Five C's Of Illustration- client, communication, collaboration, creativity and continuity!

Some ideas on working with a client

Think of illustration as a collaboration. You have been hired to work with your client to complete a visual task. 

There's an easier approach-think of it as the five C's: client, communication, collaboration, creativity and continuity all rolled up together. 

First comes the client of course. This will involve much discussion of ideas that leads to a collaboration for a project. The project produces illustrations from your creativity. Lastly, if this collaboration goes well there will be continued projects to come. 

How to do this effectively is to think like a director- a director of your freelance business. You are are sharing your knowledge, know-how, skills and experience. This involves a confident enthusiasm that produces a positive working partnership. 

Never feel that your insights are not part of your job. Your unique visual sensitivities in this world is what makes you marketable-it becomes part of your style set. You and your art are a package deal!

Good creative collaborations involve ideas, conversation, getting involved, sharing opinions, and constructive communication. The active parts involve a lot of listening, note taking and following up. Clients are not looking for illustrator super stars-they are looking for a meeting of the minds that helps them get the visual message they are hiring you for. It's a service! 

Clients like what they like for many reasons. Collaborations take time and take work. So when you grab a clients attention and they want to work with you, it's good to treat it as the very big creative deal that it is. It means you are doing all those five C's right! 

“Optimism is the most important human trait, because it allows us to evolve our ideas, to improve our situation, and to hope for a better tomorrow.” -Seth Godin

Monday Big Think!

Make something. Put a story behind it. Make it with meaning and share it! Repeat!

100 Things The World Should Know About Illustration.

1. My (insert town or city)_______________ needs more illustration!

2. The world needs an illustrators point of view.

3. Illustration is an act of courage, creative commitment and sacrifice.
4.The world needs our illustrated stories.
5. Great illustrations of hands and eyes really do melt hearts.
6. Illustrators are rarely bored.
7. Everything is so damn interesting all the time!
8. Images can build bridges between people and unite many through visual communication.
9. Home is not only where we live but also where we work too.
10. Illustration is positive communication.
11. Illustration shows how awesome our imaginations can be.
12. Staying up late to read a good illustrated book with a child is never time wasted.
13. Good ideas are never boring or wrong.
14. Hiring talent is always a great investment.
15. Great illustration gets people talking.
16. We go big. We go for different even when no one is paying attention.
17. Imagination takes us everywhere!
18. An illustration can jump start feeling and mood while enhancing text. 
19. A great illustrator/client relationship should be toasted! 
20. You can’t go wrong with ideas that happen 24/7 with no apparent off switch!
21. We stop for sunsets, cool graffiti, book stores, coffee shops and great conversations.
22. Talent is not always discovered- it's promoted. 
23. We are not afraid to take a chance.
24. Making things at our desk is always better than surfing online.
25. Talent deserves to be seen, to go viral!
26. Illustrated maps get you from point A to point B!
27. We challenge ourselves daily. We push our own limits gently but creatively.
28. We cannot hold back from showing others what we make! 
29. We can let you use our work on your projects but we cannot give it away. 
30. Practice makes great!
31. Illustration is the oldest form of communication. There are many cave paintings to back that statement up!
32. Our unique style is our brand!
33. We're not a hobby, we're a business.
34. Ideas can come out of no where. Random is good!
35. Some illustrators put in more hours a week than doctors do.
36. Illustration and narratives work hand in hand.
37. We are more than just image makers. We wear many hats!
38. The strength of illustration emphasizes certain details and ideas that we want our audience to see.
39. Illustrations helps us teach children.
40. Good ideas and good illustrations take time. But it's worth it! 
41. Illustration is the most fun we’ll ever have with our heads, heart and hands all at the same time! 
42. Illustrators make visual connections.
43. We make original one-of-a-kind work!
44. Illustration projects are not contests. 
45. We are not stock or clip art.
46. We make your skateboards look RAD!
47. It's a from of invention.   

