Commercial Art 101 - MIN To Max!

Commercial Art 101 – MIN to Max

Do the MIN to get the Max

From my last post:

MIN stands for

1.     M – Manage

2.     I – Improve

3.     N – Network

I said that in order for my business to grow, I needed to be involved in these processes - continuously.  It doesn’t mean you have to spend every waking moment engaged in them, but whether you’re still trying to launch your career, or well into it, there should never come a time when you think, “Well - I’m done with that one!”

1. Manage

You ought to be managing your life anyway. Live intentionally. Don’t just let life happen to you. If you are going to pursue a career in Commercial Art you need to give ‘managing’ a little more thought than the average person.

Why?

Because you are going to have more to manage than the average person. You will not be responsible for a job. You will be responsible for a business. Many artists are very good at their craft, but get a rude awakening when they start the process of turning their passion into a business.

In addition to creating great art you will need to manage – primarily – time and money:

Manage your Time

This may be the most important thing you’ll need to manage. Nearly every project you’ll ever work on will come with a deadline. Too many missed deadlines - and you’ll be out of business.

Since no one client is likely to send you a continuous supply of work, you will typically be working for several clients simultaneously. That’s fine. In fact, that’s what you want.

A sample work flow:

·       Draft some layout concepts for Client A and send them off. While you’re waiting for a response, knock out those edits that Client B requested. Be thinking about a quote for Client C.

·       Client A calls back and likes the second concept. Send out your quote for Client C and start on a tight layout for Client A. After lunch Client B says the edits look fine and asks for ‘finals.’ Client C has approved your quote.

·       You wrap up Client A’s Layout and send it off along with Client B’s finals and start on layout concepts for Client C.

·       Client D calls with a new project…

Manage your Money

You’ll need to set time aside to manage your finances and bookkeeping, in addition to the time you actually work on projects. Remember - you won’t be getting a paycheck every Friday. You get paid when the check clears, typically sent around thirty days after the client has received your invoice.  We’re assuming you haven’t forgotten to send out your invoices once a job is complete! That’s part of your bookkeeping.  If you neglect that, there won’t be much coming in thirty days. And don’t forget to update your books once a check comes in. You don’t want to be frustrated with a client because they are late with a check - only to find out they sent it to you, but you forgot to record the payment! Yes, I’ve done that!

You also need to keep an eye on your cash flow in order to make sure you have the money you need to cover your bills when they come due.

2. Improve

This one seems obvious. You always want to be getting better, but there are some things that fall under the ‘Improvement’ heading that may not be so obvious.

You obviously want to continue to improve your current skills to the extent you can. Things like handling or controlling traditional media better, understanding the software better or learning about new digital tools and processes.

You should also consider expanding your skill set. In my own case: When I first started working on the computer most of my illustrations were Photoshop paintings. These had an appearance similar to the airbrushed paintings that I had been doing prior to using the computer. The computer led to a number of new skills. I started creating vector based art, which has a look all its own. From there I began to get into 3D art. Once I began doing 3D artwork, it wasn’t long before I was doing 3D animation. Now I do animation that incorporates 3D and vector based imagery. I’m currently expanding into motion graphics as well.

So while I initially offered airbrushed style illustrations to my clients, I now offer that along with vector based graphics and line art, 3D illustration and animation and - in the near future - motion graphics.

Expanding your skillset improves your chances of staying busy. You simply have more to offer your clients.

Additionally, you should consider continuously improving your communication and negotiation skills.

It’s critical that you understand what the client wants. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I ask more questions now than I did when I was starting out. You might think the reverse would be true. Experience didn’t make me clairvoyant. It simply made me smarter.  I’m now smart enough to know that I’m better off appearing dumb by asking a lot of questions rather than actually being dumb and not asking enough of them. I can end up doing the job incorrectly - or having to call the client back to ask them the questions I should have - when I had them on the line the first time.

As for negotiation skills, one of the greatest challenges of all artists is negotiating compensation. I’ll discuss that later.

3. Network

That’s the name of the game!

You can manage and improve every aspect of your life, but if you don’t network, your growth will be limited.

Networking means getting your name out there, making connections, getting your work seen and marketing yourself. Basically doing all that you can to make sure you and your work are getting exposed to as much of the world as possible - or at least that part of the world that’s relavent to your career.

It helps if you’re not introverted, but some artists are. You can always look for representation.  Art reps and agencies can be useful. I have a rep I’ve been working with for over twenty years. He’s more like a partner than a business connection. A rep can be difficult to obtain.  There are many more artists than there are reps, so they will only take on so many artists.

There are other ways to get your work in front of people, though. The Internet is a great networking resource and one you should take full advantage of. I will dedicate an entire post to the Internet, but for now just know that it’s something you should be investigating thoroughly - if you’re not already.

Get involved in social groups and societies and go to the functions they host. Networking is the primary reason they host events. Take advantage of it. If you have an opportunity to speak in front of any group - go for it! An art teacher once asked me if I would do a small presentation for her elementary students. I was just a college kid at the time, but I accepted. It was a blast, and I ended up getting my picture in the paper along with a small write up. On another occasion, I did a poster of the Voyager Satellite for the Discovery Place and OmniMax Theater in Charlotte, NC. They were having a huge public launch campaign and asked if I’d set up and demonstrate doing some artwork. I set up a small airbrush rig and demonstrated techniques I used when I did the poster. To top it off, they had a stack of the posters right there that I signed and gave away. I got a lot of publicity from that.

Look for opportunities to gain exposure. I didn’t make any money on either of the above activities, but got an enormous amount of exposure.

To wrap things up: Let me emphasize the point of the whole MIN to Max idea. It is true that the primary function of the commercial artist is to produce art - good art - delivered on time! But in order to be a successful commercial artist you will need to do more than create good art. The point of MIN to Max is to keep you aware of all the things that you need to be aware of.

Curt