Art & Business

31 Jan

Posted at 00:00h in Art & Business
I originally posted this on my blog back in August. However, my blog traffic has increased five-fold since then and I'm guessing most of you haven't seen it. So, an encore... For a freelancer, a website is an essential marketing tool. It proudly displays your work to potential clients 24/7. It trumpets your accomplishments to art directors all over the world. Most will not even consider hiring you if you don't have a website. But not all websites are created equal. There are some little extra touches that can go a long way in making sure your website pushes you up on the hiring list. Some of these tips I've just recently learned myself. I'm planning to completely redo my website to take full advantage of them. Put your contact info at the top. Make sure your email and phone number appear on your header, so that they are readily visible on every page. It's not that uncommon for an art director to print out samples from two or three artists to show to the boss and/or the hiring committee for a project. If they are having a tough time deciding which artist to call, having your contact info at the top of the page might push you over the edge, especially if the art director is busy and doesn't want to take time to look up the contact info for the other artists.

23 Jan

Posted at 07:19h in Art & Business

Hey kids! Today's phrase is "Spec work". In the creative industries (advertising, publishing, film making, etc.) doing a project "on spec" means "work done on speculation", in other words doing work for free in the hopes that you'll get paid later once the project "takes off". Young artists just starting out are especially vulnerable to such projects, but even after ten...

15 Jan

Posted at 00:00h in Art & Business

I'm under the gun with some projects, so no time to write a blog post. But don't go away empty handed! Here's three blogs loaded with great info on freelancing: Freelance Switch Freelance Folder Wake Up Later In some cases their content is geared towards other types of freelancing besides illustration (i.e. freelance writing, freelance web design, etc.) but much if it can still...

10 Jan

Posted at 00:00h in Art & Business, Uncategorized
Yesterday I listed some of the "Con's" of freelancing. Please read that first if you haven't already. Now that that's out of the way I want to focus on some of the "Pro's", the terrific and exciting aspects of freelancing which, in my opinion, far outweigh the negatives and make the whole adventure worthwhile. If they didn't, I wouldn't have stuck at it for ten years and counting: Pro #1: You are your own boss. You decide when to work and when to take a break. You decide which projects you will work on. You negotiate the deadlines. There are no superiors to report to (just make sure your clients are happy). No boring meetings. No annoying co-workers. You enjoy a great deal of freedom compared to your cubicle-bound counterparts. You can buy groceries at 10 am when there is no traffic and no lines at the checkout. You run your own show! I can't think of a career choice that offers you more personal freedom.

09 Jan

Posted at 00:00h in Art & Business
Recently I wrote a two-part post entitled "How To Bid Out A Project" (Part 1 and Part 2). One of the first things I mentioned was that, to cover expenses, a freelancer needs to charge much more per hour than he/she would normally make as a salaried employee. There has been some discussion of my article on another website, and someone apparently misunderstood my comments to mean that freelancing is a great way to get rich quick. I can assure you, it is not. That got me thinking, there are probably a lot of misconceptions about freelancing out there. So I've decided to list a few of the pro's and con's of freelancing, straight from the horses mouth. I've been freelancing for over ten years, so I know of what I speak. I don't want to start positive and then end on a negative note, so I'll cover the "con's" first. Tomorrow I'll touch on some of the "pro's". If this post is a bit of a downer to read, I don't mean it to be. I enjoy freelancing very much! In my view the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. But I want to paint a fair and honest picture for anyone who may be considering freelancing as a career.