 |
|
Ask a Pro Ask a Pro is a collection of illustration related questions answered by top art directors, designers, editors, artist representatives and other professionals in the commercial illustration industry. If you have a suggestion for a question or know someone who might be a good candidate to answer a couple questions Contributors Advertisement
|
Search
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Ok, let's say this: I have more that fifteen years of experience working as a
graphic designer and illustrator. To be honest mostly as designer, Indeed I consider
all these years were kind of a long training in the creation of images based on
several illustration techniques, learning the possibilities of diverse programs
and messing up everything doing and experimenting with new materials. This experience
has given me enough tools to offer a good creative service, with a variety of
image sense and what I consider an original product. Certainly my background doing
graphic design for many, many years allows me to use and take advantage of prime
design elements as the function and color theory, composition and balance management,
etc. which reflects an effective result in the illustrations to communicate the
idea. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
This is an easy question and I am happy to answer it for you.
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
First, I'll say something about art in general: I think one interesting
thing about art is that many people think it is an unnecessary and
frivolous addition to the mechanical functioning of life and is
therefore devalued. The Bauhaus notion of "form following function"
is a perfect example of this attitude, which has become very pervasive in
much of our society, not only in design (and art), but also in people's
beliefs about life and themselves. Luckily, we have had many decades to
dismantle some of this ideology. Obviously form will always follow
function in the commercial world, especially in product and
architectural design, but beauty is something deeper than function. Or,
as it has been said before: Form is Function. It may not put food in
your belly or literally save your life. But it does feed the soul like
nothing else can. How many times have you been completely devastated
(in a good way) by a beautiful painting or an amazing piece of music?
How many times have you been completely devastated by a well
functioning product? I think, as humans, we crave beauty, and that is
why it is valued. To ignore this is to call ourselves machines, which
is a sad illusion. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I don't have to justify it. I come up with advertising and marketing ideas for
companies that help them to generate millions of dollars in income for themselves,
their workers and their shareholders. I've seen the results of my work in action.
When I met Steve Madden his company was about 3 million dollars. After my ad campaign
put him on the map, his company grew to 100 million. He has told me and my company
time and again that I bear a huge responsibility for his company's success. I
can name 5 other companies I've done the same thing for. In my business no one
gives you anything, you have to earn it. Every time a client needs a new campaign
or ad, everyone in the company works on it. It's called a gang bang. The work
that the client picks, wins. I've seen many creatives go for a long time producing
no work. The bosses of my last company for example. I did all the work; they pretended
they had something to do with it. I happened to be a person who almost constant
won those pitches. Therefore I concluded I must be pretty darn effective. At this
point in my career I feel I’m not being paid enough but I'm getting enough
to not feel cheated. In my business, actors, photographers and most illustrators
all have reps. They know what they should be paid per job, depending on the requirements
of the assignment. And believe me they get paid plenty AND deservedly so. So why
shouldn't I. It comes down to experience and confidence too. Some people have
this starving artist mentality. when you go around feeling this way, you leave
yourself vulnerable to be taken advantage of. the images created by painters,
illustrators, photographers, directors are selling lots of products and magazines
and newspapers. So don't fool yourself into some old thinking that artist shouldn't
sell out or earn their fare share. It ain't easy living in a big metropolis like
Manhattan. If you’re talented they should have to pay big coin to keep me
here. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I think this question is possible to bring a lot of lawyers and socialists involved.
It’s interesting. Maybe we can ask why anyone of the working people gets
paid. In the very early days workers got paid by food and cloth. A very simply
reason, so they could fulfill their basic human needs and live. Nowadays we are
paid by a substitute item called “money”. No matter we make millions
a year or only hundreds a year, the very basic purpose of owning money is to survive.