48. It's a passion, a calling and a great creative habit!

49. Illustrators can work from anywhere. We think globally! 

50. We help sell magazines! 
51. We do not do support spec work. 
52. We understand the power of colour and detail has on our audience. 
53. The drawing is only the beginning! 
54. Freelance doesn't mean free. 
55. We don't follow our dreams, we chase them! 
56. You collect our work on posters, cards and other nifty trinkets. 
57. We let go of certainties and go with the unknown plus a lot of mess! 
58. We are self directed business types but on the creative side of things. 
59. We break rules. 

60. Illustrators cannot work for free.

61. We want good jobs and we also want to build relationships, networks and communities. 

62. Illustrators are also creative consultants. We help visualize your ideas!

63. We support each other in the good times and the bad.

64. We help book covers jump off the shelves!

65. Illustration is a process of ideas, sketches, revisions and final work.
66. We are information sponges!
67. We are contagious!
68. We help medical students learn about the human body. 
69. We never stop learning. 
70. Illustrators want you to feel like a kid again!
71. We help solve visual problems! 
72. Illustrations help you put your new furniture together. 
73. If it looks good in our portfolio, the finished piece will look good on you as well.
74. Our work looks good on your walls, t-shirts and coffee mugs!
75. We want to distract you, in a good visual way of course!
76. An illustrator’s flexibility can be your best asset.
77. Sometimes the process behind the illustration is the best part! 
78. We help bring animations to life. 
79. Think of illustration as thinking pictures.
80. Illustrations help bring fashion to life then to the runway!
81. Our work adorns wine labels and packaging.  
82. Illustrations visually represent whatever is being said or written.
83. You eat off our beautifully illustrated patterns. 
84. Our inspirations, curiosities and experiences can add a different spin to your projects. 
85. Illustrations make board game night more exciting. 
86. Our quick commutes and small expenses give us freedom to just create and run our business.
87. We help bring your ideas to life!
88. Our illustrations visualize the right emotion on that greeting card you just bought.
89. We want you look closer and pay attention more because our work has a message! 
90. We help companies have a distinct looking brand image! 
91. Our clients are a very important part of our business.
92. Illustration opens up the hand of thought! 
93. An illustrator is as imaginative as you need them to be.
94. An illustrator helps you make a good impression because we live to create stuff.
95. We give fabric and clothing more flair! 
96. Our versatility keeps this industry moving forward.
97. The world will always need imagery. Where there's opportunity, there's a way!
98. We want to see our industry thrive. 
99. We are willing to sacrifice some sleep, a weekend or a trip to the beach for a really great project!
100. Illustrators are in it for life!

So if you ever needed to explain to someone what illustration is about, this can help! Now it's your turn. Please add what you want to tell the world about illustration! Add them into the comment section and feel free to pass this on!

© Holly DeWolf 2013 

What Does Your Social Media Audience Want From You? If You're Not Sure, Then Ask!

Recently while poking around Facebook, I saw a brilliant post from ThinkGeek. If you've never heard of them, here is the gist: they are an awesome site selling awesome geeky things to delight the mind and your imagination. Their motto is "Stuff For Smart Masses." 

So getting back to what I was saying about their post... ThinkGeek did something very simple but very effective that got my attention. They asked their Facebook audience this question:  

"Serious question: What do *you* think we're doing right on Facebook? We've been asked to talk social media at a con & need your input!"

What followed was a great witty dialog back and forth by members of the site and the moderator. There wasn't a lot of commenter's however the answers focused on these key points:

• Their feed includes both items which they carry as well as other items that their audience would appreciate. 
• They focus on humour.
• They stay positive. 
• They make their audience smile a lot.
• They involve people.
• They ask a lot of questions.
• They interact well. 

Social Media is often perceived as a all-about-me medium. As it turns out, it's not really about us after all. Online marketer is about our followers. Ask yourself what your audience wants from you. If you are not sure, then ask them! 

