(Andrea Innocent)
I recently had the utmost privilege of asking three exceptionally talented Australian illustrators some questions about the industry and their own work. The last of these three interviews is Melbourne illustrator and graphic designer Andrea Innocent.
First of all, you are Vice President for
Illustrators Australia – a not for profit community of illustrators that
includes access to events and online portfolio sharing. How does an
organisation such as Illustrators Australia assist in helping illustrators with
their career?
I joined Illustrators Australia in 2008,
a month after I joined I got my first job via my portfolio page on the IA
website, it paid for my membership fee and more. IA is well respected amongst
art directors and designers in Australia, being a part of the IA community
means being seen as a professional illustrator. It's like being represented by
an agent in a way however you have the ability to have a real say in how IA is
run. IA also is a terrific resource for information, pricing and contract
examples can be downloaded from the site and there are lots of other
illustrators available to chat to about all sorts of things to do with
illustration as a career.
Does having an illustration agent
greatly assist in helping emerging illustrators find work? And if so, do you
have any advice on how to approach illustration agencies for representation?
Clients who use illustration agents are
serious about illustration, this also usually means they have serious money,
thus the jobs are good for your portfolio as well as well paid. Surviving on
your own and working freelance is definitely possible but it requires lots of
work and marketing by yourself, whereas an agent can promote you as well as put
you forward for jobs that suit your style and voice. In terms of approaching
illustration agencies don't make the mistake of waiting because you don't think
you're ready or your work is not good enough yet, let them be the judge of
that, just call them! Most agencies are very excited about seeing new work and
are ready to give you some super useful advice as to where they think you might
fit in to the mix.
Where do you think the main
opportunities for emerging illustrators lie? Is it a matter of creating your
own work or do you think collaboration is key?
Media has become very screen centric,
the rise of smart phones and tablets has meant there are a lot more
opportunities to create visual assets for them. Digital story telling is
becoming the main vehicle through which companies are promoting their products
and services, digital story boarding, character design, games design, there are
so many ways an illustrator can draw tomorrow!
Within design agencies are illustrators
sourced regularly or is this usually an in-house job?
In my experience it's a little of both,
the jobs that have short deadlines and less money are usually done in house,
jobs that need a higher skill set or style are farmed out... that said I have
recently been getting lots of the former jobs too.
Do you have advice for approaching
design agencies as an illustrator?
Find out the art directors name and send
an email with a link to your work, follow this up with a postcard. Make a
mailing list gradually, send out 5 - 10 a week, keep a record and make sure you
check back now and then. Most art directors I know are always really happy to
hear from illustrators, it gives them something to work with when sourcing
visuals for a client.
How did you start your own illustration
career? Did you study or was it a matter of self learning through experience?
I would say a little of both...
I started my design career in Fashion
Design, I then ran my own business in fashion with a focus on textile design. I
decided to return to school sometime later and studied my Masters of
Multimedia, I then travelled to Japan and started drawing everyday. One thing
led to another and I ended up illustrating, my first job was for a film
festival in Canada, they had found me via a blog called drawn.ca.
What challenges do you think
Illustrators face in a contemporary market place?
Pricing and marketing are the two main
challenges. Marketing became free and easy for everyone via the internet, this
is great but it has also led to an unending source of visuals online that each
and every illustrator and artist must compete with to be seen, the real art is
now in getting noticed, hopefully for all the right reasons. Prices for
illustrations are also dropping dramatically, with an abundance of people
online willing to work for low prices or exposure' which makes it difficult to
work for a liveable wage. Having a particular style or technique that makes you
unique can give you an edge and hopefully you will be able to command higher
prices for your work. It helps to also be a really nice person to work for;-)
Do you think the digital age has made it
easier for illustrators to get their work out there?
Yes, see above.
What do you think the future of
illustrative print publications might be? Is it a shrinking medium due to the
computer age or do you think that printed works are in fact becoming more
treasured pieces?
Print is both a shrinking medium and
becoming a treasured, this is a good thing, maybe we can go back to hard cover
books with foil embossing and specially printed illustrations. I am of the
opinion that illustrators should not sit and wait and guess what will happen in
the future but instead go out there and make it happen, we have the power to
create some amazing work, like I always say 'let's be making happy pictures!'.
You can check out Andrea's beautiful and thought provoking work via her page on Jacky Winter: Andrea Innocent portfolio as well as her webpage: Andrea Innocent
All images in this blog post belong to Andrea Innocent.
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