[dearartdirector]

Dear AD, I'm a newbie and am wondering/overthinking about the whole process of working/communicating with an AD. After receiving the Briefing do you usually have a call to talk about first ideas and hear what the AD is looking out for? Or is it normal to just get back with the first sketches without much communication in-between? Thanks a lot!

Hello newbie!

If your AD isn't clear about what they expect from you, be sure to ask. After receiving the briefing (the description of the art needed), you should acknowledge that you received it and ask for any clarification if needed. If they have a deadline for sketches, repeat it back to them. If they haven't given you a deadline for sketches, make one for yourself so they know when they can expect to hear from you. For example, "Thanks for sending this over! Everything sounds good. One question: for page 39, did you want the banana to be wearing a trenchcoat or more of a windbreaker kind of deal? He seems like he's got kind of a classy vibe but I didn't know how specific to the 80's you wanted this retro urban fruit sci-fi story to look. Please let me know. I'll have the black-and-white sketches for you by Wednesday morning. Thanks!" Some ADs may want to chat on the phone, especially if it's a complicated project, but usually communication is done over email. Moral of the story: DON'T leave your AD hanging! Don't leave them wondering whether you got their email and when sketches are coming. Always leave them feeling confident that you understand the assignment and will turn it in on time. That's professionalism.

-Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

So I have a question about art. I’m not planning on becoming an illustrator but I would like to learn digital art. I just got Procreate. Would it be wrong for me to try to imitate illustrators’ works to learn ? Just as a practice. They wouldn’t leave my files. Thank you and have a nice day.

Studying other illustrators' artwork is very good practice, and is actually essential to developing your taste. You can learn a lot by studying, imitating, or even tracing the art of other artists for practice. In art school they call these "master studies" and professors will MAKE you do them.

There are two things you need to be careful about when studying other artists' work:

1. If the artist whose work you copied/traced is long dead, then you can post your study online with proper credit to the original artist. (For example, "personal study after Sargent.")

2. If the artist whose work you copied/traced is still alive, then, in my opinion, DON'T post it online. Even if you posted it with credit, there's still a chance that you'd be accused of "stealing" someone's style, or of your image being confused for the original artist's work, etc. Just keep it in your personal files.

Also, just for your personal development, try to absorb a variety of artistic styles. Don't rely too much on one genre or one artist. A good way to do this is to get off the computer and go to a library, bookstore, art gallery, or museum, and look at art that isn't curated by an algorithm. If you study art from a variety of sources, your art will look like a unique mixture of influences, rather than a second-hand imitation of someone else's style.

-Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

Dear ADs, What do I do when an AD doesn’t respond and takes forever to give feedback on sketches and WIPs? It’s only my second job with a publisher and I was given a pretty tight deadline but had to wait 3-5 days for an answer between each step, so I ended up working on weekends and through a national holiday to still deliver on time and it’s really messing with my health. Is that normal? -Thank you!

Anonymous - it's okay to ask for deadline extensions!!! In the future, if you're on a tight deadline, ask the AD to respond to you within a certain timeframe. For example, "In order to meet the deadline of (DATE), I need feedback from you by (DATE). Looking forward to hearing the team's thoughts on these sketches." That way, you're letting the AD know what YOU need in order to meet the deadline. It's a polite way of putting the ball in their court.

If they don't send feedback by the date you asked for, a good AD will offer you a deadline extension. If they don't, it's okay to ask for one. "Because of the delay in receiving feedback, a deadline extension on this would be really helpful for me. Would it be possible to move it back to Monday?" An extension might not always be possible, but it doesn't hurt to ask. A good AD will not think less of you for asking. An AD who takes forever to respond, won't budge on the deadline, and gets mad at you for asking, is a crummy AD.

-Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

Guys, is it ok to give a publisher that wants to credit me for the cover work my “alias” name instead of the one in my passport if they don’t require my real name for credits? They have my real name is the contract but my clients (and followers ☺️) know me by my alias/nickname. Thank you 🥰

Yup! Totally common, make sure you sent them EXACT SPELLING. Like, directly copy-and-pasteable, capitals are correct, any diacritics that need to be on there are correct, etc.  Let them know that you would like to be credited as a work alias instead of what’s on your paperwork, and send them that. Depending on the company, they might need you to update your vendor info so they can make it all official in their databases or what haveyou, but I’ve never run into nor heard of a situation where a publisher has deliberately refused to use an alias if it’s requested before things go to press. 

-Agent Critique

[dearartdirector]

First of all, thanks so much for this blog, your advice has been invaluable! Here goes my question: when an AD asks for x amount of innitial sketches, is it bad to give them more? I obviously don't want to send the AD all of the many concepts I try out, but sometimes I like four concepts when they've asked for two. Will ADs tend to see this as unprofessional? I keep thinking it's a sign that I haven't developed enough confidence in my artistic choices.

Great question! It’s okay to send one or two extra sketches! You could preface it with, “I know you only asked for two sketches, but I was so excited about the project that I did a few more.” That way you’re framing it in terms of your enthusiasm for the project, not a lack of confidence in your artistic choices. Your AD will probably be impressed!

It’s true that it’s part of your job to curate your ideas and bring only your best ones to the AD. So it could be unprofessional if you sent in, like, I dunno, twenty extra sketches, because then you’re making us do the work of sorting through every idea that passes through your brain. But two extra, well-thought out sketches? Awesome!

-Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

Hello! I bit the bullet recently and actually sent out some cold emails. I even got some responses, which I wasn't expecting! It's been about two months and I want to send an update with some new work, but I'm having trouble finding guidance or templates for this part. Do you have any tips about what I should avoid or be sure to include when sending along updates? Thank you so much.

Great job cold-emailing some ADs! I’m glad that you got some responses and I hope that encourages you to keep knocking on doors! (Figuratively, of course, since we’re all at home right now. Remember knocking on actual doors? Remember seeing real human flesh faces? I SURE DON’T!)

There’s really nothing to a second update email. Keep it short and sweet and let your art speak for itself.

“Subject: illustration samples Hello! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve updated my portfolio. Here are some new pieces. You can see more at my website: wwww.artistname.com I’d love to work with you and I hope you’ll keep me in mind for future projects. Thanks!” Attach your new art. Be sure these samples represent your latest and greatest work. Don’t overthink it!

- Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

I scrolled through some recent pages in the Portfolios tag & didn't see anything specific on this; what's the opinion on right click/copy protection for portfolio websites? I'm building my site with Wordpress by wrestling with templates and stumbling through the gallery creation process, so I'm super glad to have found this blog!

Please do not do the right click/copy protection thing! If an AD likes your work, we’ll often save it to a file for future reference. If you implement the “no right click” feature, you are making it harder for ADs to keep you on file!!

Put your name and website address on all your artwork. Not only will that make it easier for ADs to remember who drew the art in our files, but it will also help keep your work from being stolen online.

- Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

Hi! I'm currently illustrating a book for a client. It's not the style I'm trying to build my career on, and it's in general a bit weird. I'd like my name to be associated with my personal style and work only, so I don't want my name on this book. But this client is furious and keeps insisting I have to send them my photo and bio to include in the book. My question is, is anonymity my right in this situation, if this issue was never mentioned in the contract?

If this is a picture book, then having the illustrator’s name and bio (but not necessarily photo) is standard. If this is just a book cover, then usually the illustrator’s name is mentioned on the back cover and the copyright page, nothing more. If the case is the latter, and the client is still insisting on your photo and bio, politely let them know that that’s not “industry standard.”

If this is a picture book or a graphic novel or something, well, it IS industry standard to include the illustrator’s name, and if you insist on being anonymous then you’re the one making things weird. That’s like asking your date not to tell anyone that you’re dating. They will, understandably, be insulted.

