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Trying to get ahead in illustration? Today's tough
climate demands insider-know-how. Get a head start on the pack by following
these 33 top tips in easy-to-swallow, bite-size chunks…
Despite the wealth of talent in illustration today and a client base that appears keen to tap into the current zeitgeist, for some the road to creative heaven is paved with pitfalls. Whether you are just starting out in illustration or are hardened and battle-weary; here are the crucial, yet sometimes easily overlooked, tips to pull you through. From advice on capturing creative moments to maintaining minimal stress levels, from smart digital do's and don'ts to fee structures and copyright issues; it is all here. From 1 to 33, the top tips that will make the difference to how you tackle the minefield and mindset of life as a professional freelance illustrator.
1. Ideas, ideas and more ideas
You are only as good as your next idea! This may seem harsh but it is
vital to think creatively as well as draw creatively. Illustrators that
stand the test of time are those that communicate through their work,
that have an idea, a message, something to say.
2. Brain Food Get out more!
Really, get away from your screen and check out what is going on in
the real world. Switch off and walk away, make time for visiting exhibitions,
galleries, museums, concerts, libraries, parties, talks, lectures, events;
feed your brain!
3. Get it Down Get a notebook,
a sketchbook and a digital camera. Use them. You will have thoughts
and see stuff worth drawing and photographing and recording on a daily
basis, on a good day an hourly basis. Get used to equipping yourself
every time that you leave your house.
4. Investigate Your Subject Matter
Illustrators often have to be experts on a range of subjects. If you
are commissioned for the travel page of a magazine for a feature on
airport security, you'll have to know the subject. A science magazine
for a feature about robotics commissions you; you'll need to be an expert
on that too. Read more!
5. Mouse Click Reference Library
No time to get to the library? Can't get to the zoo to draw that chimp,
can't set up a mini photo-shoot in the kitchen. Can't remember what
colours make up the Cuban flag. Get to www.google.com and search using
the image search feature. Invaluable but often-looked.
6. Carry Out Getting your work
in front of clients is paramount. Ensure that those that commission
illustration see your work. Invest in as many suitable avenues as you
can afford but start with a portfolio. An off-line portfolio first,
you know the kind, the sort that have a handle.
7. Looking Good Prepare the
presentation of your work as professionally as you can. Nobody sees
good presentation, they all spot poor presentation though. Remember,
every portfolio inspection/viewing by a client is a potential project/goldmine
(with a little luck!).
8. Target Don't waste your
time and others by being poorly informed. Make sure that you do your
research before making contact with potential clients. Find out what
kind of work they create, does yours fit? Could it fit? No, then keep
well clear! Target the right audience.
9. Putting it about Get out
and see as many book publishers, magazine publishers, design companies,
advertising agencies, new media companies etc as you can. People like
to put a face to name, use every meeting to get feedback about your
work and as chance to pick up further contacts.
10. Portfolios galore! Create
one than one portfolio. You can guarantee, unless you do, that a client
will call your portfolio in whilst it is still with another. Nine times
out of ten, they will wait until it can be retrieved, but occasionally
on rush jobs there simply isn't the time and you could lose the job.
11. Be Aware Read the advertising
and design press on a regular basis. You invest in Computer Arts and
Computer Arts Projects but should also be picking up, or at least reading
with a coffee in Borders, numerous global design mags. It really pays
to know who is working for whom and on what projects.
12. Getting to Grips When it
comes to the commission, don't wing it! If you are unsure what is expected
- ask questions. Find out what proportions, what size the final printed
version is to be, the best format for the artwork, the deadline for
visuals and final artwork. And, of course, the fee!
13. Plan, plan and plan some more.
Give yourself enough time to research, contemplate and brainstorm prior
to putting pencil to paper or mouse to screen. Think about the project
outside of 'office hours', when in the bath, on your bike, wherever
it works for you. Creativity can take time! Make sure that you build
this in.
14. Get Creative Attempt to
create more ideas that you could possibly use, pick the best and talk
them through with your client. Be sure not to show ideas that you don't
want to see through to artwork stage though, clients often pick the
idea or approach that you see as the least successful!
15. Be Original Develop your
own way of working, your own style or approach. Be aware of the work
of other illustrators but don't rely on their vision. Ensure, if you
have numerous ways of working, that your client understands which vision
you see as appropriate to their project.
16. Underestimate at your peril!
Promoting one's work can be as vital as creating the work in the first
place. Without some kind of self-promotional item it can impossible
for a potential client to remember you or your work. Decide how to do
and invest time, cash and energy into making it work.
17. Print or Screen Promo?
Both! In this digital world, you need to promote yourself every-which
way that you can. A web site without a card promoting it will get no
hits, a card without a web site is just one sample of your work. Plan
a strategy; build a site and then promote it with a fine-tuned mailing
list.
