Influencers, Collaborators and Ambassadors
Why championing the illustrator can add enormous value and creative capital to your commission. Whether it’s the client using their own social media channels and content to talk about the illustrator and their role within the project, or the illustrators using their own social media presence to talk about the commission, we’re seeing more and more clients getting real mileage out of an illustration commission, and this can only be a good thing for client and artist. This article is food for thought for both illustrators and clients, and we’ll look at how to get the most out of a working relationship.
Brand Ambassadors
We’ve worked on some lovely projects recently that have been all the better when the client gets in touch after it’s been signed off wanting to feature the illustrator on their blog or social media. Claire Melinsky created some illustrations for The Cowshed which became their limited edition Christmas packaging for 2018. The accompanying 'content' delved into Clare’s background, as well as discussing the working process that went into creating the packaging. The photographs of Clare in her busy studio really cemented the feeling of craftsmanship that was so important to this project. For a brand like The Cowshed, that’s what it’s all about.
There’s a curious thing, highlighted by the #artvsartist hashtag, that artists tend to embody the work they create, a bit like dogs and their owners! So if you’re a brand creating luxury, handcrafted, British skincare products and you commission an illustrator whose work reflects that ethos, there’s a good chance that the illustrator in question could be the perfect brand ambassador.
Another very distinctive trend that we’ve noticed is clients wanting to work with an illustrator with a certain provenance or ethnicity in order to connect with consumers. One example is Hennessy who created a campaign celebrating Chinese New Year, they specifically wanted to work with a well known Chinese artist and chose Shan Jiang to create the dramatic visuals.
Going one step further, Keihl’s commissioned Jonny Wan to create some illustrations, also to celebrate Chinese New Year. The project culminated in a huge pop up experiential event at Singapore Airport, and the brand even flew Jonny out there to launch the event, interact with customers and enjoy the fruits of his labours. The commission was presented as a Kiehl’s x Jonny Wan collaboration, and accelerated Jonny’s role from being a silent partner who created the imagery, to being a central part of the campaign himself. His Asian heritage (which is evident in his work) as well as being a young, cool creative clearly played a big role.
Although creatively these geographical restrictions can make it trickier to find the right person for the brief, as an agency it’s certainly making us look for new talent in more unusual places, and this will eventually bring about a more diverse industry. I’m particularly on the look out for African or South American illustrators who can bring to the table an essence of their own culture in a commercially minded way.
Influencers
While it’s still not very common, we’re occasionally seeing sponsored posts included as an added extra to a project, and while we would advise all illustrators to exercise caution in accepting these requests it doesn’t always have to amount to ‘selling out’ if the illustrator genuinely supports the brand, and it can be a nice little earner.
Many illustrators are reaching 50k followers, some even as much as 150k, and that’s a decent audience for a brand, and an audience who are likely to be highly engaged. People who follow particular illustrators are probably young, creative, switched on consumers. They’re probably savvy to marketing and if a creative person they admire is working with a brand as a ‘collaborator’ as opposed to just a tool for hire, these consumers are going to take note. It shows your brand is respectful and supportive of the little man, not just a faceless corporation.
An illustrator can expect to be paid at least few hundred pounds for a sponsored post, and in return the client would have some degree of control over the imagery and the message.
Clients should have a collaborative discussion with the illustrator over hashtags. Just because an illustrator has a large Instagram presence doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a digital marketing expert or have a detailed understanding of the message you want to convey. At the same time, the client needs to respect that an Instagram feed is a personal vehicle for expression, so make sure the illustrator is comfortable with the tone. If the tone sounds totally different to the rest of their copy, the whole exercise will look forced.
Don’t forget to include #ad or #sponsoredpost - we’ve all been following the Fyre Festival debacle and as social media marketing becomes more of a power player in the industry, it’s important to exercise best practice.
It’s definitely worth a mention to any illustrators reading this who don’t have that kind of heavyweight following, don’t be discouraged. Social media following is in no way a measurement for commercial (or creative) success, some of CIA’s busiest and best illustrators have absolutely zero online presence, and some artists with huge followings have struggled to turn that into paid commissions.
Collaborators and Authors
When the Kindle arrived on the scene, many people announced that it would kill the print industry, if anything it’s just made it better. Publishing for print has only become more beautiful to stand out from the digital functionality of a tablet. Illustration plays heavily into this, the illustrator’s role has become more important in elevating print media into something high end and collectable, therefore, why would you not put the illustrators name on the front cover? I have come across publishers who have fought against putting the illustrator’s name on the cover and I can’t understand why if the illustrator has contributed a cover design as well as internal illustrations.
Ruby Taylor has been illustrating a series of cocktail books for Harper Collins. Gin Made Me Do It, Whisky Made Me Do It, Prosecco Made Me Do It…. for each of these books the author has been different (probably due to each author having a speciality) but the illustrations remain the same. The ‘identity’ behind this series is firmly Ruby’s cheerful illustrations, and as a result these books are a staple in cool gifty, homeware stores as much as traditional bookshops.
In a world where we’re hankering for authenticity, what could be more authentic than the humble illustrator craftsperson? The individual and independent nature of an illustrator, as opposed to a team of designers or a faceless agency in house illustrator brings this to the project regardless of the thinking and strategy behind the work. So let’s bring them central to the message.