The good news is that, unless this book goes viral or becomes a bestseller, it isn’t going to define your career. You don’t have to put any of this work in your portfolio or post about it on social media. (Unless that’s part of your contract.) Having one project out there in a different style won’t determine your career forever, but you’ll have to course-correct by producing new portfolio pieces that ARE in your preferred style. Eventually the “a bit weird” book will drop down in the Google search results and in your memory, like that person you once dated who was also “a bit weird” and you’d prefer to forget.

-Agent Thumbnail

[dearartdirector]

Hello! Thank you so much for being around and sharing so much knowledge, it's truly a sight for sore eyes after new social media mess every other week. I hope this is not too dumb thing to ask, but I'm working on my portfolio and got overwhelmed by a possible technical issue: how do you calibrate right colors when working with artists? I've got a samsung and asus monitors and they are impossible to synchronize, so assuming people have various options too - oof, must be a handful.

In industries where the final product is going to print, the general rules are:

1— Work in RGB, at at least 300dpi at double the printed size (or 600dpi at double the size) unless otherwise noted. Deliver in RGB. The folks in-house are going to convert to CMYK to their profiles set and synced with whatever printer they’re using, and that can vary wildly. Also, everything that’s print still ends up online to sell on a website or post on social and the colors always look better in RGB.

FYI: if you have someone ask you to deliver in CMYK, or you’re going to send something to a printer yourself, keep it RGB until the very last moment, then group it and convert the group to a smart object. This will preserve the layers, but look like it’s been flattened. You can convert that file to CMYK, but if you double click the Smart Object then all the RGB layers are editable. Magic! Obviously this is in Photoshop, but the other programs have versions of this as well.

2 – You can ask what general color profile they’re using, there’s a ton built into most art programs, and all adobe programs. But honestly, there’s so much color correction done in house before something goes tot he printer that we don’t expect an illustrator to know. You have to set DMAX (Maximum Ink Density) depending on what paper and lamination you’re using. Then you also have to know matte lam makes things tend pink, gloss lam makes things tend towards yellow and more contrast. The grittier the matte coating the less dense the blacks, etc etc. In other words, it’s fine to ask, but the answer is probably going to be “don’t worry about it, work in RGB” because you’d never expect to send something from a freelancer straight in the same file to the printer.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

I don't have a question but just wanted to say thank you so so much for taking the time to answer everyone's questions. It is greatly appreciated by me and I'm certain everyone else too. I hope you'll have a wonderful day and if it isn't then maybe some appreciation'll make it a bit better. :)

IT DOES! THANK YOU.

Seriously, folks. 2020 is hard. For everyone. And so many people are scared & angry & taking it out on people on social media. Unfortunately people are much more likely (about 10x more likely) to post negative comments than positive ones, even if they feel positively about more things. So take a moment, go out and send someone a positive comment or note when you can. It’ll make social media a kinder place.

—All Agents

[dearartdirector]

I am an illustrator and worked on a first round of a recipe book with an "Art" publishing company. The payment was low, but I figured it to be since, its the first time the restaurant group did something like this. Second time around I got a little more confident in my contracts and when they wanted illustration copyrights in perpetuity with no extra pay, I said No. I was then accused of trying to steal ideas from the restaurant and the publisher would let everyone know I was. Is this normal?

Is it normal? Depends on what you mean by “normal” and let me elaborate...

Is it “normal” as in are they right? No. It’s not right that a collaborator should immediately jump to accusations when an artist asks to alter a contract or adjust a working agreement. I don’t know enough specifics here to know whether they could pay you more or if they could have worked out limited licensing terms that worked for everyone, but regardless the answer is not to fly off the handle with threats.

Is it “normal” as in does this kind of thing happen frequently? Yes. There’s a few things at play here. 

A) Intellectual Property Law is very confusing and intricate and instead of admitting that they don’t understand the nuances, people with insecure egos try to intimidate other folks into backing down. 