It May Not Be Burnout-You Might Just Need A Change.

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."- Lao Tzu

Before you decide you are totally burned out, think for a moment: Is it burnout you are feeling or do you just need a change? 

Call it the curse of routine restlessness or just being too comfortable. Routines are the same-old-same-old. That is why they grow stale. That is why we get curious. 

"The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones." -John Maynard Keynes

The big question to ask yourself-

If you are not following your creative instincts, then what are you following? 

• perhaps it's a habit.

• a comfy pattern.

• fear of change.

• fear of the new.

It's Spring and with that comes growth, warmer temperatures and reinvention. No one said being an illustrator was not going to come without challenges. No, this career comes with an infinite learning curve for sure. It challenges us to our creative core but we come back for more every single time!

Try these ideas for size:

• Do more self-directed work. 

• Work on new ideas for promotions. 

• Talk to your illustration friends more.

• Write about what you do on your blogs. Share your knowledge. 

• Rewrite your bio. This is an instant creative boost right there. 

• Step away from social networking more. It's important to network but making work is much more important. 

• Don't wait to asked to do things. Make more opportunities for yourself. 

• Do some Spring cleaning or rearrange your work space. This can be a huge refresher in itself!

• Listen to more podcasts while you work. 

• Take a day for yourself. We don't need to work all the time. Quiet time is important too. 

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." -Socrates  

Some Thoughts On Competition

© Holly DeWolf
Even small fish can be happy! 

"Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off." -Franklin D. Roosevelt 

I think we all would agree there is more competition in the illustration industry than ever before. This blog post is in response to quite a few emails asking me how I feel about all this new competitiveness. 

“If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place. ― Criss Jami

It has to be said: 

There is going to be competition in any industry and illustration is not exempt. The truth is, the gap between the amount of illustrators and the amount of work available is getting bigger by the day. 

Focusing too much on what others are doing can take your energy away. At some point you need to get away from the distractions and get back to making illustrations. 

There will always be styles of work that are trendy and illustrators that are trending. Just because it goes viral does not mean we are all going to like it. Ask yourself this: Do you want to be a trend or do you want to develop a certain style that is unique to you that you can market? 

"No one can make me work harder than I do, so I'm generally not interested in who I am competing with." -Victoria Principal 

The way I see it: 

If you can't beat 'em, Illustrate anyway. Do what you are designed to do. The world needs what you have to offer! Create daily. Draw, sketch and doodle the hell out of your ideas. Get your work out there. Network. Talk to people. Build referrals. Keep promoting what you do. Remember that no one can sell your skills better than you. 

If you can't beat 'em, go your own way!

• Do what your good at but be willing to reinvent yourself! 
• Go left or go right but avoid the straight and narrow.  
• Just keep working and have a plan.
• Don't worry about it so much. 

• Don't let it distract you. 
• Change the rules. 
• Focus on your own reality. 
• Compete with yourself! 

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” ― Willie Nelson

Illustration Fiction We Tell Ourselves

© Holly DeWolf

1. I'm not ready! 
The reality is, we are never going to be a 100% ready. There's always something to do and something to improve. Being ready is a process. This process should include a plan. Once you begin with your plan then start with the small tasks and keep going. Illustration is not about being done or finished because ideas don't stop. 

2. I don't have time to promote. 
You can't afford not to. Promotion is one of the largest components to this profession. If you do not promote yourself then who will? If you do not have an agent, then it's up to you. This job is a daily event that includes social networking, updating your website, posting news, sending mailers, emails, phone calls and blogging not to mention making work. It all comes down to a pre-scheduled system. Once you begin doing this on a regular basis then it will become one of your greatest assets and a regular creative habit.

3. I don't need a blog. 
It's not essential to have a blog although it is a pretty powerful tool to getting attention to your work. If you do it right with SEO and RSS, then this will drive more attention to your work. After that, your focus can involve answering questions, showing what you do, while focusing on what clients and art buyers should know about you. Add advice, tips and daily musings-this can be used as another promotional advantage to you. 

