“A key thing that is always going to be useful is to understand how businesses work.”
— JEFFREY PHILLIPS
Possibly better known under his pseudonym ‘Jeff the Peff’, Jeff is an incredibly versatile illustrator able to work in many different fields. We are especially in awe of his lightning-fast sketchbook doodles, documenting everyday observations with a witty twist.
We also love his Instagram account – well worth a follow!
Jeff enrolled in TAFE in 2009 to study illustration and design. Previously he had acquired a business degree and worked in finance before making the decision to make a career change in his late twenties.
Why did you choose TAFE?
At the time, it was easy to enrol in and convenient to get to. My plan was to graduate with a Diploma from TAFE and parlay that into credits for a design course at Uni, maybe Curtin or something.
Tell us a little about your experiences since. Where have you worked? Where do you work now?
I stayed in Perth for a couple more years after leaving TAFE, where I was making ends meet working as a freelance designer and illustrator. It was a bit shaky at first, but I made ends meet by doing just about anything I could get my hands on. This was stuff like short-term temp work at print shops, logos, websites, flyers etc.
Once I started doing work for ad agencies, things got a little easier. I began doing storyboards and artwork for them – even though it was freelance, there was enough of them to be sustainable.
In 2012 I moved to Melbourne, rented a studio and really found my groove. I was able to phase out the design stuff and focus exclusively on illustration. I would often draw moments I’d encountered out in the city and eventually scored a few profiles on blogs like The Design Files. This helped me get on the radar of the wider design community too. In 2016 I illustrated the best-selling Barefoot Investor book which wound up being quite a career highlight for me.
I currently split my time between Melbourne and Philadelphia/New York and am represented internationally by Jacky Winter Agency.
How did you get your first design/illustration job?
My original plan had been to make a portfolio through doing odd design jobs outside of TAFE and then use that experience, plus my diploma to try to find a job (or move on to Uni). This was stuff like designing logos, flyers, storyboards for student films etc. But things didn’t go according to plan – they probably wound up better than that haha.
Eventually these little jobs led to more referrals and through word-of-mouth I started getting regular work from other small businesses and eventually design agencies too. After a couple of years I looked at my invoices and I was like oh damn, I’m making nearly enough as a full-time job – it just snuck up on me you know? It wasn’t a plan to begin with, but in hindsight it worked out well. So when I finished up at TAFE I just kept on freelancing.
What advice would you give to Graphic Design students studying at NM TAFE right now?
A key thing that is always going to be useful is to understand how businesses work. It’s important for two reasons. Firstly, if you wind up freelancing you’re going to be a little business yourself – so it helps to have a good grounding. Secondly, most of your clients are likely to be businesses themselves. So it helps to understand how your work is going to give them value, why they might want to hire you, and how what you want can fit within what they want.
Thankfully you don’t need to go do another degree. I would recommend a book like Kaufman’s The Personal MBA which I found really helpful. The best thing about that book is it’s more common-sense than financial, so it’s super easy for anyone to get a handle on. Overall it gives you a better sense of how to navigate the BS and handle yourself confidently out there.
How important is social media for finding work?
It is important, but on its own it’s kinda useless. Plenty of clients will use it to find creatives but they’ll still click through to check out your website or portfolio and contact you on there. Having a website shows you’re a professional and this isn’t your “side-hustle” or hobby. Alternatively if someone finds you via your website, they’ll probably want to click through to your socials to get a better sense of who you are, what you’re working on at the moment etc.
Overall I think a portfolio should be highly curated, and your socials can afford to be a bit less curated – more behind the scenes, WIP, what you’re up to etc.
What do you think are the most important qualities in an illustrator?
Aside from being able to draw? Try not to be a hassle to work with. Usually someone is hiring you because it’s too much of a hassle to do themselves and so they’re willing to pay someone to deal with it. So just be aware that you’re here to make someone’s life easier and you’ll both have a great outcome. I actually got this bit of advice from the book I recommended earlier, so definitely check that out for more stuff like that.
What are you looking forward to?
I’m currently based between Melbourne and Philly/New York which is new for me – I’m looking forward to trying to build a life and a career that spans these worlds. It’s a bit of a leap into the unknown and there’s probably going to be a few interesting insights and opportunities that emerge from this adventure.
