Part III

Topics this time:
- How to work together with clients
- How to filter good jobs from bad ones

I have decided to collect questions and make an extra journal with FAQ.s so that the editorials won´t be so cluttered.

________________________________________ ____

Hi folks!
Welcome back to the 3rd part of the little series about experiences I have made over the years since I work as an Illustrator.

Most of the stuff can also be adapted to any other creative job like writing, making music, etc of course. The creativity is just the same, but goes into various directions.

All I have written here is based on my own experiences and those methods do work for me. That means not that it is the ultimative solution for everyone, but maybe it might be helpful for one or another artist in future.
I will continue it when I find the time. If you have questions, please ask them in the comments! They are much welcome and I can answer them in future articles.

The previous two Editorials you can read here:
[link]
[link]



________________________________________ _____

How to work together with clients.


Well, let´s start.
Most of the illustration jobs today are given over the internet these days. So it´s a precondition that you have internet access on regular basis. You need to have the contact via mail or skype instead of having "real life" meetings and the client/or you have be availbale for spontaneous questions via mail.
This kind of communication is a completely different basis to work from than having the boss sitting in the next room.

So if you keep three main rules in mind, things will work out fine.

-Transparency
- Honesty
- Objectivity

Remember, when a contract is made there are always two sides. One is the company/client, the other one is you.
You expect those things from your client - they expect it from you too.


1) Transparency.

Tell your client what you are doing. (Regarding your work of course.) Send them WIPs (Works in Progress), keep the contact.
If the client has sent you an initial payment, tell them that it has arrived. Tell them when you start the sketch, when they can expect a WIP. Just imagine if you have sent someone money and you hear nothing of them anymore for days/weeks. That is only frustrating and you wonder if you ever see your commission at all. So you have to keep your activities transparent and give your boss an overview as if he would come into your office and asking you about the progress of the object. Better more information than giving less. No informations are simply annoying - on each side.
It can be of course the opposite too - you paint and paint, send WIPs out, and they don´t send you a feedback or the money for your efforts. Then it is -of course- your right to questioning their actions and you can point out to them that they keep their performance of the contract too.
So the trick of working over the internet is to give the other side the feeling as if you would sit in the room next to theirs.



2) Honesty.

There are days when you haven´t gotten much done or when you are not satisfied with your day work, or days when there something unexpected happened that keeps you from working.
Even on those days the clients apprecciate an update status. They are humans after all and they know such days theirselves. (Of course such a mail is tactically not good when you had to keep a deadline that day, but in the process of a normal workflow day it is alright.)
Don´t make something up like: "Omg I took my budgie to the vet so I couldn´t paint today!" Better is something along the lines:
"Here is the result of the overworked painting. I haven´t gotten today as far as I wanted to, so I changed the color scheme slightly as you requested in your former mail. It´s pretty hard to come up with a working color scheme if the logo is in golden warm colors. What do you think? Should I add more blue or make it warmer?"
Something like that is more apprecciated and the client is getting involved. So it´s up to them to make the next move.

If the other side gets the suspicion that you are making excuses up, they get annoyed, because they are relying on you.
They need your service, and you need the money.
It is the same as if the client would mail to you: "Sorry I couldn´t send the money, they stole my wallet and there was the code for the bank transfer in it…" - or something like that - and the next day there would follow the next excuse from them. That raises only suspicion and doesn´t help each side either.


3) Objectivity

Keep your mails objective. So if you think that you have had the best scribble for an illustration ever don´t write something like
"OMG look at this!!! This is awesome, this is my best scribble ever and the idea is so good!!111!!!

It´s your bad luck if the client thinks this is the worst scribble they have ever seen and if you state this is your best - uh, well.
You have to show the client that you´re competent and even if you had trouble getting something good down to paper that day don´t give them some negative vibes or make yourself sound incompetent and on wit´s end.
"Here is the sketch, but I must tell you I suck at anatomy. I can´t get the arm right. I have tried, I swear!"
If you write this you can also jump from the next bridge. It´s almost the same.

