4 minute read | For the purpose of this post I have focussed on illustration for marketing, but my suggestions may also be useful for illustration being used in other areas
Are you struggling to be noticed?
You have a purpose and truly believe that what you do is of benefit to individuals, organisations and/or the environment? But you’re finding it difficult to get your message out there, to connect with your audience and help them understand what you do and why that is of benefit for them? You need them to get on board so you can continue to make a difference and see returns.
A set of impactful and eye-catching illustrations that have been created and specifically tailored with the needs of your organisation in mind… Could you imagine that being a useful resource?
Bespoke illustration can be a great asset for helping you tell your story. It can add character and individuality to your brand and help you convey whatever information you’re trying to share in a clear and engaging way, suitable for your audience.
Where we are now, in the midst of the ongoing COVID situation, things are tough on many levels. Most industries have felt the effects and so it’s not surprising that as a result marketing budgets for many organisations are understandably tight.
I appreciate that illustration can sometimes be seen as a luxury, so I’d like to address this and provide some pointers on how you can commission illustration more efficiently.
My 7 Top Tips to Help You Gain the Most from Commissioning Illustration
These thoughts come from my experience of working as an illustrator (for 11+ years, and as a designer before that), with a range of clients and a range of budgets.
1. Write a clear brief
It’s important to be clear on what you’re trying to achieve. That doesn’t mean you have to be overly prescriptive as to how the illustrations should look, but the more useful information you can supply as part of your brief, the better. With a clear goal in mind, an illustrator will more likely be able to offer effective creative solutions.
Also, with everyone on the same page, there is less likely to be time-wasting and possible additional costs for extra rounds of amends etc
For help with what to include in an illustration brief - see my previous post here (…it’s about illustration fees, but also includes a standard briefing document to download)
*** EDIT *** NOVEMBER 2021
If you’d like me to quote on your project, please fill in one of these ONLINE VERSIONS of the questionnaire…For an ILLUSTRATION PROJECT or an ILLUSTRATED MAP
2. Where will you use the illustration/s?
Consider all the places you may potentially like to use the illustration/s.
The standard illustration industry approach is for fees to be based on usage so if you’re clear on this from the outset, the fee can be negotiated to meet all of your requirements, whilst avoiding potential additional/unknown costs later. You will also only be paying for the usage you need rather than a more extensive licence which could be unnecessary. Read more about usage and licensing here
3. Create flexibility (…is there a way to do that?)
For example: You may want one overarching illustration to explain your process or how something works. If this is created in such a way that component parts can be extracted and used separately as smaller ‘spot illustrations’, this could make for a great kit of parts. The separate illustrations could then be used on your website and social media, or repurposed in documents/marketing materials to highlight specific points. (See point 2 above, with regards to different usage)
4. Think in multiples
Sometimes a set of illustrations is better than one or two. More illustrations would provide a consistent visual voice across your brand and extra scope to mix things up when sharing on social media, for example. As well as helping you to convey more information/ideas, essentially you gain more mileage from the individual assets as they can be used in rotation, helping to keep things feeling fresh.
Depending on the project, it could be more economical to create a set of illustrations, as once the style/approach is set it might be relatively simple to roll out more?
5. Image sizes/shapes
Depending on where you want to use your illustration/s, it could be that you need the same image to be supplied at different sizes/ratios. For instance, a blog header image may need to be wide & narrow, whereas instagram images are square. If an illustrator knows this at the start, they may be able to create an image that can be more easily adapted - for example keeping all the main content centrally, so that a wide image can simply be cropped to a square, without losing any important details.
Being clear on the final deliverables you need could save you incurring additional artwork costs for re-working images.
6. Do you need everything at once?
It could be that you can split your project into stages, to help spread the costs. Doing this has the added benefit of allowing you to see how the illustrations are working for you, and if necessary adapt or develop the approach over time. Also, it’s nice to build an on-going working relationship with an illustrator - we’re generally a helpful & friendly bunch!
7. Be open about your budget
If you have a particular budget in mind, even if this is just a rough figure, it helps to be upfront about it as this can save a lot of time all round.
An illustrator will be able to advise on whether your budget is realistic for the illustrations and usage you would like, and then either suggest a suitable approach or what might be possible instead.
Obviously, if you have no idea on potential costs, then it’s fine to ask for a quote to do the work. Once you have received costs back from the illustrator/s you’ve approached, try to assess who you think would be the best fit for your project - if their costs don’t fit with your budget, I would suggest it’s always worth having a conversation, to discuss what might be possible.
Overview
Many of these points really just involve a bit of clear thinking before you embark on commissioning any illustration. It’s all about planning, and making sure the illustrations you commission are doing/saying the right thing, in line with your brand and values, so that they communicate with your audience in the best way. I hope you’ve found it useful?
Into Action!
I’ve summarised the above points into a checklist, to help you get started in considering your illustration project - It’s a PDF which you can download & fill in digitally using Acrobat, or print out to fill in by hand… Download the checklist here
Get in touch
Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions about what I’ve written above, or if you’d like some specific help on a potential illustration project you’re considering at the moment.
Or equally I'd love to hear your thoughts generally and whether you found this post useful. If there's anything else illustration related you'd be interested to find out more about, I'd be happy to help if I can... please do Get in touch