Apart from all other “needs” we are having these days. People work
and get paid. It’s conmen logic. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
"Hopefully, I get paid for what I do because I am able to communicate ideas
in a visual way that is uniquely my own as a freelance illustrator. Therefore,
my talents are sought out from time to time in order contribute a unique vision
to whatever the particular assignment calls for. Great illustrators, as is the
case with any great artist/communicator, have the ability to teach, inspire, and
impart knowledge to the viewer in a way which at it's best evokes an emotional
response and at it's least should cause the viewer to think. This particular talent
and discipline, like any other discipline, takes years of hard work to hone and
become good at. Obviously, the better and more experienced illustrators are paid
more for their services and rightly so. I would say that my work as an illustrator
fits modestly well into that pay structure. Illustration contests are held every
year to determine who is that year's "cream of the crop" with regard
to illustration talent. Awards are given to the top talent, as is the case with
almost every profession today, and those individual talents are usually regarded
as unique and are widely sought out for their services which hopefully justify
the pay he or she receives for aforementioned services." How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Being an illustrator is about much more than making beautiful images, it's
also about communication. Artists portray their own feelings and visions in
their work, as it's a very personal labour. But illustrators in most cases
are intermediaries in a communication process. Party A wants to tell Party B
something using pictures; that's where the illustrator comes in. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
This is an excellent question because we live in a time where we are becoming
more globalized and connected by technology. It is also a very turbulent time.
Many people are finding their jobs pay less or vanish because the world is a different
place. If an automated computer can do your job or if your job can be done by
someone cheaper in another country, you are in big trouble. What seems safe today
can vanish tomorrow. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
The short answer is that I provide a service just like any other businessperson from the hot dog vendor on the corner to the super fine nuclear technician in some 007 flick. Like that hot dog vendor or nuclear technician, I work hard at my job and also happen to love doing it. I always have the hope that when my art graces the cover of a magazine, illustrates an article or appears on some other product, that the image I create helps to sell that item or attract a reader to it. After all, as an illustrator, that is the goal. Hopefully my art helps my client to make a profit. In turn, I should have a piece of the pie for my efforts. Albeit a very small piece. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Great question. Obviously what we do as illustrators is not in the same
league as a Doctor saving lives for a cool 150,000 per year. I can't judge
it on an essential service basis. But I do believe we as illustrators
provide unique solutions for clients. In our case quality of work and name
and style recognition can help a magazine, campaign or publisher achieve
financial success. If a person buys a children's book because they like the
art or read a magazine article because the spot illustration piqued their
interest then we have done our job. It may be entertainment and look like
fun ( and most of the time it is fun!) but it does include hours of sitting
at a computer or drawing table coming up with professional concepts unique
to each illustrators style and problem solving skills. In the end we are
selling ideas and style through images. If the client can be successful by
hiring the right illustrator to represent them visually and we can all make
a few pennies in the process that justifies the fees. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
It's mainly justified by the fact the one calling me to do the work cannot do
it themselves otherwise I wouldn't be receiving a call. That and my specific skill
sets increase my client’s creative potential so they have no problem compensating
me for the two areas I charge for in any given project. The first area of compensation
is to cover my time to do the work needed and the second area of compensation
is to cover the usage of the art I created during the fore mentioned time. Rarely
is what we do the end all in terms of the creative process, instead it's part
of a larger overall marketing solution so our justification is based in the realm
of how well we fit into that bigger picture. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I don't feel anyone should have to justify what fees they charge for their services,
nor justify getting paid those fees once the services have been rendered. It's
pretty much the system we live in; do work, get paid. It's an open, free-market;
we're each free to choose our rates and fees, as well as refusing work if the
payment they offer doesn't reflect the value of the work. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I think that I should be paid for what I do as an artist has a set of
skills that not everybody has. Artists can produce work that changes
the way that people see or feel about things, which is very important.
