McSherry’s been on the Sherry!
Only kidding, recently Kevin McSherry was was invited to give a talk about his work to illustration and animation students at Ballyfermot College. He has put a post up on his blog outlining his presentation and he doesn’t hold back on his views of the current working environment for illustrators and is full of advice for the next generation. A must read…
Never work for free. If there’s no financial gain, then negotiate some other reward, whether it’s some advertising, PR or other contra-deal that suits you. There’s often something that could be of value but it has to be negotiated from a position of your daily rate. People don’t respect work that’s given for free and many have a tendency to abuse artists who fall for this sort of bolloxology. If some bullying twit [who happens to be paid regularly by the way] suggests that being published in their magazine/newspaper/advert will be a ‘great shop window for you’ or ‘a great portfolio piece’, or an ‘in’, ask them to quantify the greatness exactly in terms of cash. If there’s no benefit at all; walk away.
For the full post go here.
March 3rd, 2010 10:14
Super Kevo. The students must have loved that. So did I.
March 3rd, 2010 11:19
Sadly there will always be people who will do the work for free and there will always be unscrupulous editors and art directors who will take advantage of this.
The Internet has compounded the problem making every fan boy and photoshop doodler with a facebook or myspace page a competitor. Another factor is the dumbing down of the traditional role of the specialist Art director. Sadly most magazines, Newspapers and advertising firms put the hiring of talent into the hands of some junior graphic designer who’s told to
find the cheapest way to get the job done.
I’ve never worked for free but I have worked for fees way below what the job was worth.In my experiences promises of proper pay or further work in the future NEVER materialise. I hope those Ballyfermot students listen to Kevin..diversification is the ONLY hope of making a living.
March 3rd, 2010 12:11
Well put, Kevin. I covered some of those points on my visit to Ballyfermot and I think its very important for students to be given an honest assessment of the marketplace. While traditional markets are changing, there are many emerging opportunities out there. Confidence and professionalism are always a requirement for illustrators (and their clients) to benefit fully from their skills.