Technology has sent shockwaves of change through the world of commercial art. Digital illustration and design, online portfolio sites, and the proliferation of stock art have radically changed the way that illustrators and graphic designers work. What has not changed, however, is the wealth of illustrators and graphic designers hoping to turn their talent into freelance success. More than ever, artists face questions such as how to get started, how to sell their work, how to promote themselves, and what to do once they are working. For those embarking on freelance careers in illustration or graphic design, the answers have arrived. A twenty-five year veteran in the field, Michael Fleishman, has detailed every business aspect of commercial art in Starting Your Career as a Freelance Illustrator or Graphic Designer.
At last! Here is true practical help for budding freelance illustrators. This book helps you avoid the pitfalls that can ruin a career, with advice on crucial first impressions, how to create a portfolio and approach clients, how to negotiate contracts, and how to handle, deliver, and bill the first job. It discusses how to set up a studio, maintain a steady flow of work, and manage time and money. In addition, it provides information on successful self-promotion, self-publishing, and the prosand cons of agents. Packed with useful tips gleaned from the author's own career and his work as an agent handling major artists in the US and UK, the book includes interviews with nine big-name illustrators. The reader benefits from their experience of starting out; what they learned during the metamorphosis from student to professional; what their expectations and experiences have been. In addition, art directors and commissioners describe the ways they like to be approachedand the ways they really dislike.
Build Your Own Thriving Illustration Business The boundaries between art, design and illustration are blurring, and with all the new opportunities for visual creatives, now is the perfect time to unleash your talent on the world! Breaking Into Freelance Illustration provides a step-by-step roadmap for promoting yourself and running your creative business. You'll find up-to-date advice about best business practices, ideas for new promotional tools, answers to common questions and words of wisdom and inspiration from top illustrators. This book shows you how to: Set up a home office and balance your professional and personal life Create a professional portfolio and promote your work online Search out and negotiate with potential clients Create your own brand and work with an agent Develop a fair and accurate system for pricing your work Network within the creative community Full of industry insight, this book is a down-to-earth guide that fills in the creative business blanks. If you've ever wanted to moonlight as an illustrator, start a full-time business, or simply see your work published, this book will give you the information you need to make it happen.
This book offers practical help and guidance to aspiring illustrators. All areas of the job are covered – creating a portfolio; approaching potential clients; preparing for meetings and negotiating contracts; setting up a studio; maintaining a flow of work and managing one’s time and cash. Self-promotion, creating websites, self-publishing and the pros and cons of agents are all explored. International illustrators are interviewed, discussing how they got their break in the industry, their experiences with clients, their methods of promoting work and more. In addition, leading art directors describe their approach to commissioning illustration, how they spot new talent, their thoughts on promotional material and their advice to up-and-coming illustrators. Packed with useful tips gleaned from the author’s own career as an illustrator, and his work as an agent handling some of the best new talent, the book is an essential read for anyone looking to succeed in illustration.
Illustration is a diverse and constantly evolving area of art and design and an appealing creative career. But to stand out from the crowd, successful illustrators need to combine creative talent with strong marketing and promotional skills. Becoming a Successful Illustrator provides practical and inspirational guidance on finding and contacting clients, putting together promotional materials and establishing yourself as a professional illustrator. With case studies, and firsthand tips and hints from practising illustrators at varying stages in their careers, and packed with hundreds of beautiful examples of professional work, this is a must-have guide to the working world of illustration. This title is part of the Creative Careers series from Fairchild Books, designed to help bridge the gap between academia and a first job in the creative industries. Brimming with helpful tips and facts about the world of work, they offer an essential guide for any emerging creative practitioner. The cover artwork for Becoming a Successful Illustrator has been shortlisted for an illustration award in the 2013 books category by the prestigious Association of Illustrators.
Successful web design teams depend on clear communication between developers and their clients—and among members of the development team. Wireframes, site maps, flow charts, and other design diagrams establish a common language so designers and project teams can capture ideas, track progress, and keep their stakeholders informed. In this all new edition of Communicating Design, author and information architect Dan Brown defines and describes each deliverable, then offers practical advice for creating the documents and using them in the context of teamwork and presentations, independent of methodology. Whatever processes, tools, or approaches you use, this book will help you improve the creation and presentation of your wireframes, site maps, flow charts, and other deliverables. The book now features: An improved structure comprising two main sections: Design Diagrams and Design Deliverables. The first focuses on the nuts and bolts of design documentation and the second explains how to pull it all together. New deliverable: design briefs, as well as updated advice on wireframes, flow charts, and concept models. More illustrations, to help designers understand the subtle variations and approaches to creating design diagrams. Reader exercises, for those lonely nights when all you really want to do is practice creating wireframes, or for use in workshops and classes. Contributions from industry leaders: Tamara Adlin, Stephen Anderson, Dana Chisnell, Nathan Curtis, Chris Fahey, James Melzer, Steve Mulder, Donna Spencer, and Russ Unger. “As an educator, I have looked to Communicating Design both as a formal textbook and an informal guide for its design systems that ultimately make our ideas possible and the complex clear.” —Liz Danzico, from the Foreword
From the first steps of starting out up through succeeding as a professional, Fleishman's newest guide navigates how illustration ties concept and technique. From advice on education and finding the right state of mind, through opening shop and finding the right venue, Starting Your Career as an Illustrator is a bit of a technical how-to, something of a business book, certainly an inspirational work, definitely a professional overview, even a personal lifestyle guide. It accurately documents the eclectic adventures of illustrators now, as well as relating historical perspectives, motivations, and inspirations to balance that picture and present readers with a true global field experience—all in an accessible, reader-friendly style. Topics include how to: Create a portfolio Make initial contacts Develop a financial plan Set up an office Acquire supplies and equipment Price your own work Market on the Web Nurture a growing freelance business And much more Through direct and candid conversations with scores of professionals up and down the career ladder, this book offers rich perspectives of illustrators (and their cohorts) at and away from the drawing board. It looks at the strong threads tying professional and academic process, practice, and product, and offers extensive research, a global pool of resources, and a wide panorama of info that promotes problem solving by way of a spectrum of ideas. Over fifty illustrations are included throughout. Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.
R. Kikuo Johnson has created an intimate and compelling graphic novel-length drama of young men on the cusp of adulthood. First-rate prep school, S.U.V., and a dream house in the heights: This was the island paradise handed to Loren Foster when he moved to Hawaii with his father six years ago. Now, with the end of high school just around the corner, his best friend, Shane, has grown distant. The rumors say it's hard drugs, and Loren suspects that Shane has left him behind for a new group of friends. What sets Johnson's drama apart is the naturalistic ease with which he explores the relationships of his characters. It is at once an unsentimental portrait of that most awkward period between adolescence and young adulthood and that rarest of things: a mature depiction of immature lives.
“What would happen if Harry met Sally in the age of Tinder and Snapchat? . . . A field guide to Millennial dating in New York City” (New York Daily News). When New York–based graphic designers and long-time friends Timothy Goodman and Jessica Walsh found themselves single at the same time, they decided to try an experiment. The old adage says that it takes forty days to change a habit—could the same be said for love? So they agreed to date each other for forty days, record their experiences in questionnaires, photographs, videos, texts, and artworks, and post the material on a website they would create for this purpose. What began as a small experiment between two friends became an Internet sensation, drawing five million unique (and obsessed) visitors from around the globe to their site and their story. 40 Days of Dating: An Experiment is a beautifully designed, expanded look at the experiment and the results, including a great deal of material that never made it onto the site, such as who they were as friends and individuals before the forty days and who they have become since.
