Association of Illustrators



How Being Paid for Illustration differs to Graphics

The talk highlighted how unlike design almost all work carried out as an illustrator is paid via licensing fees rather than a day rate or salary that you would receive as a designer.

This means that rather than having a paid rate for the amount of time you are hired for you are paid a specific amount/pieces of work. This NEEDS to be outlined in a contract which states how much you will be paid and what it is you are producing and how the client can use it.

Protecting Your Work

Although contracts are the main way in which you should protect your work the speaker also went into great detail about a case involving a AOL member where by much of her work was being used without her permission and the clients had broken the licensing agreement by using the work for use above and beyond what was agreed to the point where it would have cost tens of thousands to license the work.

This therefore equated to a major loss of income for the practitioner who subsequently has taken the client to court. At this point it was essential for her to have evidence of what was and wasn't agreed as well as original copies of the artwork in question.

Therefore I will need to make sure that any jobs I complete are meticulous record both in terms of client interaction and contracts as well as the work itself.

The Importance of Personal Projects (again!)

The final point I took from the talk was that personal projects, much like what Kesterton was saying, are essential to gaining commissions. This is especially true when starting out as the bulk of your portfolio will be degree work which often isn't what clients will be looking to commission off the back of.

With this in mind personal projects can be used to expand your portfolio and give yourself a more definitive direction for your practice allowing clients to have a better idea of what you are about and capable of and thus are more likely to offer you commissions. This seems particularly important to you given the eclectic nature of my practice at the moment.