AOI Business Masterclass

This week I had a Business Masterclass from the AOI (Association of Illustrators). It was hosted by Charli Vince, a full-time illustrator, lecturer and author. Vince graduated in 2014 from Norwich University of the Arts and went on to join the AOI and illustrate freelance. She talked about the business side of illustration, from understanding contracts to negotiation and finding clients, giving a better insight into the side of illustration that is harder to figure out! Although not as exciting as illustration, it's important to think about how your work can have commercial value. This is something I've been working on more this year, thinking about the purpose of my illustrations and the direction I want to go in; how they can be applied to merchandise, editorial publications or children's book.

The AOI is a professional body for illustrators in the UK. It is a membership-based union focused on campaigning and promoting creatives of all ages, from students to represented artists. Since 1973, the organisation has acted as a voice for illustrators and is available to help all members with contracts or any problems they may have. It can be hard thinking about pursuing a career as a freelance illustrator so it is good to know companies like this exist, with people you can contact at any time under the AOI membership scheme. 

During the presentation, I took notes on different categories like Licencing, managing finances and balancing work with mental wellbeing, all very helpful topics and things I wanted to learn more about. Below are the notes organised into sections.

Copyright

• Copyright is 'The exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material'.
• Illustrators make money by lending out copyright, it's important that the actual artwork still belongs to you so it's your right to reproduce and you can decide how the artwork is used. If this copyright is no longer yours, you don't have a say on what purpose it has, so it could be manipulated and applied to billboards/flyers/branding.
• Copyright lasts your lifetime plus 70 years, so the second you make something, it's yours for this amount of time.
• Even if someone buys an original piece of artwork, the copyright still belongs to you.
• Red flags- copyright assignment, moral rights waiver, irrevocable licence. Some of these lead to earning less money as you don't have as much control, they can remake artwork without your permission.

Licence

• Three main parts to a licence, all things that should be agreed upon by the client and illustrator. Licences are used to figure out how much to charge someone.
• What uses? Could be for a billboard, mural, illustrated book, editorial piece etc.
• Where? What is the territory, is it being used worldwide or UK based? If it is just for UK usage it will be cheaper, worldwide you can charge more.
• How long? Single-use/period of copyright.
• Need to consider the size of the client in relation to how much you charge. This could alter depending on how niche the design area is, if it's specialised you could charge more as there are fewer people with the required skills.
• Use the pricing calculator on the AOI website. (The AOI - Pricing Calculator, 2022)

Specialisms

• Editorial- These could be journals, publications or websites- print or digital, its good to how knowledge of both as a lot of printed publications like Little White Lies or The New York Times have websites with similar illustrations and stories.
• Publishing- These could be book or magazine covers, stories, fiction or non-fiction books. Since these are usually bigger jobs, you may only need a few projects per year. They have higher budgets with an advance fee and royalties on book sales. The royalties are usually 5% to 8% but would be more if you are the illustrator and author. 
• Advertising- These are usually a much bigger budgets companies put aside a budget for advertising and marketing. The only con is illustrators are usually hired through agencies, so there's less chance of getting them without an agent. They are used in many formats, on billboards/buildings/train stations/stadiums. Less duration- could only be up for a couple of weeks/months.
• Corporate- Visual assets for a company/business. Usually used for the branding and marketing brochures but could be for internal reports or used as visual aids for presentations. They help incentivise clients/workers as it breaks up the text into visuals- more digestible content.
• Product and Packaging- Good for getting your work in front of a larger audience, work on display in supermarkets being seen by people of all ages. Needs to be impactive so people are drawn to the product, making people buy it.

Amber Vittoria, an example of editorial illustration used for brands such as Adidas (left), and Chilly's (right). This shows how illustration can cover different specialisms and artists get revenue from various projects.

Finance-

• Lots of research is involved in making an online shop, developing a brand and style that appeals to an audience while staying true to the art your want to be making.
• Need to register as self-employed or sole-trader. Keep track of sales and commissions in case they are needed in the future.
• Keep receipts of any materials, technology like printers and computers, internet.
• Business bank account, good to have separate ones to keep track of personal and professional finances.

Wellbeing

• Setting work hours, separate workspace like a studio or room to set boundaries, define home from workspaces.
• Plan calendar, making lists to keep on top of tasks so you don't feel under too much pressure with shorter timeframes.
• Make time to meet other illustrators, either in person or online. Good to get some distance from your work and assess things from different perspectives.

