This just doesn’t apply to clients, or the moment you finally quit your day job. If being a freelancer is something you hope to do one day, you should keep this in mind, because today’s annoying co-worker/friend can be tomorrows art director.

Play Well with Others

I worked as a production artist for years. One company I worked for had a lot of issues. There was fighting going on between Editorial and Design/Production, and then within our own department there was a war between the Department Manager and the Design Director. As the guy making the stuff, I was at the end of the line for everyone: Writers, editors, designers, artists, marketing, and manufacturing. Any mistakes made along the way, ended up on my plate.

It builds up and you get frustrated, and you want to say something to the people you feel are making your job harder. As tempting as it was to vent on those people, the chances are, they aren’t intentionally trying to make your job harder. I kept my frustration in check at work.

Since then, two of the people I worked with have moved on from the company as well, becoming art directors with companies that use illustrators. I’ve kept in touch with them via facebook. They have seen my work as an illustrator, and have given me work.

I doubt that either of them would have thought to use me as an illustrator, if I had given into the moment and vented for my own emotional satisfaction. Even if it wasn’t venting about them, you can still be seen as a difficult person if all you do is complain.

Don’t Burn Bridges

A friend recently graduated art school and I was doing my best to lend him a hand. This was anything from answering questions about freelancing (as best I could), being encouraging when he was facing hard times, and even sending work his way, when I had too much.

At one point I was trying to get him in at a company I was working for. At the same time, the company started having lots of issues, and the project spiraled out of control. Lots of yelling, finger pointing and high stress levels. I decided that it was time to go, and did so professionally.  Unfortunately this meant that my friend missed out on work he could have used.

My friend took it personally. He wrote me an angry email, furious that I would leave this job when it meant not being there to push a referral for him. He made clear that he no longer wanted to be friends, personally or professionally.

I completely understand his frustration. You try to hold out from getting a crappy survival job, and rely on your skills and talent. Along comes something that might not be the ideal type of work, but it’s a thousand times better then retail or waiting tables. And it falls through. Right back to where you started.

My reason for not inviting him had nothing to do with him hurting my feelings or for disrespecting all the help and favors I gave him. I didn’t invite him simply because I couldn’t trust him to act professionally.

In the world of the freelancer, your attitude is the grease to make the gears turn. You can’t control other peoples attitude or how they react. So control yours and it can make all the difference in how fast your career grows and where it goes.

Thanks to Marc Scheff with his help on this entry.

For cartooning, I think doodling is a valuable exercise. Kool Aid Gets Fired came from a doodle of Kool Aid having a moment of existential crisis. Many of my background characters come from doodles in sketchbooks. I doodle something that I feels really captures the visual essence of what you might think such a person looks like. When I drew the little guy down in the right hand corner, I thought he looked like an everyday background office worker, someone who pretty much comes in, does their job, and goes home.

His final incarnation in Kool Aid he had glasses. But the basic idea for what many of my office workers would look like came from this doodle. To me (and everyone is going to see different), it says, he’s been at his job not just years, but a few decades. Not fully beaten down, but definitely a corporate cog that knows his place.

As contrasted by this doodle, who I always thinking of as Ken Newman, bright, shiny, energetic, looking for ways to make a change and improve things. Often I will take a doodle and expand on it, working out how the character might look expressing different emotions.

Sometimes a character from a doodle ends up in a full illustration. I’m not sure if I specifically used the person on the left in the drawing on the right. The one on the left was a women who got onto the train with her chello and bags and insisted on squeezing into the space. I was trying out some new brushes in Painter for this. Clearly the way I drew the head stuck in my head for the crowd scene I drew.

When I worked in offices, often my meeting handouts would end up covered in doodles. Often they were of co-workers.

I think that moving forward, I’m going to devote some time to just doodling each week. No specifics, no goal, just a journey.

But then I thought, wait, I do have all those black and white illustrations I have been working on for the kickstarter project to illustrate computational thinking of abstract ideas! So, there was a page of samples right there!

It shows consistency of style, which is important in textbooks if they need multiple images using the same characters. It shows a visual expression of a concept. So, I put three of my favorites onto a page. Now I just needed 9 more pages. I personally think 10 pages is a good number of pages to show what you can do. You can focus on a particular style, but also include a few different ones, to show your range.