B) The Restaurant Biz is full of these types of toxic egos, and depending on whether you were dealing with the food folks or the book folks directly that could be a factor. If they are a legit publisher they should have been able to explain their stance on rights to you, and either there would have been room to negotiate or not, but it shouldn’t have been an anger-causing situation. Lots of companies have perfectly understandable reasons for wanting the rights they do, and they should be able to explain why. That’s why I suspect either you were dealing with an inexperienced publisher or directly dealing with the restaurant side folks.

C) Our society, especially in the US/UK, where I am assuming this happened, has steadily underfunded and eroded not only Arts education but also the role of Artists in society. Thus the knee-jerk responses that Artists are always going to be poor and lazy. This is so prevalent that even creative folks themselves sometimes internalize this hatred and it lashes out at other creatives. I see this all the time when Artists are furious if anyone steals their work but are infuriated by the idea that they should be paying to use the music behind their time-lapse videos (just a recent example). That instant fury is a clue that someone is not reasoning rationally, that you’ve tripped over some internalized bullshit. Unfortunately you’re not their therapist and the best way to deal with that is not work with them again.

All in all, the answer you’re really looking for is yes, you were right and justified in discussing terms and even if you were asking for wildly too much, or if you did not understand the business situation (I’m not saying you did, just saying worst case scenario) it should have started a conversation not be responded to with threats and intimidation.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

Hi DAD, probably overthinking but I'm wanting to send a small A5 Book(Portfolio) to my dream clients, would this be worth while or should I stick to emails. Thanks!

Well this year, when most Art Directors (in the US at least) are not going to be working in their offices anytime soon due to quarantine, I wouldn’t recommend it. Maybe there’s a cool digital version you can send, but remember, no giant email attachments! But maybe you can make a cool gif or something instead. 2020 is not the year for physical mail...unless you want the books to wait around until someone either forwards the mail or a vaccine happens.

—Agent Negative Space

[dearartdirector]

Hey DearAD readers! Just a note to let you know that Sunday night we’re hosting a casual artist chat to close out LightBox Expo. If you’re attending LightBox virtually you might see that it’s been super busy getting into events via the site, so you can register directly on our Crowdcast page now and make sure to save your spot. 

And do yourself a favor and take a look at the tons of past seminars/events we’ve hosted that have been recorded for view anytime, and follow the page to be notified about new events.

See you Sunday!

[dearartdirector]

This blog has been incredibly useful to me for years, and now it is my one-year anniversary of becoming an AD myself :) I am grateful for your insight and levelheadedness! Do you have any advice for an AD starting out? I love our team, and I think they all enjoy their jobs. My biggest trouble right now imo, is that while I have a lot of 2D experience, I know next to nothing about 3D. Our 3D modelers often have to explain a lot of stuff to me OTL Is that normal...?

For brand new shiny ADs, absolutely! If you could do everything, you would...do....well, you wouldn’t have the time to do EVERYTHING. But nobody (nobody reasonable, anyways) expects an administrator to be an expert in all areas they administrate, especially at first!  

I should qualify this with saying that the phrase “Art Director” means something different for every industry, and darn near every company and studio. Since you’re dealing with both 2D and 3D I’m assuming you’re in video games or animation, so Imma roll with generally how those industries are put together.

As no doubt you’ve discovered by now (and so many new ADs are surprised at this), there is often very little art making in art direction. It is, very VERY often, a COMPLETELY different skillset from creating art.  (Congratulations on surviving your first year of flinging your body on the most dangerous metaphorical fire to put it out, hey!) Most Art Directors spend the majority of their time communicating, clarifying, and mediating the big picture vision and things like timeline expectations and budgets with the other teams and the stakeholders to manage expectations and clear obstacles so your people can do their jobs without all that back and forth getting underfoot. You’re an ambassador, the voice of your team to other teams, and the voice of everyone else to your team.

Because of that, clarity of communication, being able to define the goalpost and not keep moving it, not necessarily the technical knowledge of how to do every little thing, is what is required of you. So it sounds like you’ve got a leg up; an AD who listens to their team is a great thing!   

