Dear ADs, can you talk a bit about sketches and what you expect at the sketch phase of a project? How detailed do you prefer for sketches to be? What’s the best way for sketches to be sent - for example, attaching each sketch as a separate jpg vs. grouping them into one file? Basically, what are some things that an illustrator can do to make your job easier when it comes to sketches? :)
Dear Anon,
See this post for more info about how detailed sketches should be. Remember, they are meant to communicate an idea, so as long as the idea is clear, we should have no problem with them.
I prefer separate jpegs. That way I can easily eliminate one if I don’t want my editor to see it (yes, we play mind games with our sketch-approvers). It helps if you give the file names a number or letter (1,2,3,4 or A,B,C, D etc.), so we can easily talk about them over email with our colleagues without having to try to describe them.
One thing I don’t appreciate is when an illustrator “lobbies” for their favorite idea by putting more time into one sketch than the others. This is not helpful. It may be YOUR favorite idea, but it may not be the best solution to the problem. Let us decide, please. If it’s not a good idea, or you don’t like the idea…don’t send it.
Agent Real Talk