Illustration agencies are a trap, they ask a lot for doing very little, what do you guys think?
Replies7
- go cold call i guess
- @Jhonny Núñez Thank you for sharing!
- agree, % is really too high sometimes.. but sadly some clients are impossible to approach without an agent :( I've been sending emails to creative directors for years.. 5% opened the email...1% replied ...
- @Helen Panayi If as an illustrator you think you need to depend on an agency, it is simply because you have not learned about the most important thing in your career: how to do business in the creative industry.I have recently worked with Adobe for the illustrator on the ipad campaign, in the Adobe MAX this year and I did not get that job through any agency, the contact was direct, in fact in Adobe they told me that they try not to contract an agency of illustration to work with independent artists, according to them that is an unnecessarily complicated process to have to talk to an artist through an intermediary.These are the main problems of being represented by an agency:-You never know how much money the client is willing to pay for your work, the agency gives you a number and you have to accept it, negotiation is usually avoided since the agency wants to hook the client on the first try, there will always be an answer like: " We have already asked, this is the maximum that the client offers "-You will never be able to make contacts since the agency omits you from the negotiations.-You lose experience and practice to negotiate since the agency does that for you.-You lose money but you do not win clients, when the management or you get tired, you leave but the client stays in the agency since you never had direct contact.-You keep losing money, you lose 30% of your income with the agency plus the taxes you have to pay to the government. Is that a smart business?-The agency is not constant, one month they can send you three projects and the next months none.-The agency does not work for you as the representatives of artists are supposed to do, you work for them and if you don't believe me, write to your agent any day and tell them that you want to get a project with Apple, or Nike or Google, the answer will always be a big No.-You depend on people you do not know, the agency usually contacts those it wants to represent by emial, in the event of any irregularity you can start writing infinite emails, they only have to block your email and fixed subject.In conclusion, the agency is only good for novice illustrators in their first year of work, if after a year you continue to pay 30% of your earnings then you will never get out of that toxic relationship with the agency and you will be afraid of flying with your own Alas, in the end you will only cover yourself in a statistic and not in a professional artist
- Hey Jhonny. I don't have an agent, but I'm looking for one at the minute. I'm interested to hear what people think.To me, early in my career, it seems worthwhile to have an agent. A lot of the publishers I would like to work with seem to find their illustrators almost entirely through agent contacts, I think it would get me access to jobs I wouldn't be considered for otherwise. I also think they help out when it comes to negotiating contracts. I dealt with my first publishing contract recently and it's hard to know whether or not you're getting a good deal.It does feel a bit chicken and egg, it's hard to get an agent early on when they would potentially be the most beneficial, but once you're more established and they are interested in you, they might not be as necessary.I think if you don't want an agent, and you're doing fine without one, keep doing what your doing!
- @ɐɹoᗡ ɐuu∀ ˥ You are not saying anything new, everyone knows how it works, what I mean is the agency will always send you the job they find, not the one you ask for and they charge you 30% for sending you 2 or 4 emails.PS: Since you worked at VICE why there is not projects of that in your portfolio?
- Hi Jhonny,Most of agents charge comission when they get you a gig. You should not pay anything till they dont' get you job. Just as in any profession there are good and bad ones. Hope it helps.feel free to check out my work on https://www.instagram.com/annadoralascsik/
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