Better is: "Here is the initial sketch, just to get a feeling how much action and dynamic there will be. Don´t look at the anatomy, I´ll fix that of course later if you have approved the overall setting. Due to the pressing deadline it would not make sense to work out every (insert number) sketches at this stage.
Of course that is not optimal. You can only do this if the client has set a very _very_ tight deadline. A sketch shouldn´t have any flaws at all. So if you stay objective, it shows a certain calmness and security.

Again, the other side around - you´d surely apprecciate this mail more than the second:
"I have transferred the money to account (Number) yesterday evening. It should arrive the next days. Here´s the screenshot as proof."
"I wanted to transfer the money but we had unexpected expenses, so I hope I am able to pay you within the next days."

So I think it´s important to 'radiate' competency in your job, especially if it is over mail. There can be so many misunderstandings via mail, far more as if you would speak with a person eye to eye, so read your mails twice before you send them. Write what you want to say in a competent way, don´t hesitate to point something out but without sounding fake, hysterical or disappointed. That´s an art itself and it needs quite some practise.


How to filter good jobs from bad ones.

I get almost every day mails regarding work or regarding work offers. Before you get envious now, I can tell you 90% of those mails are simply written by people who want to have art from you - for free or for at least a lousy payment.


A serious job offer from a company should always contain the following information:

- Company (providing URL or the physical adress),
- The Project(s)
- What they exactly need/which genre/style
- Deadline
- Payment / or they ask for your commission rate.

If they don´t mention the payment, ask for it in your next mail or send them an attached pricelist.
(It is better that they see that you are serious about your job. If you sound insecure, they start to hagger about the prices.)
When you get the next mail, then you can see if they are still interested / if they are serious about the offer or not. If you get the answer ("Please keep in mind we are a newcoming company, we can´t pay you so much but I promise that you be a part of a new team/game/etc isn´t this wonderful?) then just forget it. Being a part of a wonderful new team doesn´t pay your bills.
You, as the artist, have the right to get a payment in return if you work for them - as it is with every other job too.
So, be straight forward in your requirements. It makes things clearer and there won´t be a disappointment after all.
You should also collect your mail correspondence, in case of a misunderstanding you have always the proof that it was written down earlier.)
Another important point is that you make written contracts, be it private persons or companies.
Good companies offer contracts of their own. In fact, I would get suspicious if they try to make a deal without written contacts either. And they have their terms of service so it is reasonable that they have already contracts ready.
Most of the companies send you their contract and ask you if there is something missing and what you would like to add. Those guys are really nice, and from what I have learnt with cooperative clients like this: it´s the best work.

As for private clients with single commissions there is no need to make a contract. You should have to straighten out important things first before you start. The best is to make a list for yourself what you need to know.

Some examples:

- Payment method,
- Payment time
- how much changes is the client allowed to point out before you raise the cost for the picture,
- are you allowed to post it online,
- are you allowed to make further prints of it or not,
- how big the file is
- how to transfer the finished artwork
- and the timespan you have to paint your artwork.
...
and so on.

I have also the intention factor that works for me very well. Some mails just come with bad vibes. If you have the feeling that the job will will not meet your requirements or that you can´t work with the clients (not every person can get along with everyone, be it in real life or in online jobs) don´t be afraid of declining the job. Sometimes are a few bucks less better than nervewracking jobs.

So I have talked alot how to get your money for certain, dear artists. As a matter of fact and a matter of fairness I have also to mention that it is not always "the evil company/client that doesn´t wanna pay the artist".
Sadly, it´s often the other way around too - artists that don´t deliver their work and keep the prepaid money.
That happens mostly with private commissions or if ther are not any contracts are made.

I have gotten several mails from concerned people over the years, seeking a third opinion. Mostly their question was: "I have commissioned (insertnamehere) a few months ago. I have paid them the half of the commission but all I have seen was a very rough sketch. How long do I have to wait to get the finished commission? Is 6 months (or more!) waiting time normal?"
No, it isn´t. A professional artist should always deliver a timespan in which they manage to finish the artwork.

It is not a shame if you write that your art is handmade, a painting takes always its time.
I think it´s absolutely necessary to give the client an overview when they can expect getting their finished work. (My timespan is between 4-8 weeks, it depends of course on the complexity.)

So, I guess that was it for this time.
Next Topic is about payment and licensing methods. Stay tuned!