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Len Small is the Art Director for Nautilus magazine and graphic designer. These are the notes that I took from his workshop.

Part 1: Art Directors Have Problems

How to get work

referrals from peers and ADs that know you and your work

competition annuals

inter-webs

Illustration Age

American Illustration

awards/competitions

(e)mailers

don’t send links to google drives/dropbox

go ahead and attach small images to email

postcards

send emails or mailers every 2-3 months, it keeps you in the mind of ADs and to show your latest work

Part 2

The job

are you available? Be honest if you are to busy don’t take on more then you can chew

does the budget work? Be nice if the budget is not what you are expecting, ask if there is more available but don’t cause a fuss

do you understand the assignment? If not, ask questions, better to understand then to get it wrong

when is it due?

The work

a voice

         -speak outside the basics

        -draw a relationship to the subject

        -draw a parallel story

        -don’t draw a desk and computer for business piece

        -does the sketch give a clear concept without a statement to explain it?

the AD is part of a team, there are many opinions

deliver the final early, even if it’s a couple of hours early. It will be noted when you deliver early. Delivering at the end of a day makes it difficult for the AD to ask for changes or move it on through the process

keep your emails in a thread, it makes it easier for the AD to follow what has been passed between you

Good director goes bad

stories get pulled, it’s not your fault

but what if it is me?

        -ideas may not be working

        -suggest a phone call to the AD to discuss the problem

        -it’s ok to say “it’s not working”

        -believe the AD when they say they will contact you at another time

        -don’t stop contacting them

Part 3: The Good Stuff

Promos

postcards that kill

unique mailers

handwritten notes

State of industry

web publications

Nautilus along with other magazines have in-house illustrators

digital knowledge important

motion is getting more prevalent

Dos/Don’ts

don’t assume anything

don’t send work at the end of the day

don’t talk bad about the AD on social media

don’t use type unless you are a pro

don’t mail to a personal address

be courteous and reply back, regardless if you take the job or not

send your W9

Meeting with ADs

personal appointment, more inclined to hire after meeting face to face. Don’t forget to leave behind something

Anita Kunz one of the best illustrators spent some time explaining to us in a workshop how to go about generating ideas. Below are a few things I jotted down from it.

New Yorker magazine work

magazine accepts submitted ideas

        -NYC specific ideas

        -cultural ideas

        -timely events

turn around can be within 24 hours

AD does not work with just local illustrators but internationally as well

use humor to get across difficult subjects

come up with ideas quickly and get them to the magazine, someone else might beat you to it

send your comps, you’ll never know if it’s a hit

sometimes they hold onto the idea and contact you when they want to create it

think more laterally

start with a single noun, then break that down into more nouns and so forth

Guiseppe has a fantastic blog and he has already addressed this topic, but he brought up a few extras in the workshop that I’ve posted. Doesn’t hurt to review these again, even if you’ve read his blog. One thing he did mention, is how often even the “seasoned” illustrators make these mistakes.

10. Wrong file type is a JPG

Right format and type

layered PSD, TIF, EPS

300-350 DPI (color)

1200 DPI (BW)

9. Wrong color space RGB

Right format is CMYK

8. Thinking inside the crayon box (big pet peeve)

color is a character

trees are not just green, so why use the green crayon

don’t dumb down kids books, kids are smart and deserve a sophisticated color palette, make thoughtful color choices

color is like music, loud & quiet

don’t use the same chroma throughout the piece, vary it

7. POV

make it interesting

6. Cropping

watch where you crop

don’t crop at joints

5. Composition

watch the horizon line, it’s boring on the 1/3

look at Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are for good use of composition

4. It’s not all about you

projects get cancelled, editors change their minds, don’t take it personally

3. Specs

follow what the AD gives you

ask questions if you don’t understand or need clarification

2. Consistency

style in a series is important

characters need to follow through. If the kid has 3 stripes on his shirt to start with, he’d better have 3 stripes throughout the series

1. Surprises

Don’t renege on a contract 1 week before the project is due. Give as much notice as possible if it looks like the deadline cannot be met

Don’t complain about clients on social media, they read it too

Bonus Mistakes

1. Worrying about “style”

style is your interpretation of the world, not what brush you use or how you style eyes

PS brushes are doing the heavy work, don’t let the brush lead the way

2. Not focusing on what really matters

your art

how well you do that thing you do (using your brain and heart)

I had the privilege to attend ICON 9 this year in Austin TX. I made some notes from some of the workshops and lectures I attended. Lots of gems to share with you all.

Courtesy of DonTate.com

The first is from Don Tate’s workshop on getting into the children’s book market.

Start with educational publishers 

gives you experience in serial character development

is usually work for hire

Don started in Scholastic education imprint and from working with them was able to get a foot in the door with Scholastic publication

Find your niche

Attend conferences where AD’s and editors will be in attendance so that you can have contact with them

Do your research on the different imprints in publishing, find the ones that are of interest to you and fit your work

Don advises finding an agent, they know people in the industry and can help get you started

Agents suggest keeping a few different “styles”, it provides some flexibility in opportunities for work

Join SCBWI

http://www.underdown.org/, and http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ have information that is helpful for starting children’s book illustration

smaller publishers have better marketing budgets and put more effort in promoting books then the larger publishers

Process for illustrating a book

begin with the story, either a manuscript given or written

read the story

sign the contract (5% royalty for illustrator/5% royalty for author)

thumbnails/storyboard

Research!!! Make sure you do it

comps

dummy book

helps you see how page turns look

where the placement of text works best

make sure the composition encourages the reader to turn the page

revisions