18. Spam - Don't Do It! Simple,
don't send unsolicited emails with attachments in, in an attempt to
get people to view your work. Ask them first, if they would like to
receive regular emails letting them know of updates to your site and
give them the opportunity to de-register too.
19. Off-line and On-line Create
an on-line digital portfolio and an off-line version that can be viewed
in a browser straight from a CD. Think about building a slide show straight
into an application such as the Apimac Slide Show available as shareware
at http://www.apimac.com . Your end-users won't need the application
as it runs itself.
20. Go Faster Get broadband.
It is now cheaper than ever and most of the UK is covered. You will
need to receive reference materials/images via the web and send large
artwork files via email or upload to your own and/or your clients' web
sites. Dial-up is dead, discover the web as always on, as always fast
and find out what the fuss has been out.
21. Buy Portable If you are
considering a studio outside the home, and it can be a good idea, think
about investing in portable kit. A powerful laptop hooked up to a big
flat screen monitor and keyboard gives you flexibility, you can take
it home for those late or all night sessions. Scanners and colour digital
printers are as cheap as chips nowadays, duplicate your set-up.
22. Get into Data Entry Invest
in a good database application and keep your client, invoice and job
records bang up to date. Mail-merge and create address labels for self-promo
mail-outs. Make a regular habit of updating new information, being organised
right from the start makes good business sense.
23. Buy in some help If you
have no time to create your own database of potential clients, buy some
expertise in. Go to www.filefx.co.uk and purchase their regularly up-dated
lists of who's who in the creative industries. Choose to have lists
supplied on disk and import into your database, easy!
24. Back up Buy an external
hard drive and back up on a regular basis. Archive all of your work
onto CDs or DVDs. Do it twice. Keep one set at home and one set at your
studio. The chances of a fire wiping one set are rare but two sets in
different locations, near impossible. Your work takes time to create,
seconds to lose.
25. Don't Sit Still Technology
advances relentlessly, budget for this. The hardware and software that
you purchase right now will become dated pretty quickly. Recognise that
you'll need to upgrade on a regular basis. If you can get by for two
years on today's kit and software versions, you are doing very well!
26. Be Routine Working for
yourself means being self-disciplined, especially if your studio is
at home. Do arrive at your desk at the same time every day, open your
post, check your emails, work out a schedule for the day and work regular
hours. Don't switch on day-time TV, wander around in your pajamas and
stop every few minutes to stick the kettle on!
27. Eye Maintenance Look after
your eyes. You need them. Take regular breaks and use the time to rest
your eyes. Staring at a screen for hours on end will do them no good
and it is no accident that you have a headache at the end of each day.
Get into the habit of focusing on things further away at regular points,
look out of the window!
28. Smart Working As well as
looking after your eyes, make sure that your desktop is set up correctly,
your real world desktop, not the virtual one. Ensure that screen is
correct height and angle, make sure that you have a seat that is the
correct height too and is supportive too and that your arms are at the
correct angle to use your keyboard.
29. Invoice It Start with good
habits and keep them up. Invoice for work as soon as it has been completed,
delivered and signed off. Your clients will take some time to pay you;
some time can vary from one to three months! Invoice asap and avoid
nasty cash-flow problems.
30. Get Help! Self-assessment
has meant that dealing with the Inland Revenue has become easier although
for some it can still be minefield. Speak to and appoint an accountant,
good and early. The time, money and stress that they can save you will
be worth every penny of their fees.
31. Copyright Issues When you
are commissioned you are normally paid for the rights to use the image
that you have created. As the originator of the artwork you retain ownership
of the artwork itself as well as the copyright. If the client wishes
to use the image wherever and whenever they like, it may be worthwhile
to sell the copyright. Know your rights!
32. Fees Fees traditionally
are the trickiest area for illustrators. Get the fee sorted before you
start the job, it will pay later if any potential confusion is sorted
out way before you get cracking. Most agents demand that clients complete
purchase orders before the project is started, as protection for their
illustrators; do the same!
33. Rejection Fees It can happen,
jobs go wrong for a variety of reasons. Be sure that your client understands
that a job rejected at visuals stage can be charged at 25% of the full
fee and jobs cancelled at final stage, through no fault of yours, can
be charged at the full rate. Be prepared to negotiate though, it may
be worth keeping the client!
34. Get Chasing Don't wait
for the phone to ring, get on the case and get out there. Keep your
eyes open for opportunities for illustrators, look for new publications;
they appear all the time, look for advertising campaigns that are using
illustration and approach the agency that commissioned it. Get chasing
every lead.
35. Get Organised Find out
what is going on in illustration, look at joining The Association of
Illustrators, www.theaoi.com, as a sure fire way of getting impartial
advice about fees and support and info about industry practice as well
as invitations to portfolio surgeries, lectures and conferences.
© Lawrence Zeegen