4. I can post whatever I want online.
Sure but it will cost you. There is a fine line when it comes to being open and honest. It's true we need to be out there however we do not need to reveal every aspect of our lives 24/7. Post like it's a conversation, post great links, bits of humour, casual parts of your life while presenting it in a positive package. Not sure what to say? Start small. Start with humour and remember you do have an audience that is paying attention even when you think they are not.   

5. Unpaid and low-paying jobs will pay off.
For how long? And how will this portray you as an illustrator? Always believe you are a professional who deserves to have an income. You have bills like everyone else. You would never expect your dentist to examine your teeth for free. It's also important to convey to our art buyers that our industry is not a hobby. If we keep accepting free work the buying market will keep asking for it! 

6. I don't need a portfolio.
Yes you do! Telling people you an illustrator is not enough- they want to see what you can do. If you are not sure where to begin, there are options. Here are some to consider: a physical book of work to take with you, a mailer, your web page, your blog, your linkedin, your fb like page, member sites such as That's My Folio, a slideshare presentation, a video, and a iPad slide show. Make it easy for your buying market to find your work online. If they have to search through links and pages, they will move on to someone else. They are bombarded with illustrators looking for work everyday. The easier you make your site, the more you will stand out. 

7. I'll let the client make all the decisions. They know what to do.
Working with a client is a group effort. Never ever believe you are not part of the creative decision making process. This is where you get to exercise your negotiation skills especially when it comes to price and the usage of your work. Always use a contract. Always keep open communication before, during and after projects are completed. After all, this is a working relationship that can lead to more work and good word of mouth.  

8. I Don't feel like working this week.
Again, it will cost you. Consider this: there are how many illustrators out there looking for work? The gap between illustrators and the amount of available work is HUGE! It's important to rest and take time for ourselves however, we need to work hard at illustration in order to get something out of it. It's no wonder the average work week for some illustrators is 60+ hours. We are a hard working bunch even when the money is not coming in. 

9. My talent is enough! 
I honestly wish it was for all of us. Sadly, it's a buyers market and we are expected to be more than just image makers. We have to compete with many skills, many styles, and trends. We need to be a big package of skills that is going to move us into the spotlight and in front of the buying market. We cannot do this by locking ourselves in our studios while only making art. Like the quote from John Augustus Shedd states: A ship in a harbour is safe, but this is not what a ship is built for! 

Good Creative Codes To Live By Part 4!

© Holly DeWolf 

1. Pick up a pencil. Doodle. Write down that idea. Focus on a word, a song lyric or something witty. Creativity is not computer dependent!

2. Admit that your constant multitasking can be bad for your productivity. Narrow it down into workable daily tasks that wont have you running.  

3. Remind yourself that you are being googled. Possible clients, art buyers, agents, or art directors do follow links and look illustrators up. Make sure during that 10 seconds to impress them, they are able to find you. 

4. Use your blog as a networking tool. Your blog is a record of what you're creating and focusing on. This record will represent you online. The more you post, the more it will boost your search result ranking when someone googles your name. 

5. Do something daily with at least one of your good ideas. 

6. Make self promotion a top priority! No one will hire you if they don't know you exist!

7. Never be surprised when someone contacts you about your work- you should expect it. You worked hard for it. You should welcome it. You should be ready to enjoy the experience! 

8. Some of the best ideas start off as a doodle! It's random. It's like slacking off but in a good way-a visual way! 

9. Take an hour for creativity everyday! "The irony of creative commitment is that it’s deeply freeing. Having a regular creative hour frees you from the internal critic. Committing to the freedom to just make something for yourself removes a type of barrier that can aid in client work too." Read more here.

10. You are not just an illustrator- you are also telling a story. Visualize that in your next promotions. 

Next up Illustration Notes: Illustration Fiction We Tell Ourselves.