A mascot can be powerful. If you run a small business, work at an ad agency, or design product packaging, I would encourage you to think about the benefits of having a mascot to represent the product or service you are selling. A while back I wrote a post summarizing some of the benefits a mascot brings. That post has recently...
"Mascot Contest 2" officially ended on Friday. A lot of people entered and most identified all the mascots correctly. Those who did were entered in the drawing. I put the entries on slips of paper and my two-year-old daughter picked one out of a baseball cap. The winner of the mascot contest is David Oldham. Congrats David! You'll receive a free...
(EDIT: Contest is now closed. Winner and correct answers here.) As a character designer I'm fascinated with product mascots. A good mascot, when combined with a strong ad campaign, can be an enormous benefit when promoting a product or service. My favorite freelance projects are when clients hire me to design a mascot or character, either for advertising or animation. To help...
I've had a Facebook account for a while now and have found it to be a terrific way to stay in touch with friends, clients, and other artists. It's also a great way to meet new people and make stronger connections in the industry. While there's no substitute for personal one-on-one relationships, Facebook makes it possible for me to stay...
My friend and fellow illustrator Tom Richmond recently posted this YouTube video on his blog. It's a hilarious illustration of the ways some clients will try to take advantage of freelancers. Fortunately I don't run into this kind of thing much anymore. My clients for the most part have been great and treat me like a total professional, and I've...
The second annual Creative Freelancer Conference (sponsored by HOW Magazine and Marketing Mentor) will be held in San Diego August 26-28, 2009. I attended last year's conference in Chicago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though I've been freelancing for over twelve years I still picked up quite a few tips and tricks. As a result of what I learned I've...
