What are you up to in 2025?

Would be curious how you see the potential for that new year :)

Hello everyone,

First of all, Happy 2025. This year I won’t do a post contemplating what I did and did not in 2024. I prefer focus on now and 2025.

I started the year pretty slow and a bit sad because at the end of January I will leave my studio.

I spent 8 years there with my friends John and Stéphane. But 2025 is going to be full of changes for me. Let me detail :)

We are moving!

I am leaving my studio because in a few months our family is moving from the Swiss border to the West Coast of France, in Vendée to be exact. And as the rent for the studio is pretty high and activity is bit slow, my roommate and I decided to let it go a bit earlier. Which means I will have to work from home max 6 months (ARGGHHHHH).

So last week I was focused on that project and felt a bit lost with that move. Also, since I finished my exhibition in November, I have been feeling a bit sad, after having working months on that project. So I decided to sit and think about what I want to do in 2025.

1. Develop my collage style

This was my big moment in 2024, discovering that collage could enhance my style. So in 2025 I am going to push in the same direction and use collage as a start for many ideas. From a collage, I can start a painting, I can scan the collage, digitise it and sell it as a print, I can offer it as a licensing deal for any apparel ou product line, or as a surface design, patterns for example.

And what I like about it is that I can sell lettering but also illustration alone. It happened in 2024 where a few brands bought me designs where they only wanted the illustration and not the lettering. Example below:

So I think I am going to push all in that direction.

2. It means doing client projects again

I never really stopped because I kept a few already existing clients and took a few others. But most of my revenues coming from collaborating with brands came from selling them already existing designs. I did create a whole page on my website for that:

But recently I have been contacting by a few large brands to create original designs for them. I took these projects and I want to do more of that in 2025.

Why taking client work again you may ask?

2024 has been difficult and slow for me and also creating your own products can feel stressful sometimes. Like doing a constant promotion of them is not a thing I like, I am pretty bad at logistics, it can even be really stressful sometimes. You spend more time in the day preparing packaging, going to the Post office and discovering that shipping did RAISE again…

Also, developing your own collection of products ask for a lot of structure. You are your own client. You fix your own deadlines. And sometimes I find it easier to be accountable to someone else than just me!

So 2025 will be a mix of products and projects. But when I say projects, I means collaborating with brands on apparel or surface designs only.

3.Another exhibition please!!!

I want to do another exhibition. I want to paint with an objective in mind. So I am going to look for a new place where I could exhibit my work. I have a few ideas, especially where we are going to move. Exhibiting the the region there could be a good opportunity to promote my work there.

And you? What are you up to in 2025?

I would really like if you could take a few minutes and let me know how you see the coming year and what are your plans and goals? And if you did not think about it yet, that is a good opportunity to do so :)

Inspiration of the week

To finish this week newsletter, I would like to share with you an artist I discovered recently, Chris Haughton and a FANTASTIC post from Amie that got me really emotional yesterday evening. I think I will have to read several times!

1. Chris Haughton

Chris is a great Irish illustrator, working a lot with collages. He made many best sellers and the way it is drawn and cut + the color palettes are really fantastic. I did buy many of his books even if my kids are grown up now and we had a lot of fun reading them.

He also did videos where he explains how he does his illustration. Again this is fascinating:

2. I did not want a job

Amie McNee is a fantastic writer and artist. She is everywhere online to motivate artists to not stop doing Art. Here is for example her Instagram Account.

But yesterday she wrote a post on Substack about how difficult it has been for her to find a place in that society with not wanting to take a 9 to 5 boring job. She wanted to be an artist, she wanted a sparkling life/job. And I can SOOOOO relate to that. This is crazy. I always felt like a failure for not wanting to go work in a boring graphic design job. Please please, read that post, her story is great and the writing is also:

I didn't want a job

This is it for today. Again I wish you a great 2025 and please leave me a comment to let me know what are your plans for this year. I would be so happy if we could all start a discussion together about that:

Take care, enjoy the weekend and talk to you next week :)

Francis