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This is Part 3 of the 4-Part series, How to Educate Your Clients, where we will examine the important role that education plays in your Freelance Illustration business. I’ll be releasing the future articles in the series over the next 4 days. If you’d like to follow along, simply bookmark this page, because I’ll be updating the links in the list below to direct you to those topics as I post them. If you prefer, you can follow updates via email or RSS.

Spec Work

To many Illustrators, these are the two filthiest four-letter words in the industry.

Part of the reason is that every day clients are asking artists to create work without guaranteeing that it will be used, or more importantly, that they will be paid.

The fact is, spec work is never going away.  No matter how much you may disagree with the ethics involved, some clients will still be requesting this lowly form of free work until the end of time.  You can, and in my opinion should, avoid doing spec work like the plague that it is.  Many professionals claim that it devalues the industry, and to those who would debate this, I would say that at the very least, it certainly devalues your own worth as an Illustrator.

There are two main reasons that spec work will always exist:

1.  There will always be Illustrators who will agree to do spec work.

2.  Most clients who ask for spec work don’t know or understand that it is bad, or why.

While all the education in the world won’t alleviate the hunger that drives artists to accept spec work, there are healthy ways to refuse to work for free while teaching your potential clients at the same time.

Some Misconceptions About Spec Work

Some creative professionals will react to a request for spec work by attacking or insulting the person asking for it.  I understand the anger that spec work evokes, but this response assumes that the client is knowingly trying to take advantage of hungry artists.  While this may or may not be the case, I propose that it’s a better idea to give the client the benefit of the doubt.

As Illustrators, we hear the term spec work spat out of each others’ mouths everyday with enough distaste to make our mothers cringe.  Because of this, it’s easy to forget that many of the people who ask for spec work have probably never heard the term before in their lives.  They simply don’t live in our world.

Therefore, rather than persecute them, we can take the opportunity to educate them and maybe even get them to pay for our services.

How You Can Enlighten the Lost

Before I share my own personal approach to educating my clients, I’d like to highlight two resources where you can find more information:

• No!Spec (no-spec.com) – A campaign that takes a very aggressive stance on spec work and strives to spread the word.
• AIGA – The professional association for design shares its position on spec work and offers a sample letter to send in response to spec work.

Now I’ll share an example of how I generally respond to a client who requests spec work via email:

Thank you for contacting me.  I would love to discuss your project in greater detail.  Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to create work on speculation, because my time is reserved for my paying clients.  That being said, I stand by the quality of the work in my portfolio, and if you’d like to commision me to create comps before you commit to hiring me for the overall project, I’m happy to negotiate a reasonable rate.

I look forward to the possibility of working with you.

What I like about this response is that it assumes the client’s innocence, asserts the value of my time, and opens the door to a fair, contracted relationship.  Of course, if they are not interested in these terms, they will simply move on.  At the very least, they will hopefully get the impression that if they want something of value, they are going to have to pay for it, without me having to confront them in a negative way.

More often than not, clients with good intentions will in turn hire me to create comps, and sometimes more.

Assert and Avert

Whatever strategy you use, taking the time to educate potential clients about spec work will help to encourage them to pursue ethical business practices and turn away those who would rather waste your valuable time for no pay.  In the meantime, you can make this task a little easier by asking your fellow Illustrators to do the same.

Escapee has spoken.

Check back tomorrow to find out how to educate your clients about Spec Work.

Now it’s your turn to share.

Do you take the time to explain industry standards?

How do you justify your price quotes?

I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more of How to Educate Your Clients.

Read More Escapee Speaks Business.

Who is this Escapee guy anyway?

This is Part 1 of the 4-Part series, How to Educate Your Clients, where we will examine the important role that education plays in your Freelance Illustration business. I’ll be releasing the future articles in the series over the next 4 days. If you’d like to follow along, simply bookmark this page, because I’ll be updating the links in the list below to direct you to those topics as I post them. If you prefer, you can follow updates via email or RSS.

The Creative Process

Throughout your Illustration career, it is likely that you will be contracted by clients who have never worked with a creative professional before.  Therefore it is important to be able to shed some light on the creative process.  In fact, even when working with those who know how to work with an Illustrator, it is a valuable practice to educate them about your own personal process.  As stated in the introduction, it always helps when everyone knows what is expected of them, as well as how the project might unfold.

How Do You Describe Your Creative Process?

A great way to do this right off the bat is at the point of your initial contact, which is often through your portfolio website.  For more about this, read my article on the importance of including a Process page on your site.

In addition to this, I find value in outlining my approach when I first speak with them on the phone or via email.  This lays the groundwork for the project and helps to instill confidence in the clients who are less familiar with how to proceed.  Naturally, your personal style will dictate the way you tackle a given project, but in general it helps to explain such things as how you will gather information and produce concept art, as well as how your client might approach the revision process.

As a further measure, I like to reinforce this knowledge at each stage or milestone to make sure everyone stays on the same page.

Explaining Concept Art

In the beginning stages of a project, most Illustrators produce conceptual sketches that far from resemble the finished product, and this can be difficult for some clients to comprehend.  After all, they’re paying you for something that doesn’t yet exist, and the quality of concept art is generally inferior to what they will eventually receive.

Therefore, it’s important to explain the way that they should look at the first work that you produce.  Try to encourage them to look at the basic ideas that are being represented in the drawings, instead of the level of detail or rendering of form (or lack thereof).  You may find yourself holding their hand much more through this stage, but doing your best to make your intentions clear from the start, and reminding them that the quality of work that they hired you for is still just around the corner, will help them to take the leap of faith necessary to see the bigger picture.

When you make the effort to educate your clients about the ways to interpret the initial concept art, you will decrease the amount of frustration that comes from an unsatisfactory response, or a request to improve small details in particular parts of the drawing that aren’t ready for that level of attention.

One way to get this point across might be to show the progressing stages from a previous project.  This can help your client to see how your ideas develop over time, eventually surfacing as a compelling work of art.

Paving the Road

I encourage you to consider doing this extra work early on, as it will help your client to understand you and communicate with you about their needs.  Anything you do to smooth the road ahead can be seen as an investment in a successful outcome that exceeds the expectations of your clients and makes your job more rewarding along the way.

Escapee has spoken.

Check back tomorrow to find out how to educate your clients about Industry Standards.

Now it’s your turn to share.

Do you take the time to explain your creative process?

How do you approach concept art?

I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Read more of How to Educate Your Clients.

Read More Escapee Speaks Business.

Who is this Escapee guy anyway?

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