While certainly not a textbook illustration, I decided to include this illustration which is a mash up of two shows, Project Runway and The A-list. I used to work with the designer at the company, she knows my sense of humor, she’s also got a wicked sense of humor, so I knew this one wouldn’t cause a problem.

I have an InDesign file set up ready to make a PDF. I can swap out images and pages as I need. While doing this I realized something. I have a lot of new images to show. And while some of them may have been done for Next Magazine, they certainly could show my ability as an illustrator, without the content being questioned.

I was really happy I was able to switch out what I had started to see as the Same Old Samples I’ve been showing for years. I had new samples, which I felt were much better then my old stuff. I had pieces from clients I’m rather proud of. Like the images I did for MIT.

And finally, I included some of my own stuff, which I did to explore new directions in my style and to learn a few things, and on these pieces I felt I was very successful with that.

Putting these samples together, and looking back over the last year, I felt really proud of the hard work and time and focus and energy I put into pushing myself as an illustrator. To me, these new samples represented a visual history of my growth as a commercial artist. For many years, I wouldn’t call myself an artists or an illustrator, simply because most of the time, I wasn’t even drawing. I wasn’t doing anything. I also feared being told that I was a fraud, or a hack or not talented.

All these illustrations have been done in about the last year. In the last 6 months I’ve done close to 85 illustrations. Honestly, that’s more then I had ever done before that over the years, combined. When I compare that first illustration I did for Next Magazine back in may, to the one I just did in October, I can clearly see improvement.

Not only that, I remember that first illustration (Pirates of the Caribbean mashed with a street festival featuring dance) taking for ever, and me stressing out over every aspect. The Antonio Banderas in the sauna took about 3.5-4 hours to complete. In the Pirates one, yeah, that looks a little like Johnny Deep as Captain Jack Sparrow and that girl pirate in the movie…oh yeah, Penelope Cruz. Back in May, I was ever so freaked out about having to draw famous people and have them look like the person. I thought for sure, people are going to tell me that I was simply copying photographs! (I wasn’t).

Sometimes, stress and tight deadlines have lead to coming up with some great solutions. Not every illustration has been a gem. I’m thinking of a few that I haven’t ever posted to my facebook or google+ page. Not everything you do is going to end up being amazing, even if you give it your best. The illustrations below didn’t come out as good as I wanted, and if I had time, I would love to go a second round with them. I sometimes think I will, but in the end, you never seem to have time to do that.

Nine weeks ago, I started doing illustrations for Next Magazine, 3 each week for the What’s Next Section. All the illustrations were things I don’t normally do, such as famous people. At first, I was a little intimidated with the idea of having to draw people to look like who they should.

Here is the first illustration I did for Next Magazine.

Not bad. You get that’ it’s Johnny Depp in the 4th Pirates Movie. So that must be Penelope Cruz. At the time, I was pretty pleased with how this came out. Looking back, I think it’s Meh.

Nine weeks later, here is the latest illustration I did for them:

Much better work on the faces. They are bolder, better details, more stylized then rendered. It also took a lot less time to doe this one, compared to the first one. I’m making choices faster, and I certainly know I’ve learned a few things about the face and structure of it.

Also, my composition is getting better, but there are still times when I think I could have done way better. This illustration, I actually ended up liking the composition more over time. It was one of those pieces that while you are working on it, you think it’s not working, and then near the end it starts to come together and you think, it’s better then I thought.

And then there’s this one, where I think all the single elements are good, and done very well, but the composition brings the whole pieces down. It’s the boat really, it just makes it so lopsided and wrong. I should have just done it coming straight towards the viewer. Live and learn.

Over all, I also think I’ve been doing well with color. They like bright colors, so it’s kind of easy. I’m also letting myself be a bit more free and with my process and how I create. Much more free and painterly approach to things.

My goal, is to do illustrations for them for at least one year. That will be over 150 illustrations I drew in a year for them alone. That’s a whole lot of drawing. That’s a whole lot of getting better!

