Whitnie
Barnes
17 November 2016
Art
3460: Illustration
Working as an Illustrator
Having a business plan is important
in guiding you to have an income-bringing business. A business plan should
include an executive summary, a description of the business prospect, your
marketing and sales approach, your management team and employees, your
operations, and your financial predictions.
An executive summary should be the
last step of the business plan. It’s basically just a summary of that includes
most of the other steps or aspects of your business plan. It’s a good tip to
write the summary or outline as if you were writing it to someone who didn’t
know a lot about illustration or design. It also should include an overview of
your business and short explanation about what you offer. An illustrator should
also understand copyright laws and selling usage rights, licensing and moral
rights, etc.
In order to understand your
marketing and sales strategy, you need to know what market you are targeting,
who your competitors and target customers are, what type of work you want to do,
any changes that might happen in the market and how you will promote and sell your
work. You can promote yourself through a website, a physical portfolio,
promotional material, illustration annuals, email and by telephone. An
illustrator may also hire an agent who can aid with anything from promotion to
tracking invoices, but having an agent comes with its own pros and cons.
The proper work environment is also
a significant aspect an illustrator needs to consider. Some freelance
illustrators work in a studio or at home but both come with a price. If you
work at home, this doesn’t mean you cannot get feedback from peers and groups
of similar people. In fact, an illustrator can join an illustration collective
(a social group of illustrators) through social media and arrange to meet
other. It’s also important to have the proper technology to create your
illustrations which including the following: internet access, a computer, a
scanner, a color printer, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Creative Cloud software.
Moreover, you should set some
financial goals to come up with a practical estimate of how much work you will
need to take on to cover your expenses and make some income. A financial
forecast typically includes cash-flow statements, profit and loss predictions,
and a sales calculation. Overall, it is wiser to lean toward a less optimistic
and more realistic financial forecast because if you are too optimistic, you
will find yourself not able to achieve some of the goals you have set.