Dear ADs: First, thanks for doing this! You guys rock. My question - a little while ago I did some illustrations for a book with a small publisher. The client seems happy with it but I'm very unhappy with how it turned out. The scope of the project changed drastically as it progressed and though I feel like I did the best I could to keep on top of everything, I really struggled and my confidence is shaken. I feel disappointed in myself. What can I do to better prepare myself for next time?
Sometimes projects go off the rails. Sometimes what you want and what the client wants line up, and sometimes they don’t. As artists, our goal is to make the best piece of art for our portfolio. As illustrators and designers, our goal is to make the vision of the client come to life. It’s great when we can kill two birds with one stone, but sometimes we have to be happy with one win out of two. You made the client happy, that’s great! You didn’t get a portfolio piece out of it this time, but that’s ok.
Your confidence shouldn’t be shaken. What was shaking was the ground under your feet as you were trying to paint. That’s part of the job sometimes. The difference between doing a piece for yourself and doing a piece for a client is the combat conditions. You’re asked to do a certain job then it feels like the client does everything in their power to knock you off track. We’ve all been there.
As long as you are doing your best under the given circumstances, keeping up good communication, and making your opinions clear (but not aggressive/sarcastic, which is always tempting when a client feels like they’re making your work look bad), then you just hold on and make the best art you can. If the client was happy, then you put it in the win tally, and move onto the next gig. If you’ve still got a bad taste in your mouth, refinish the piece the way you’d have liked to and put it in your portfolio as a personal piece or killed/unpublished concept. Or just go make a personal piece just for yourself and your portfolio.
—Agent KillFee