Doing something that is successful, is great. It really makes you feel like it was worth it. Take Kool Aid Gets Fired, my comic. I did that 4 years ago, and it’ still doing well. A local comic store has probably sold close to 70 copies. For a mini comic, that’s actually pretty amazing. Add to other stores that sell it and when I do conventions, I’ve sold quite a lot of copies. All the reviews of it have been very favorable, save for one.

It even got written up in Pop Candy, an online column that’s part of USA Today. This translated into about 480 visits to my site, and 7 sales. But that’s fine. I haven’t gotten any jobs because of Kool Aid. But that’s fine as well.

I’m working on a Kickstarter Project. Our goal was first $1500. We got that in 3 days, so expanded the scope of the project, and in the end, we needed $2,250, and ended up raising over $4,300. Not bad.

Each time I have a success, it makes me feel great. But I don’t have any expectations that it’s the one thing that will suddenly open the flood gates to never having to fight for work, or better clients.

I do hear some illustrator friends talk about how frustrating it is that something they did, which still gets lots of attention, hasn’t brought in any additional work by catching someone’s eye. Yeah, that happens. With the Kickstarter, a few friends would suggest that maybe they could do something like that, only what they wanted was to basically get paid to draw. Kickstarter doesn’t work that way. You need a clear focused goal. Not just, I want money to do my webcomic/blog/take pictures and post them.

The fact is, you should be doing all that stuff because you want to. That you can’t go a day without drawing/writing/taking photos. Sometimes you have too, but the desire should be there.

In some ways, you shouldn’t have any expectations of what you will get from doing something, other then what you are doing. If you are writing a novel, you do want it published. But your expectations should be just to end up with a novel when you are finished. When i do an illustration, that’s all I’m going for. Same with a comic. Yes, sometimes I have flights of fancy. But I don’t ever think, Man this is the Graphic Novel that is going to change the format for ever. Why I might even get a Pulitzer Prize!

Heck I don’t even think, people are really going to love this! I just think, Wow! I wrote and drew a whole Graphic Novel! That’s amazing in and of it’s self, considering how often people fail to do anything.

They say it takes about 12 years, as a freelancer, to get to the point where you can call the shots on what kind of projects you want to work on, or pitch your idea’s for your own projects. Along the way, they estimate 80% of people taking this road in life, give up at some point, because it’s just to frustrating.

I keep that in mind when after finishing some huge project, suddenly find myself with nothing to do. At that point, my expectations are to simply keep drawing and pushing my talent and skills to the next level.

Learning to spot red flags is just a skill that everyone has to develop over time when you work in creative services.

I believe in using social networks as a way to get your work out there, and potentially get new work. An old co-worker from when I lived in Chicago saw me posting my art on facebook and contacted me. She was now the Art Director of a Legal Magazine, and started giving me work.

The chances of this happening are small, which is why you should use every venue that you can. But doing so will also attract more people you probably don’t want to work with.

Recently I was contacted by someone through an online social network, who saw I was an illustrator. He was in need of such a person. We talked, and over the phone, and he said he would send me an email later that day.

I got the email, which raised a bunch of red flags.

The first red flag was that without looking at my stuff, or anymore conversation, I was on the project, or at least talking like I was. The quicker they are to hire you, the more you should take a step back and wonder. More so when you are starting out, and have no name recognition. There are people out there that do love hiring people new at this, because they can take advantage of them.

If they contacted you, knowing your work and can tell you where they saw your work is a different story. Them just stumbling onto you, and after a brief conversation, they are telling you that you are the right person for the project, more so when you know you are not (but could do the work), is a red flag.

The second was the time in which they needed the work done. In this case, midnight. The tighter the deadline, the redder the flag. This guy’s plan was that we hole up at his office, and just bang it out, because he needed files by midnight, if these pieces were going to get to the printer on time.

Professional people that work with illustrators and designers a lot, generally have a network of such people they contact in advance of starting that stage of the project. Chances are, this guy could have been stepping outside of his job to try and show what he can do. He never said anything along the lines of “My old designer had to leave the project, or I fired my old designer”. Both of which are also red flags.

If you are ONE day from the completion of a project, and the designer/illustrator is getting on your nerves, a professional just bares it out, gets the project done, and then never hires that person again. There does get to be a point in a project where firing the person, is going to screw the project over.

