How I work:
I love creating illustrations for awesome people and organisations that help them get their message and mission out there, but how do you know I’m the right doodler for you?
Working with new people can be stressful especially if you aren’t sure how they work but hopefully the info below covers some of the most wondered about thoughts people have when they are thinking about getting in touch to commission a project.
Quote:
Please try and include as much information as possible and I will provide you with an initial quote. Quotes remain valid for 3 months.
Price:
Your quoted price will include 3 sets of amends and your illustrations supplied in your requested format. The reality is I just want you to love the final illustration so the first draft will give you a pretty clear idea of what I'm thinking, I may give a few concepts as well if appropriate. This is my way of helping us get to what you want as quickly as possible.
If you add extra illustrations as we go that is totally fine, the price will be advised, and they will be added to the final invoice.
Usage:
On quoting I will need to know what the illustrations are going to be used for – Print? Social media? It’s important that I know this, as this will affect the price quoted and license for use agreed.
Formats:
If you need your files in a certain format or size, please advise me of this ahead of time or let’s discuss together if you aren’t sure.
Payment:
50% of the final total of the invoice will be required as a deposit for me to start work and book you into my schedule. I will send you confirmation of deposit and timeline we are working to on receipt of the payment.
The final balance will be due when you have signed off final amends and your images will then be supplied
Deadlines:
If you have a deadline in mind at the start, please let me know at the beginning so I can give you an accurate idea of whether this is realistic from my end. This also helps me to plan my schedule, so I appreciate people letting me know this at the start.
Sometimes I can turn things around quite quickly, but it really depends on what I’m working on at the time.
Generally speaking, try and allow some time for this piece of work. Whilst I will be doing all the drawing and working up concepts, you will need to give feedback on drafts, and I will need to do amends so from experience if there is time to do this properly it will mean you are totally happy with your final illustration.
If you don’t have a deadline in mind, I will do the work on my own schedule and advise you when I have started it and when I’m planning to complete it, provide you drafts for review etc.
Once you’re excited, we want to get going and make sure the dreaded project creep doesn’t set in.
Doodle flow:
This is how the flow tends to work….
Feedback:
When you get your drafts and are giving feedback it's helpful for me to understand the reason why you may not think the image is working. This really helps me understand how to tweak the image. Clear feedback really helps me get to a better final illustration (I know sometimes people feel awkward critiquing created images, which is why I say this to everyone!) I am happy to receive feedback via voice notes/ phone call/ email/ or using an app like Notion.
Responding to messages and emails :
If I don’t reply straight away, please don’t worry I will come back to you as soon as possible. If you need to send me amends or feedback my preference is that you do those over email/ use an agreed method like Dropbox as opposed to social media so I can keep everything in one place and keep track easily! Saying that though phone calls sometimes work well if it is something tricky to explain. Receiving clear constructive feedback is very helpful to my process. I never take it personally if you don’t like something. Understanding why you don’t like something really helps me tweak things so don’t be shy!
Final sign off:
Please make sure you are totally happy with the final piece; this includes checking for spelling mistakes and typos. The final responsibility for this lies with you. This is important.
If you spot a rogue error after you have signed the work off though, it’s okay you can let me know and I will amend.
I hope that helps and don’t forget you can also read some of my recommendations over on Linked In from past clients.