Presentation Report

The research aspect of the presentation was possibly the most important part of the task because without it we wouldn’t have any content for the Pecha Kucha. I made sure to start researching possible artists/illustrators/graphic designers that relate to the field of ‘Freelance Illustration’ as soon as we got the brief so that I would have enough time to prepare questions to make the interview as in depth as possible.

Although the first illustrator I contacted didn’t end up getting back to me in time, I felt this was a good experience because it showcases just how busy freelance illustrators are and how they have to prioritise tasks to ensure they meet deadlines and ultimately make a living from their work. Another group member had already asked the second illustrator I contacted ten questions but I felt that we could go further with our investigation. I know him personally so knew it would be possible for me to meet him in his workspace, I feel this is the best place to meet a freelance illustrator to fully get a sense of their everyday working life.  I was able to take photographs of his studio and I felt that this helped me to gain a sense of how I could work myself if I become a freelance illustrator.

Finding out the truths of freelancing helped me to gain a better understanding of the field and made me realise quite how difficult it can be to actually obtain work in this way. The illustrator and graphic designer we contacted have both been lucky enough to gain work through word of mouth but I think this is less common in the present day because more and more people are using digital platforms to contact each other and promote their work. I was also interested to find out how a freelance illustrator knows how much to charge for an illustration. This is very much based on the amount of time it takes them to create it and what the brief entails.  I feel that if I delve into the world of freelance illustration, I will mostly likely struggle to know how much to charge to begin with but over time I will gain more experience and of course I will make sure that I never work for free because clients need to value illustrators’ time and skillset in creating successful work within a scheduled deadline.

There are of course pros and cons of any job and field of illustration so I wouldn’t say that freelance illustration is any harder a field to be successful in than editorial illustration for example. I feel like I would like to try to go freelance at some point in my creative career, this may not be straight after I graduate but if I manage to build up contacts I’m sure it would be possible in the future. It may be hard to make a living from being a freelance illustrator but Jayne Bradd and Mark Lewis are proof that it is possible if you work hard and keep creating.

I feel strongly that freelance illustration would be a fun field to work within because when finding out about some of the projects Mark Lewis and Jayne Bradd have worked on, I felt excited. The projects can be of a broad range from editorial, narrative, advertising, packaging and logo design. Each brief will be different in its own way so the work will help an illustrator to push boundaries and at times work outside their comfort zone. Freelancing allows you to work by your own rules and this would suit some illustrators more than others. I do like to have structure but it is also desirable to have a choice of briefs and not feel that you have to do a particular commission just because someone approaches you. The possibilities are surely endless but I do understand that freelancing can be very up and down, meaning that at times illustrators may not have very much work. If this occurred, I would use the time to focus on my self-promotion, as it is so important in the digital age to be able to promote yourself as an illustrator to prospective clients.

I now have a better understanding of the field of freelance illustration and I felt that splitting the information we collected into separate topics within the presentation helped us to analyse the research better. The information we collected wasn’t just opinion-based, I feel it was first hand especially as I was able to see Mark Lewis in his work environment and I think this helped me to decide that freelance illustration is something I would like to explore myself in the future.