The third red flag was that there wasn’t any talk on how much I would charge, or how much he could pay. It was all, lets get this work done! take a step back. Before you spend a whole day, holed up in an office with anyone I don’t know, I want to know for how much. And more then likely, I need half up front, just in case you forget about how I gave a whole day up for this.

Again, professionals always bring up the subject of money, even if it’s just, “Can you give me your rates?” While what to charge is a whole separate subject, being hired or given a project without that conversation, is a red flag.

Other things that raised red flags. Why did I have to come to his office? Does he have all the software I would need to do the project? What if I would need illustrator or Photoshop and all he has is Microsoft Office? Anything he would need, I would be able to do from home, and heck, we could even Skype and he could see what was on my screen. If the deadline is that tight, why waste time with me traveling?

There are many, many, many red flags. Each one is unique to the situation. For example, working in an office has it whole own set of red flags you might not encounter as a freelancer. Most of the time, it takes experience to learn to spot them.

These are part of a series done for Reeling, the Chicago GLBT film festival. They got a lot of attention and people really liked them. So much that someone ripped off the style for several brochures, and people thought I had done the illustrations. To bad I didn’t, because more then likely, the person who ripped me off got paid. I did this for free for the exposure. I didn’t get any work from this.

I was very proud of these at the time. They were the best work I had done at the time. I can still see elements of these in my current work.

My friend was working at Chicago Magazine, handling the entire online website. This was back before the internet started killing magazines and newspapers. Chicago Magazine didn’t support the online site then. It was just her, and she had no budget, no direction to take the site. It barely served as a, whats happening. So she asked me to do these tiny illustrations for the site. For free. I thought, at least I can say I have worked for Chicago Magazine, and maybe I might get to network to get some work in the actual magazine. But that didn’t happen.

For a while I worked at a company that did corporate communications, mainly newsletters, brochures and more. Sometimes, they wanted illustrations. My boss never wanted to spend money of art and graphics, which was good for me, since it fell to me to come up with illustrations.

I really don’t know what I was trying to do with the shape of the heads. These were for a brochure about hospital credentialing. Back then, computers had these giant, thick monitors, that took up your whole desk!

Oh hey! One of the first illustrations I got paid for. For Lakeland Boating (I still do illustrations for them). It was about how the head (bathroom) on boats often can be left…messy. I wrote a dirty limerick on the wall, and thought I had smudge it enough. I didn’t, but thankfully they caught it before it went to print. I don’t do that anymore. (Here I sit, broken hearted, came to shit and only farted, in case you were wondering.)

Back then, I did  lot of work with actual materials, and would have to send them in to be scanned. The good thing about that, is you can work in different ways. Like this for an article about Morse Code.

I did it on scratch board. I really liked it. So did the editor. So much he kept the original art and never sent it back. Nor did he offer me any money for the original art. Yeah, people actually do that. A contract prevents that.

However, this did lead to me doing a series of these of skeletons. A friend of a friend opened a small knick knack shop, and wanted artists to put their work up for commission. So I did a bunch, and they sold. The first few that sold she gave me my share. The rest, she kept all of it, because her shop wasn’t doing well, and needed the money.

Come to think of it, she was friends of the editor that kept the image above. Another good reason for going digital, or at least only delivering digital. And contracts

These are some images that I did that were not for clients, but just myself.

It’s always interesting to look back. I also found a disk with all these illustrations I did for this interactive CD a bank put out to help people prepare to take a test to get their real estate license. There were 3 of us doing the illustrations, and a 4th guy doing all the photo researching. I think there was over 500 illustrations that were needed. I was working for a company that was doing the CD for the bank. I never dealt with the person at the bank, but we always got to hear her feedback. Like, I don’t like the color green. So what about the illustrations about lawn care and such? She also didn’t like red. Or bright blues. In fact, she doesn’t like primary colors.

So the color palette eventually became grays, beiges, purples, light baby blue, and where appropriate, some greens.  She also so everything as sexual and violence towards women.

I honestly can’t say what I think about my old work. I can say my skill has improved a lot.

