Does a Fashion Illustrator HAVE to be freelance?

16 Feb

Whenever you tell someone you’re an artist / illustrator an image of a tortured soul sleeping on a mattress on the floor surrounded by unsold paintings waiting for their next sale springs to mind, for some...

BUT being fashion illustrators we’ve spent the money for a bed frame on an Hermès Pyjama set hunny.

There’s always been this idea of someone struggling that’s synonymous with the pursuit of a creative career, and as most creatives are freelance, that term gets tarred with the same brush. People think it’s an endless struggle and you’re just doing it whilst waiting for a proper job to come around.

Not the case! So let’s dive into it…

So, what exactly is freelancing?

Freelancing basically means you’re hired for a specific job or time frame, this can be charged at a project rate or a day rate depending on what you’re hired to do.

You’re not a contracted employee of the company, so the company is your client, not your boss.

So why are people freelance?

The thing about the creative industry is that a majority of jobs are freelance by nature, just because most companies didn’t need people with that specific job set for the entire year.

It’s changing a bit now due to social media and the sheer amount of content companies need, but most business’s only need to create imagery every few months, so instead of having a photographer, videographer, models, make up artist and everyone else sitting around for 6 months between campaign shoots, it’s cost effective to hire people specifically for the shoot, pay them for that time then part ways.

The same way you’d get an electrician in if you needed something doing, rather than employing one to sit in the cupboard all year round until a light goes out.

Freelancing isn’t for everyone because you have to not only DO the work, but FIND it. So you’re constantly split between business and creative, and it’s not always easy to flip between the two.

Whereas an employee goes into work and has jobs ready for them, they don’t have to find the client first then illustrate a dress for them, they can just focus on illustrating the dress and know they’re doing all this to get a set amount of money at the end of that month.

So freelancing has always been considered a rocky career path, as there’s not guaranteed income, you don’t get paid holiday or sick leave, no pension, got to find your own work, chase up payments… so it’s easy to see why that doesn’t entice people!

So as a Fashion Illustrator, are there other options?

Can you be Full-Time Employed as a Fashion Illustrator?

You’ll be happy to know that Fashion illustrators don’t have to be freelance, there are other options, as most bigger fashion brands do have one or two roles within the company with the job title fashion illustrator.

So usually you’re employed to translate the designers ideas into a fully formed illustrated vision which can be used to aid in communicating for garment creation or used to send to clients for visualising.

These jobs are few and far between just due to their nature, every brand doesn’t need 30 illustrators.

But they do mean you have a consistent income and steady job whilst also exploring your love of creating fashion illustrations, so if you’re wanting to earn money from drawing, it’s a golden opportunity!

However there can be stipulations that come with the role, the brand owning copyright to all the work you create, not being able to choose what you want to illustrate, and there can even be contractual agreements for you to not illustrate any other brands publicly, or even all the work being under NDA’s, the Non disclosure agreement meaning you can’t share any of the work you’ve created.

So there’s always the fear of losing your ‘identity’ as an artist when taking a roles like this, however if you’re someone that likes to work as part of a team and enjoys working towards something then it’s probably much more ideal than the solitary life of a freelance illustrator.

You don’t see all the pattern cutters, seamstresses, print designers etc wanting to keep their individual identities within their work, the same way any employee is in a company, you’re all working towards something collaboratively and that end result gets branded as the companies work.

It’s an amazing option for people wanting to earn a guaranteed wage and draw all day, but it’s not for everyone, so is there other options?

Other ways to be employed as an artist

There are employees options around for people with a the skill set of an illustrator, I know Louis Vuitton employed people to customise and paint on their trunks and accessories, and creative agencies usually like having an artworker in house in case they need quick turn arounds on creative.

Or from a broader view of being able to draw, you can get employed as a storyboard artist for adverts/movies or even an in-house illustrator for media companies.

Creatives like having these contracted roles because nothing can dry up the pool of creativity like having to stress about where your rent moneys gonna come from.

So you can work a 9-5 whilst creativity doing something you love, then focus on your own work outside of that, so it’s definitely the perfect route for some!

Are there other options?

The good thing about a creative skill set and job is there isn’t a set route, It’s different for absolutely everybody.

You can do a full time job to earn money and just do art on the side.

You can do a part time job so your rents covered, then do art for the rest of your time and any money you earn is disposable.

You can freelance full time but split it between something more consistent such as marketing or consulting and freelance for art.

It’s not one size fits all and no one should ever feel any shame for not being full time solely doing their art, because we’re all different!

Going full time as an artist can be less about how good your art is and much more about how good a marketer/business person you are, you can be the worlds best artist but not get any work come in, or you can be the worlds worst artist and market that and get work coming in.

So with all those negatives and all the other options, why did you choose freelancing?

I’ve always wanted to be freelance because I like being my own boss, I like having autonomy over the work I’m doing and control over what direction my career can go.

When I was an employee I got frustrated having my income amount tied to someone else’s budgets and decision, so instead of my income being based on one persons budgets and decisions …it’s now based on hundreds of people, work that one out☠️

Whilst everything I said in the intro is true about freelancing, no guaranteed income, no paid holiday, no sick leave, no pension, got to find your own work, chasing up payments…

It’s the freedom of freelancing that’s always enticed me, in most jobs you can work your ass off and get paid that month the same as when you sat around on YouTube all day. But with freelancing there’s a more direct connection between the effort you put in and the rewards you reap.

I’ve always liked being able to control when I put my foot on the gas and take it off, the freedom it allows you to explore, if you want to venture into other creative disciplines, launch a product, expand your offering, try something different, the decisions yours, not anybody else’s!

I also enjoy the business side of things, numbers, getting work in, marketing, I always felt in other jobs I had to ‘wind my neck in a bit’ because why does the creative one keep asking about Q3 outgoings and incomes for, so freelancing for me allows me to dabble in both my passions, art and business!

Don’t get me wrong, it can be frustrating.

Chasing someone for a payment that’s 3 months late or scary when you have no work lined up and there is that joke ‘instead of working 9-5 I now work 24/7’ but I’ve learnt that it works for me!

So to sum up,

There are options for fashion illustrators to be contracted employees, there’s options for people to be contracted employees that still use a creative skill set, there’s options for people to freelance on the side, freelance half and half or even go full time arty.

Basically it’s a Goldilocks situation, in my own career I did full time employee, found that too stifling and time consuming, then did freelance half for art direction and half for illustration and I felt I couldn’t focus 100% so my ‘juuuust right’ seems to be full time freelance illustrator.

But I’ve only learnt that from tasting the other porridges and laying in some uncomfy beds …that sounds suggestive, not what I’m meaning, but a jobs a job!

I wanted to write this so people have more of an understanding of what’s out there to get, as we’re taught an all or nothing mentality, ‘I’m gonna quit my job and make it as a starrrr!’

Or ‘I’m gonna work a 9-5 and be creatively repressed and hate it…’

The worlds not so black and white, so go find your shade of grey…

Alright, enough with the innuendos