. 
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Welcome back James, and why part two is all about the practical stuff
 01:00 – A brand is really just a way of getting more opportunity
 02:00 – What James means by "opportunity design"
 02:45 – The book Obvious Adams
 04:00 – Why you should ask your clients for feedback, not other creatives
 06:00 – Why complicated marketing advice makes us feel silly
 07:30 – Good business relationships take time (you can't skip straight to "here's my work, give me money")
 09:00 – Sandboxes: pressure-free 20-minute conversations
 10:45 – Introvert? Start your first sandbox with a friend
 11:50 – Everything good in your life started with one conversation
 13:30 – Physical mailers and the "effort heuristic"
 15:45 – The 5-3-1 framework: five existing clients, three strategic relationships, one aspirational one
 19:00 – Focusing on just nine people, and starting a relationship journal
 21:30 – The time exchange library
 23:30 – What to send when you're following the seven email rule
 26:30 – Asking for a sandbox
 28:00 – The "second portfolio": gifting a scrappy idea that solves their problem
 30:45 – Reciprocity
 33:30 – Getting ready for when they look you up: your bio, profile pic and a "how to work with me" PDF
 37:00 – Cold emails are gross and they don't even work
Links mentioned:
• Part one of our chat with James was last week (we'll add the link here when we have it)
 • James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
 • James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
 • James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
 • James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding
 • Obvious Adams by Robert R. Updegraff
 • Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hype-yourself-a-no-nonsense-pr-toolkit-for-small-businesses-lucy-werner/b3b30df91155c107?ean=9781788601238&next=t&affiliate=11858&ref=hypeyourself.com
 • Our episode with Kira Matthews (the seven email rule): https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-7-email-rule-pitching-your-work-to-illustration/id1526470404?i=1000757654276 
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

Trigger warning: In this episode, James talks openly about his experience of childhood sexual abuse, as well as addiction (drugs and alcohol). It's mentioned briefly in the 06:52 to 11:00 section and discussed again from 45:23. There's also plenty of strong language throughout. Look after yourself and skip this episode/seek support if you need it.
This week our Katie is chatting to James Martin, AKA @MadebyJames. He's a designer, author, Canva design advisory board member & creative partner at Lincoln Design Co.
James is nice an' honest about the wiggly creative career road that got him to where he is today.
We chat about the "gravity of average" and why everyone's starting to look and sound the same, an economist with two ice cream sellers on a beach 🍦, whether there's any point becoming an illustrator now AI is here aaaand why your weirdness is more valuable than ever. 😎 FLY YOUR FREAK FLAG!!
ALSO, this is part one of two - next instalment is coming next week.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Welcome James Martin, aka Made by James, and a quick intro to who he is and what he does
 02:43 – The world has never been more distracting
 06:29 – James's journey: school, trauma, addiction, and finding his way to an art foundation
 11:00 – Falling forward into graphic design
 15:03 – Following your gut and doing more of what lights you up
 18:09 – Writing No Bullsh*t Branding
 21:11 – Ddopamine
 25:06 – Is there any point becoming an illustrator now that AI is here?
 29:54 – The "gravity of average" and how systems pull everyone towards the middle
 32:53 – Hotelling's Law, ice cream sellers on a beach, and why opportunity lives at the edges
 38:08 – Time, the long game, and "automate the predictable, humanise the meaningful"
 41:44 – Bring back dilly dallying!
 42:04 – Your weirdness as your difference: taste, story and point of view
 45:23 – Feeling scared to be yourself, and why James chose to share his story
 49:29 – Being real online vs oversharing, and sharing from the scar, not the open wound
 52:24 – Gary V, 500 pieces of content a week, and the performance trap
 53:11 – James's mission, his three-step plan, and eating your own dog food
 56:10 – Round two is coming!
Links mentioned:
James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