But I also think successful artists also have a way of approaching making art as a professional that sets them apart from those that end up not being successful.

I’m also not much on the, Do What you Love, and the Money Will Follow kind of people. While their might be some truth to that, I know lots of people that did what they loved, and the money didn’t follow and they eventually had to give up. And not all of these people lacked a drive to make it.

But, I do think some of the ones that gave up, had unrealistic expectation of what success would be. I’ve heard many artists talk about the one thing that would do it for them. But, it’s never really about one thing. Everything is built on something else. I had good success with Kool Aid Gets Fired, but I don’t want to try and make a whole career off that one comic. I’ve had good success as an illustrator, but I’m only as good as my last piece. I’m not looking for that one image that will make everyone flock to my door.

I’ve known artists that get very negative when something they did, is well received, but doesn’t lead to other things. Kool Aid was well received, but i don’t think I’ve gotten any other work from it. It does help to show my level of ability and that I can write and draw a whole book. And that’s enough for me, honestly.

So, if people Do What They Love, and the money does follow, I think it’s because they don’t spend to much time worrying about if what they are doing is going to make them money. Yes, in this day and age, you have to worry about money. No one really likes living in a shack, with dirty cloths and eating garbage food because that’s all you can afford. But again, it’s not about that either.

For example, right now, I’ve agreed to be the weekly illustrator for a local magazine in NY. 3 drawings a week, for the Whats Coming up section. The pay isn’t on level with normal illo jobs, the magazine, while having a good profile, isn’t making money hand over fist it’s self. But, I’m getting to do 3 drawings a week, that require me to stretch my abilities, focus on getting the work done fast without hacking. I’m also trying to expand my style a bit, as I change my thought process in how I approach things.

Current work in progress, for Next Magazine

After a few months, I expect that I will see significant improvements in my art, and the speed at which I work. I will feel more confident in my choices. I didn’t mind the low pay, because the challenge of doing this is worth it to me. So, I’m getting paid in a way that doesn’t pay the rent, buy food or clean my clothes in any serious way. That’s ok. I’m investing in myself. I’m willing to take the ten years to see if it pays off.

I’ve been working at being an illustrator, for about 2 years now, and I really focus more on doing the work, finding the work and making the next piece better then the piece before it. When I don’t have any work to do, I draw and try and push my work into new directions. When the checks come, they come. It doesn’t matter that this drawing paid me $600, took the same or less time then this drawing that paid me $100. I gave them both my best work.

I know many artists who insist that you should always try for the $600 jobs. I do. But I take the $100 jobs too. I take the jobs, because what it really means to me, right now, is a chance to draw, with a focus and a goal and end to work towards. It means I have to trust the choices I make, and it means I get a chance to put my brain to work and see if I can come up with a great idea. It means I’m doing what I love, regardless of the money, because I’m actually trying to get something out of it that is more important then money.

Another thing I hear people say is that they tried for a few years, and things didn’t happen. I wish I had the link, but studies show, people who try and make it in the creative service industries, get successful in 12 years on average. By successful, they mean to the point where they can pick and choose the projects they want to work on, or pitch the projects they want bigger companies to invest in. And that on average, it takes about 3-5 years to get to the point where you are getting the kind of work you want. I’m lucky, I’m getting some of that now. But I still take what is called Meat and Potatos work.

I worked many years as a production artist for publishing companies. Now I work part time, from time to time, for companies that staff up when they have a lot of work and down when they don’t. It works out great for me, as it gives me more then enough money to get by, money to set aside for the lean times, and more then two days a week for my own work, or any illustration work. I work towards having to do less and less of that kind of work.

Also, I don’t take not getting work as a set back either. An actor I knew, gave up acting, after not getting a part. The way he tells the story, it was down to him and one other person. The other person got it, because they were friends of the marketing person for the theater company. I have no idea how he knew that, and I even asked, and the best answer he could give is, I just know it. The way he tells the story, is that he did A, B, C, like you are supposed to, and so he should have gotten the part.