-Agent Critique

[dearartdirector]

Hey ADs! I took on a design/branding project last month that was described as "we want you to draw this in *your* style"- it's devolved into a nightmare. I've done 1000x revisions and they now want me to make it look like some other art style they found online. It no longer makes sense time or money-wise to keep on working on this project. I need to quit- but how do I leave in the middle with the project unfinished and still come off looking professional?

Well that certainly does not seem sustainable!   To me, it sounds like either a very inexperienced team, or a stakeholder with a lot of power changing their minds about what they want.  If this is something they do a lot, it won’t be the first time an artist has left mid-project.  Who knows, maybe they’re used to in-house artists who can iterate eternally if salaried. 

What does your contract say? Depending on your contract, you might need to consider this a hard lesson learned and not be paid at all. Some contracts have a maximum number of revisions before additional compensation is required, but many do not.  In either case, letting them know that you are out of time to work on the project and will need to stop work now if the original brief and style requirements are changing abruptly is not unprofessional.  Be respectful with your phrasing, and you should be fine. If you are feeling especially generous, compromise with “I can make the following alteration, but then I’m done regardless of approval state”. and leave it up to them. 

Sometimes projects spiral, and especially if the vision and direction keep switching, sometimes leaving a project is necessary. It happens. Be proud of yourself for recognizing the situation and doing what you need to!

-Agent Critique

[dearartdirector]

Dear Art Directors! Thank you so much for all the helpful answers. I have a book cover licensing question! I licensed a cover piece to a different company for an audiobook version. While I only gave them the type-less art I created, I noticed they ended up using the full cover from the original publisher. I don't know if a separate agreement is usually reached between publishers concerning the in-house designer's work. Is this something I should bring up with the designer? Thank you!

This area of licensing is called “Sub-Rights” and it’s a very standard part of publishing. The publisher who initially buys the manuscript and releases the book has a contract for a certain amount of rights from the author. Usually it’s for certain formats (Hardcover, paperback, ebook, digital audio, physical audio, large print, etc) and certain languages/territories. If another publisher wants to bring out that same book in a different format or region or language, they have to contract that with the author (if the author retained those rights) or with the originating publisher (if the publisher, say, bought world rights). Either way, there’s no point in re-editing the book from scratch, you want the version the originating publisher finished. But to do that you need to pay for the work that publisher did. 

If you want to use the same cover, you need to pay for that too. If it has art on it from a freelance artist then you have to go back to the original art contract and see what the AD licensed. If the originating publisher bought all the book usage from the artist then the 2nd publisher pays the first publisher. But if the 1st publisher didn’t license the art for, say, other languages or formats, then the 2nd publisher is directed back to the artist to negotiate a re-use fee with them directly.

Once that is done, however, they usually are still going to use the files from the 1st publisher because the design and type and final color correction is part of those files. They were really only renegotiating the USAGE from the freelance artist, not the actual file. But they usually take the file too, just in case they need it.

In MOST cases the 2nd publisher has already talked to the 1st publisher and that is how they knew to contact you to reuse the art. They would have checked to see if the 1st publisher licensed the rights. Sometimes there’s something shady going on, with very small publishers or some foreign countries, but I wouldn’t expect the artist to be policing that. If a 2nd publisher comes to you looking to relicense art, they’re usually legit, or they wouldn’t have contacted you at all. 

And in that case, let me answer the next question: negotiate whatever you can for the reuse fee, but know it’s usually much less than the original fee. 2nd format publishers and foreign publishers usually have very little budget to relicense art. Consider it a little bonus money, and don’t stress too much about figuring out exactly what it’s worth in the book market. You can always say no if you don’t want them to use it, but honestly it’s usually only $100-$500 max.

—Agent KillFee

[dearartdirector]

Dear ADs, thank you for all your helpful advice over the years. Just a note to say that I hope you are all well, and safe at home with a bucket of bourbon and a good book or ten. A social-distant cheer for you all, from an appreciative illustrator.

THANK YOU! We are doing the best we can in this hell-year. We hope you are doing the same. Glad to hear that Dear AD is helping you! Stay safe and sane as possible!

Love,

All Agents