Do you think artist should have a specific style to build a solid identity or have a few fairly different styles? Or it doesn't matter?
This is a complicated question, so let me try to break it down. Yes, you can be successful with different styles BUT there are caveats:
—If you are not an established artist yet, it is easier to get work if you have a consistent, repeatable look. What has more power: a wide-beam flashlight or a concentrated laser beam?
—If you have multiple styles it takes you longer to get to the same level of mastery in each one, and the one that is weaker may erode people’s confidence in all of your styles, even the stronger ones.
—If you have multiple styles they need to be clearly separated in your portfolio, so that ADs and clients know you know the difference, and they feel confident that you will produce the style they want on their job, not which one you want and they didn’t expect.
So, our recommendation is, if you are starting out, to develop one style, start getting work in that style, then start to grow from there. Once you have a relationship with a few ADs you can show them examples of your new style, and you can have a discussion together if a particular job can be experimented with.
Check out Scott Fischer’s great article on Muddy Colors about this very topic.
—Agent KillFee
