Industry Structure

Because I am wanting to work professionally within the illustration industry, it’s important that I understand how it works. There are a lot of different ways of working and whichever one you choose is down to personal preference. I’m going to look at some examples of each way of working. 

One example of professional work is in a design house. They are typically employed be a company or a designer and have to work in a house style. This means that all the designers in the house draw with the same style using the same themes. They are often client based which means that their services can be hired, all of this would be negotiated with the Creative Director. a good place to look if this interests you is I Love Dust. the designers there all have a very similar style and they work on comitions.

Example of work from" I Love Dust"

Another way of working as an illustrator is free-lance. Being free-lance can be very difficult because it requires a lot of self-promotion and motivation. The work is made up of commitments from clients. The artist will be hired because of their unique style or reliability. It’s important to have a good image as a free-lance illustrator. If people know of you as being reliable then you may get more work. It can be very rewarding but the most difficult way of working. Here are some examples of free-lance illustrator work.

Work by free lance illustrator Briony Jose

Art work by free lance illustrator Teagan White

 Networking is a good thing for all artists to get into. It can lead to a lot of new opportunities and finding new clients.  A good way to get started is to make a web page for your work. You can use websites like Facebook and twitter but risks can come with that. Leaflets and business cards also help with finding a wider audience. Even promotion packs with things like pins, key rings and even t- shirts. Remember to make your own CV and keep an eye on the industry for news because that’s always a good thing to do.

There is also collaborative work, some artist’s find it rewarding to work together. This is where networking can come in handy because you can share events and opportunities with fellow artists. Art and comic fares are a good place to go to and meet other artists, "Pick me up" is a good example of an art fare. These can lead on to exhibitions where you can display your own work. They are also good for selling prints and originals. It’s also a really good place to show your work, even if you don’t sell anything your work might catch somebody’s eye. Another way of doing that is by entering lots of competitions. Its always good to do this because its free and might get you a lot of attention. The "V and A" museum in London do a really good competition every year.

Cool links

http://ilovedust.com/

http://teaganwhite.tumblr.com/

http://brionyjoseillustrations.co.uk/

http://www.vam.ac.uk/