Now this — I like....

It's always nice to wake up to some sunshine a nice rejection letter. Ummm.... What?!
Yeah—you heard me right (or rather, read me right).... the key word being nice. Take a look at what I awoke to in my inbox this morning:

Wow wow- amazing work…just not right for our market, I wish! Keep showing it around I'm sure there is great things in the pipeline for you –

I would love to be kept updated though- and to help you with your search try <insert secret link.... what? You thought I was going to share it with you?> a full listings of all other UK based illustration agencies.

Thank you for your time and consideration, we wish you all the best for the future. Keep illustrating your point! Oh and please link up with us, you never know things may change. We also have an active internship program here, lots of our artists and almost all our staff came from interns. You get our market when you have been here for a while.

Deriving inspiration today from UK illustrator, Heidi Burton. Find her work on etsy and flickr.

Illustration/Design Fees: A sticky subject

Have you noticed that "fees" have become that unmentionable and awkward f word? It can throw off an entire client consultation. And WHY? Well part of the problem is that illustration and design fees can be very vague. There are a lot of factors that impact the price. I did a little research on the internet, and I found some interesting methods of determining a price standard for artwork (we're talking graphic design and illustration work here). Gabe Lanza suggests that it's your lifestyle that determines your price point.

As you know, the amount you charge for your Illustrations depends largely on how much you need to make in order to survive. This means that you need to determine expenses such as rent, utilities, marketing and promotion, supplies, and many other costs of doing business. One thing that is also important to factor into the equation is your own idea of a satisfied life. 

What kind of life do you like to live? 

Where are you located? 

What level of comfort do you try to maintain?

What luxuries do you desire?

What does success mean to you?

If this is the case, I better find myself some high clientele! Cause no one wants to live in a cardboard box! But it's just not as saying "I'm going to charge a premium price for my design/illustration work" when you're just starting out in the industry. Everyone wants to see that your portfolio justifies the price. And while you think so, and I might think so too... since we are a talented, creative group; the fact is we're still just newbies in this business. So where do we start? 

I think you have to have a flexible price structure and build up a price point as you go. This is largely why I haven't posted my rates on my website. Fees depends on a number of factors - i.e complexity, external print costs, etc. It also depends on the client's budget. I've done simple business cards for a nominal $250 design fee (plus printing costs on top of that), and a website for roughly $650... but I think if my clientele was more established I would have charged more. So here's a good gauge for pricing your work (based on my research):

Book illustration
The following rates are based on A4-size projects. Rates can be increased depending on detail required, research involved and conceptual input required. For ‘one-off’ or single illustrations paid on a flat fee without royalties add 20 per cent; for online usage, a limited time agreement of a maximum of two years and an indication of the type of access should be specified. The rates are exclusive of GST.

Roughs
• Black and white $65
• Colour $95

Black and white book illustration
• Quarter page or chapter head $215
• Half page $340
• Full page $455
• Double page spread $575

Colour book illustration
• Quarter page or chapter head $300
• Half page $475
• Full page $675
• Double page spread $900
• Cover $1300

Graphic Design
Standard Price for Custom Business Cards

• $150.00 for full color, 2 sided business card artwork
• Standard Price for Post Cards or Flyers, 4 × 6 inch, or 5 × 7 inch  $200.00 for full color, 2 sided post card or flyer artwork  

*Rates may vary for custom size post cards or flyers, so you should ask clients to contact you for a  quote.

Miscellaneous Custom Artwork for Printed Marketing Materials  

• Logo Artwork (simple $200, complex $450 up) 
• Advertising Artwork ($250 up)  
• Newspaper Ad Artwork ($250 up) 

Even with this being said, there are going to be projects where you know (for a fact) that you are being underpaid, but you take it because

1. It seems like an amazing project and you want to be part of it no matter what.
2. Your client is just starting out and they don't have the budget.
3. This is a returning client, so the job flow justifies the price.
4. This is an opportunity to get published and get your name out there.

So whatever you decide, just know that you can change your pricing structure as you see fit. This is a fluid job, so there's no rigid and set guide to pricing your work. Good luck out there! 

From concept to completion

 

So many people have asked me "what does it take to illustrate a book?" The real question is, what doesn't it take?!  Patience and dedication are forefront (and a whole lot of caffeine is also important). Creating a book is a long process from start to finish, so you better get settled in.

As an illustrator, I usually meet the characters once the final manuscript has been handed to me. I take notes about what the author has mentioned about them: physical features, characteristics, personality, etc. And then it's my job to fill in the blanks. I have to get a sense of who the characters really are, and how to best portray them. Then I start sketching the characters in various different positions to get an idea of how they move in their environment.  After this stage I usually create story boards to figure out what will happen on each page of the book. As in the case of my current children's book, I am also the designer — so I am also responsible for choosing typefaces and layout. The fun really begins once I can start adding colour to my sketches. Right now I'm working from watercolour studies, which I then scan to create my digital illustrations. Quite a process, but the payoff is amazing. Stay tuned for a release date in 2013! *fingers crossed*

Refuse to simply settle

I don't know if it's simply stubbornness or willpower, but I'd like to think that I was meant for more than just a mundane kind of life. Perhaps that's the artist in me talking. I'd love to travel the globe and follow inspiration wherever it leads me. Someone once told me that it was easier to find work within the commonwealth than it was to find work in the states. Although I have set my sights on local jobs for now, I still haven't given up on my dream of finding work in Australia or New Zealand sometime in the future.

When all you can dream about is paint chips...

Well I've learned one thing for sure: design sense isn't always passed down... or inherited. I think my design sense can largely be attributed to that fact that I grew up living with my mother. She is clean and organized like I am (or would like to be most of the time).  But it's certainly not a quality that my father has. Today I went to visit him for his 64th birthday (wu hoo, congratulations to my pop)! And you know what my creative brain had me thinking about? That all I really wanted to give him for his birthday was a complete remodel of his current trailer home. This is truly when design-sense seems like a curse (and when I start seriously considering that I have some OCD tendencies – lol!) because I spent all night thinking of how I could change things... what I would paint, how I would organize things. I know, crazy right? Hopefully I'm not alone. There must be some other creative enthusiasts out there brainstorming layouts and colour schemes. As proof, I found some great trailer remodels and I thought I'd share them with you. Amazing what you can accomplish with just a few coats of paint!

See the entire unique Bohmian trailer home here

What's trending in the creative world

Finding creative outlets anywhere and everywhere

Hey guys! Welcome back! It's been a while since my last post... since then I've interned at Max Advertising Inc, took on a couple more freelance jobs, and seriously started on my children's book illustrations. So a lot of new and exciting creative changes... unfortunately the bank account doesn't reflect this just quite yet, but I'm hoping that following my dream will pay off... I'm fairly confident it will, I'm just in the "struggling artist phase." Nearly everyone goes through this stage. Take a look at actors, musicians and the like... they always have such great stories about how they lived off of canned soup for a year in a crappy little apartment (so I'm well on my way *wink*). A great example of this?
Facebook's graffiti artist, David Choe.
He went from homeless to a millionaire.


I'm constantly looking for new opportunities to showcase my creative talent (or as some relatives have referred to it, my artistic curse). I came across DENYdesigns — quite by accident. My sister and I were searching for a well–designed duvet cover to transform our mother's bedroom, and we came upon this site. What I love about DENYdesigns is that local artists are showcased, and finally bedding, shower curtains etc. have caught up to our contemporary tastes! Worth the click, check it out.