But the thing is, that’s how the entertainment industry works. It’s partially how the commercial art industry works. It’s how a lot of industries work. It’s not the only way it works, but it’s foolish to think other wise. It’s also foolish to give up on what you want to because of one show you didn’t get the part to. And in the actors case, he was only in his early 30’s when it happened. It wasn’t like he hadn’t gotten shows or worked as a professional actor/singer before that. In fact he had. What bothered him, this was a big show. Would it have been a career maker? Who knows. It’s what I was saying earlier about not expecting the world from one piece.

To me, it just means I’m moving closer to success. I at least made it that far. What do I need to do next time to make it farther? Or in my case, what do I need to add it my art to make it better then last time.

That’s what I’m focused on. Not how big a check I’m getting.

When you have an online portfolio, it’s easy to think, but all you are going to see is what is on my site. But that’s not always true. I have lots of images that aren’t on the site, that just as easily could be. And I have lots of spot illustrations that aren’t on the site.

First, spend some money on a decent portfolio. Mine is from Kolo a company that makes photo albums and scrapbooks. But many of their books can also double as a portfolio, since they come with letter size plastic pages to insert your samples. It’s cloth covered. has a window in the front where I can place a custom image. The plastic inside is a high quality and doesn’t get milky over time. And, it’s only $30.oo That’s pretty cheap for a presentable portfolio. I’ve known friends to spend hundreds on portfolios, to impress.

Trying to impress with spending a lot on a presentation concept is mixed. If it’s related to what you do, yes. For example, a friend once spent about $150 on a custom made box for his portfolio as a photographer. Each photo was mounted and matted, he could fit about 12 images in the box, there was a cloth pull tab to remove the stack, because they fit so tightly. It was very impressive.

Did it ever get him any work? I don’t think the box itself it did. BUT what it did do was let ADs know he respected his own art and was serious about it. Which is what your portfolio should do. Hence it’s worth spending some money.

Because while a nicer portfolio might not get you more work, you can be sure that a cheap one could definitely say something about you that isn’t true. It’s one of those, “When it’s right, people won’t notice, but if it’s wrong, it’s going to stand out.”

What you put your physical portfolio in is the same as what you might wear to an interview.

Also, your portfolio could also be on something like an iPad. More and more art directors are will look at your work on such a device. The image is clear enough and large enough for them to get a good sense. If you have such a device, don’t hesitate to take advantage of it. However, an iPhone isn’t the same. It’s way to small.  (Thanks to Reed Bond for reminding me of this!)

POSTCARDS
I’ve talked to a lot of different illustrators, and one thing that comes up is getting postcards. Should you or shouldn’t you?

I once ordered a 1,000 postcards, to do mailings. I ended up sending out over half of them, the rest I threw out, because I had moved and the information on them had become outdated. It was very time consuming, and costly. And I don’t think I ever got a single job from doing that.

When I work on site for a client, I often see promotional post cards from illustrators scattered about. For the most part, they seem forgotten. I seldom see art directors or designers putting them up in their office or cubical.

But I still think it’s a good idea to get some. Not for mailing to Art Directors, but to hand out, or as a leave behind. If you go in for a portfolio review, they often want something to keep, with your information. This is a perfect use for a postcard. If you do trade shows or conventions, the same. You can hand them to people interested in your work. It’s bigger then a business card so your image is better represented then it would be on a business card. Putting a postcard in someones hand is far more effective then mailing them one. And with better print on demand services, you don’t have to order so many. And it’s much cheaper these days. Some services, like Moo.com offer the ability to have multiple images on postcards and business cards, for no additional charge. That way if you can’t decide on what image you want, you can pick several.

BUSINESS CARDS
Regardless of what you do decide to use to present your work, always have business cards, and always carry them with you and don’t be afraid to hand them out. Also, don’t stress out on making the best business card you can, that will stand out and make everyone notice you. Are you a designer? Then have a serviceable business card. Pick an image that you feels best represents your work, and make sure all your contact info is on there. When it comes to info, I do believe that it’s possible to go over board. With Twitter, facebook, Tumblr, flickr, and all the other social networks, sometimes people tend to link all those (I do).

To me, and this is my personal opinion, having a long list of where people can find updates and info from you, seems kind of desperate. Sure people like to get their info from one source, which is why I have them all, and link them. But I tend to direct people to my website, from which they can then get the info to my other accounts/profiles.