I was recently commissioned to produce a mural in an area of my city
that is seen as being a bit run down, which has a negative effect on
the people who live there. The response from the local people passing
by as I worked was great. To have someone working on a bright vibrant
piece of artwork in an area which people would normally hurry through
made people feel more positive in their surroundings and gave them a
sense of well being. To have made people feel better about their area
and them selves through the production of a piece of art is just as
valid as a treatment that a doctor can offer. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
That’s a pretty loaded question. Illustration and animation is a product
like anything else. And I suppose I have enough talent, work ethic, sense of humor,
interpersonal skills, personal hygiene, and business sense to make it a viable
career option for me. Some of what I do is art directed, which makes me just a
pair of hands. And some of it is up to me to bring what I can to the project,
be it innovative character design, storyline, color, design and font choices.
And all that takes skill, thinking, time and effort. All of those are valuable
commodities.
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I feel it’s my job as an illustrator to create a visually pleasing and eye
catching picture that will grab the viewer’s attention and draw them into
the article/product/etc... Kind of like the catalyst between the viewer and the
article. A page full of text torture to read, illustrations break it up so psychologically
you feel more at ease reading chunks of text offset by interesting illustrations.
Illustration can pull readers or consumers in and get them to take notice or get
into articles or products that they might otherwise have skipped over. This interest
eventually converts into purchases/subscriptions/ad revenue/money for the client.
Illustrators create custom tailored concepts and translate them into a tangible
form on paper. So with that we illustrators earn our keep. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
It would seem unnatural to need justify being paid for creating. I really cannot judge whether working in a creative industry is below or above any other occupation, though.. I suppose just as any other occupation it takes a certain amount effort to sustain. It seems that art is an essential element in life, whether it takes it's form on a canvas or an advertisement or architecture. I wonder how the world might look if artists should suddenly not deserve compensation! As for myself, I feel truly grateful when a person or organization appreciates my work and is not reluctant to trade for my time and energy. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I think doing a creative work takes a lot of energy. It is much easier to enjoy
looking at creative work. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
I love what I do and if people want to give me money to use my work, then that's awesome. Regardless, I'll still be drawing and painting. I think that gaining clients and producing strong commercial work is the outcome from years of practicing my craft. The bottom line is that none of us would be doing this if it wasn't what we loved... we'd be working for insurance agencies or something. There's much quicker and easier ways to make a buck. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Although some people have a hard time taking artists seriously, when
I'm up at 3am for the third day in a row trying to make a deadline, I
think they can't pay me enough! We are under a lot of pressure to
create on the spot. It stops becoming this sort of ethereal art making
experience and more of a, well, job. I guess for me also, I need to
somehow justify spending nearly a hundred grand on art school! How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
The answer I have to justify getting paid for what I do is that people want to
pay me and I want to get paid. We all have to make money to survive. I decided
I work very hard to make sure I could make money doing something I love. I dreamt
of doing this, of satisfying my own personal desire to draw all day long. I create
what I create for very selfish reasons, I love it. I am doing exactly what I want
to do and I get paid for it. If you can find a way to enjoy your day and actually
get paid at the same time that is not something anyone needs justification for.
It’s justification enough. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Interesting question. It’s not something that I have thought about in this
way. I usually just chalk it up to providing a service and getting paid for it.
But the question as you pose it is asking me to justify, not simply testify to
a transaction. How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
The best way to answer this question is an explanation of my hobbies. I play guitar,
practice martial arts, do house repairs, camp, watch a lot of movies, and am insanely
critical about music. I don't get paid to do these things yet there are people
all over the world who make money off of something I consider a hobby. If I were
to ask any of these people the same question they would have just as hard a time
answering as most illustrators do.
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Sometimes I actually find it difficult to justify getting paid for what
I do. I really enjoy it far too much, and when I'm having fun putting a
picture together it seems ridiculous that someone is actually paying for
me to do it. From a wider perspective though, I think designers and
illustrators are as worthy of getting paid as anyone else in the art and
media industry.
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
Illustrations have a very important role. Whether it's for an article or a book
they help the reader visualize what they are reading, if it's for a product it
helps selling that product. They are just like spices. Any meal can be consumed
without them but what a difference it makes if you add a little spice to it.
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
It's my job so I expect to be paid. I work hard for all of my artworks. |
Advertisement
|
