Illustration Jobs
Getting illustration Jobs is key to your success. This week’s question I received from Lola, California, US. Lola writes:
Hi Daria, I just graduated from an illustration program and got my bachelor in major illustration. I know that there are many illustration jobs out there but could you describe different illustration niches? What kind of illustrations jobs are out there?
This is a great question. Let me tell you more about illustration jobs that are available in the market. Illustration is a very diverse career and being an illustrator is really fun because you can do all kinds of illustration jobs as long as your schedule permits. So lets dive in and talk about different illustration jobs.
Watch this video about illustration jobs on youtube and subscribe to my youtube channel!
In fact, being an illustrator is exciting because you have flexibility in your schedule. Mainly, illustrators work freelance as magazines and ad agencies don’t usually hire full time illustrators to work on site. Each project is unique for them so they try to pick the best illustrator suiting that need. It is in fact very important for you to know who is your ideal client is and this will be your first milestone in getting lots of illustration jobs.
Here are different illustration jobs sections that can be useful for you to look at:
Fashion illustration (for magazines, ads, perfumes, etc)
There are so many illustration jobs required by fashion clients. These jobs are mainly done for magazines as almost every fashion magazine uses illustrations monthly. You can also get illustration jobs by working with ad agencies as depending on what client they represent and work with, they might have a special need for a fashion illustrator. Based on my experience, they usually ask to create fashionable illustrations for beauty products and perfume. If you like fashion illustration, then you can get lots of illustration jobs by collaborating with fashion magazines and ad agencies. Start by making a list of agencies where you would like to work.
Editorial illustration (mainly for books, including children section)
Editorial illustration includes a lot of illustration jobs for book publishers. They are always seeing for illustrators to illustrate books. Being an editorial illustrator is also rewarding as when you get illustration jobs from book publishers, it’s usually big jobs requiring you to create about 20 illustrations. You can imagine how big your check will be when you complete the project! So I encourage you to look at this in more details and create an editorial portfolio.
Licensing (for products)
Licensing is exciting because it gives you the ability to see your illustration work on products. It’s always fantastic to go to a bookstore and see stationery items with your illustration on them! You also get paid for each item sold, the percentage varies according to the contract but it’s always great to get extra money every time someone buys your item. You can get all sorts of illustration jobs in the licensing area because clients are always looking for fresh designs.
Lettering (more graphic design-ish)
Lettering is very important because it gives the ability to really remove the boundaries and draw letters as you see and feel them in your heart. A lot of ad agencies, magazines and book publishers love giving illustrators these kind of projects as letters are always on demand. This is a specific type of illustration and if you decide to go in that area, I suggest you to spend time learning high quality typography and your illustration jobs will increase.
Don’t forget that it’s in fact very important to know what kind of illustration jobs you would like to get. Based on your decision, it will be much easier to do the promo and your portfolio. First decide what kind of illustration jobs you dream about, who are your ideal clients?
See my illustration portfolio.