But to each their own. Some people think providing all the information saves people the time of having to go to a website, and such. And, they are right. To each their own, really.

PDF
The great thing about PDFs, they cost nothing, and you can change them around as much as you want. If someone wants samples, you can email them specific images. You can burn the file to a disc and leave it with them for pennies. So yes, having a PDF ready to go is important.

RESUME
I’ve never been asked for a resume for freelance work. Only when I am applying for long term production art work where I will be working on site. I still have one ready and updated.

To me, a portfolio these days is actually a multi-piece of self promotion. It’s never just a site, or a book. Use whatever tool you can to get work. The more tools you have, the more you can do, the easier it will be to get things done.

I work bigger then I need to. It’s easier to reduce then to increase. Some clients want actual size, and that’s what I deliver, but I still may work larger, in case I need a larger version later on. I also save a low rez, an RGB version, and the original layered Photoshop file.

I have a folder called Freelance Information. Inside are all my folders and files to deal with freelance work. Paid and unpaid Invoices, samples, resumes, and more. (Legal information, contracts and documentation, I keep in the client folder in the illo-client folder, since that’s organized by client).

The other day, I had to reorder business cards. The site I order from had my past orders, and I could just re-order. But I wanted to change the back information on one style of card. I had originally ordered these cards 2 years ago. But because I keep things organized, I found the PDF I needed quickly in the right folder, uploaded it, and didn’t have to recreate the PDF.

Same with samples. I have layouts for when I am up for a temp job that wants to see examples of photoshop work, production art work, layout and such. Just as I have samples showing illustrations. They are all laid out in an InDesign file, that I can add to as I complete an illustration. It’s part of my work flow. So when I need to send out something, I can just PDF those pages I feel the client would respond to best.

Also, it means I’m not left scrambling to pull something together. And I’m also able to customize what I send, rather then just send the same thing. I’m certainly not going to send every illustration I’ve done for a boating magazine to someone looking for a childrens illustrator, no matter how whimsical the art for the boating magazine was. I’m going to send those that are more story focused in execution then editorial. There’s a difference in what you might come up with for the assignment for each.

Keep in mind, not every thing you do is portfolio worthy. Also, not everything you show needs to be something you did for pay. You really don’t have to say who the art was for, but certainly showing a mixture of self directed work, and work for pay says, I am always working to improve my art, talent and skill.

Being organized often takes a few extra minutes once you are set up. Most people stumble getting set up. Just keep it simple to start with. Two main folders. Clients and Freelance Info. In clients, you break it down by each client. How you organize within a clients folder, that’s up to you. Time will tell if you need to add or subtract from your organization.

Same for Freelance Info. Invoices paid, Invoices Unpaid (I actually suggest getting some invoicing software if you can), promotional materials such as business cards, postcards, adds in trade magazines or shows.

Have a blank invoice ready to go, so you can send it with your final art. You don’t have to be fancy. If you are not a graphic designer, don’t stress over your invoice design. After all, an Art Director hopefully isn’t going to spend time sitting and looking at it, they are going to pass it on to accounts payable! Here is what my invoice looks like.

The only design element I put in was a graphic from this site, to tie the two together, and that’s the image at the top. It’s a nice graphic, it’s representative of my work, and it works well in the space. It also allows me to then break the invoice down into logical sections. There’s the to and from section, with all my information (TIP: Always make sure you spell the persons name correctly. No one really likes seeing their name spelled wrong). There’s the invoice number and the date. As a side note, you can use any system you want for numbering your invoices. I’ve yet to work with a company that gives me an invoice number. Sometimes you might get a purchase number from the company. Just add it and your invoice number. It’s really simple. And the date. The date is very important when dealing with clients who are late to pay. No date makes it easier for them to slide on payment. It doesn’t get them off the hook, but with no official date, they can try and slide things a few weeks.

I also include an option to pay via Paypal, and I’ve had smaller clients take this option. You pay a fee to get your money, but it’s pennies on the dollar. Some clients are quick to pay this way if it’s an option. No check to cut, no stamps, click, click, done.And when you get paid, take a few seconds to update your records.

Being a little OCD bout these details will save you a lot of time and frustration later down the road.