Dear Freelancing Artist,
Did you know there are hidden rewards in a freelance art career? Rewards that take you farther than the ability to buy tonight’s keg, that is. If you’re new to freelancing as an artist, you need to hear this. I wish they taught this stuff in art schools. It’s about sustaining your career in the long term. It’s about building something more than a permanent “side” business. It’s about truly going out on your own and feeling awesome about it. Read on!
The Perspective
As a freelancer, I do my share of one-off projects. There’s that package design illustration for a kid’s snack container. There were the custom avatars, a few icons, a web site header. They’re nice, these one-offs. I enjoy them (because why else would I fire up my computer every day), but the projects I do my best work on are the ones that require lots of chatting, e-mails, and idea-tossing. Those are the ones that blossom into an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship.
Womb to Bloom is one of those relationships. 
The Womb to Bloom web site is an online community and resource for new moms and moms-to-be, “Maternity and Beyond.” Awesome concept, amazing potential for growth.
The Client
The Womb to Bloom founders (Greg and Heather Zellers) and I reached each other through a gig-type site about some animation work they needed done. It’s no secret that I love to talk with people about their projects. First, it’s just fun (I geek out on web and TV development). Second, it helps me frame my portion of their project with a reference that controls the budget. It’s also easier to offer new ideas without going off on crazy tangents.
So when they called, we talked a lot about what the animation could be. It also happened that they needed some simple illustrations and icons that would tie everything together. This is where I started drooling on my phone because I loved the site concept, they had a great logo already, and the web development was already flowing.
The Concepts
The initial concept was to have a central “mom” character to base everything on. Once we nailed down that character design, the icons and other illustrations would flow. I was already loving this project because it made sense before I even got out my pencils. It was also very easy for me to create a project plan that worked with their budget.
Although we had some great early chats about concepts, I have to admit that the initial brainstorm sketches I created were a little… off. The style of my first sketch was just somewhere between Family Guy and Rugrats. But this is the part that makes my job awesome, because we were able to use those sketches as a jumping-off point and keep the conversation going.
So we chatted in greater detail about Greg and Heather’s ideas. What they wanted was an attractive, hip, and fairly trendy woman who could transition easily from pre-pregnancy to new mom. The next sketches were right on target and ready for vector illustration and color. Below is a final concept image:
Incidentally, I created all the final art for this project in Adobe Illustrator CS3. In the very near future I’ll be providing step-by-step instruction on how to create this kind of work, so graphic designers, web designers, and traditional artists can reap the benefits of my experience. Yay!
A few things made it easier to create the final art for this project. They already had a logo, so I had specific colors to choose from. Greg and Heather really knew what they wanted to see. They couldn’t always sketch out an example or articulate a style, but once I gave them a sketch to go on we had a basis for conversation. They knew their demographic, which translated very well to visual goals.
The Work
I know, I know. You want to see sketches. I hear ya. Here’s a great, simple example of how an illustration concept developed. One of the sections on the web site is for contributors. We started out with the idea of a smart-looking woman (new character) in a cafe with a laptop. I sketched it out and hit the mark, woo-hoo! However, we did decide to go with the main character after all, and you can peek at the results:
As an even better demonstration of how a project can progress and a great relationship can generate even more fun ideas, take a look at what we finally used for that section of the site. I think it worked out nicely.
Another favorite illustration of mine from the project is the community section. The whole idea was to get moms together from all over the country and have them chat online, as if they were in someone’s living room. Pretty cool, right? I knew I had to thinkify something unique and fun, but also instantly communicate that idea. My first sketch:
The question became, how do I divide this cozy little scene into sections that show that cozy closeness and distance at the same time? It turned out not to be so difficult with a little sleep and some coffee. After seeing the final art, they added a new wrinkle; let’s see an image of the U.S. behind them to really hit home the idea. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I came up with a funtastic solution. You can see the progression. I still like both. Good thing I didn’t have to decide.
State of the Iconomy
The web site also needed some icons. About a hundred of them, in fact. I loved that I was able to work on this part of the project because I could take everything we had developed in the illustrations and use it to create the icon concepts. It worked out beautifully because we already had a flow going and could reference previous conversations. It turned out to be a lot of work, but also a ton of fun. You can see the icons all over the site, but here’s a sample page of a few I really like:
Wrap it Up
This is the best part. We haven’t wrapped it up. The working together part, that is. After getting to know the Zellers through working with them, we’ve shared information, links, and even referred business to each other. It’s the ideal b2b relationship, where we mutually benefit beyond the exchange of service and money.
The truth is, I did find this client through a bid-type freelance gig site. I don’t love these sites because typically you’re bidding on projects in a vacuum. My whole method of working revolves around many conversations and lots of information exchange, which the bid sites make very difficult.
The thing that I took away from this is that bid sites can yield some good projects, but you have to be prepared to build a relationship beyond the one-off. If I see a project posted and I don’t feel that’s possible, then I move on. It’s just not my cup of chai.
If you’re new to freelancing, I can’t stress enough that long term relationship-centered business is one of the major keys to your success. You can work on a hundred one-off projects through a crowdsourcing site and make a little cash. That’s great. You can throw your artwork up on a stock site and make a few dollars for every download. Awesome.
Those activities will not sustain you for very long because you only come away with cash. I say “Big deal, Dude.” Anyone can make some quick cash these days. Create a free blog and stick a PayPal Donate button on it.
Remember that rewards thing, kids. If you want to keep the art thing going and get Mom and Dad off your back, listen to your Uncle Sparky.