Website and Social Media

• Your website should have a landing page that collates your best work, publishers and potential clients don't spend long on your website so it needs to be impactive.
• Similar usernames across all platforms, look at how your website performs on different devices- while it looks best on a computer, lots of people will be viewing on phones.
• Instagram- Business account shows insights like viewers, age demographics, times of the day, locations.
• LinkedIn- A good tool when you are self-employed, changing to be more creative, good to find art directors and lists of employers.
• Twitter- Less visual-based, more conversational and better for networking. Hashtag usage for artists- #portfoliodays
• Pinterest- Great source of inspiration and research, agencies have started using it more to define their design aesthetic, companies like Jelly London (Pinterest: Jelly London, 2022).
• Behance- Able to add more detail as it's set into projects, you can include sketches, storyboards, behind the scenes process pictures.
• Artist Directories- AOI Folios, actively working for you as they're being viewed by industry professionals and clients. An addition you have to pay for on top of the membership.

Jelly London Pinterest page

Contract

• If they have been signed and cancelled you own 25% of the final outcome/fee as it's not your fault.
• Delivered roughs, including delivery, deadline of work and warranty.
• Contracts should be in writing, even if it's for a friend or someone you know, needs to be sorted before starting.
• Contracts are 100% in their favour, you're offering a valuable service that benefits the company or employer, negotiate to suit what you want, it needs to by 50-50.
• Artwork timeline- roughs of 3 concepts, 2 or 3 amends on roughs.

Charli also talked about the AOI Student membership which is significantly reduced in price for students with the same benefits as the full membership. Each month you get an issue of Varoom, one of the only illustration-led magazines, be part of a community of illustrators and all the support via the AOI team. This is something I plan to join when I graduate or am doing the MA as I think it'll be good for when I'm working as a freelance illustrator. At the moment I have so many projects to work on that I don't think it would be utilised to its full potential. The AOI Folios is something that interests me as it would be a great platform to show your work, with the AOI being one of the biggest illustration companies acknowledged worldwide.

To conclude, I really enjoyed this talk. I'd watched it on Level 5 but it is more important now as I am closer to graduating and starting a career in the creative industry. The talk highlighted the importance of building connections and a social media presence as its the main way to connect with other creatives and potential clients. The prospect of going out into the world as a freelancer and not having a clear career path is quite overwhelming, as stated by Adam Niklewicz in a Creative Boom article, 'You have to develop a substantial tolerance for uncertainty' (May, 2020), showing that even when you've worked on books or editorial illustrations, there is always the possibility that your work might not get approved or be what the client is looking for. Yet the chances are, that the experience will lead you to something else or help you develop as a creative.

Targets:

• Make the portfolio page the first page on my website for maximum impact so clients can easily see your best work.
• Work on promo packs and creating continuity through my social media platforms.
• Work on adding to Behance and Twitter, could look at adding projects like the mural and exhibition to my LinkedIn page.
• Take advantage of the links and documents handed out like the client tracker- write up my contacts like Chapel Arts and art galleries around the North East, The Old School Gallery and Hexham gallery. Could be used for contact details of people I want to work with in future.

References:

The AOI. 2022. The AOI - Pricing Calculator. [online] Available at: <https://theaoi.com/resources/pricing/pricing-calculator/> [Accessed 6 March 2022].

The AOI. 2022. The AOI - How to Calculate a Fee. [online] Available at: <https://theaoi.com/resources/pricing/how-to-calculate-a-fee/> [Accessed 6 March 2022].

Pinterest. 2022. Pinterest: Jelly London. [online] Available at: <https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jellyldn/_saved/> [Accessed 7 March 2022].

Amber Vittoria. 2022. Chilly's x Amber Vittoria. [online] Available at: <https://www.ambervittoria.com/?pgid=jhhg2srl-133a04f1-fbeb-4f94-ba8c-6246e9e72738> [Accessed 13 March 2022].

Vittoria, A., 2022. Amber Vitoria Portfolio. [online] Amber Vittoria. Available at: <https://www.ambervittoria.com/> [Accessed 13 March 2022].

Palmer, A., 2022. Amelia Palmer - Portfolio. [online] Amelia Palmer. Available at: <https://ameliapalmer.co.uk/> [Accessed 13 March 2022].

Fox, M., 2019. 5 Tips For Building A Successful Business As A Creative. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/meimeifox/2019/04/01/5-tips-for-building-a-successful-business-as-a-creative/?sh=787adf8b1b0f> [Accessed 7 March 2022].

May, T., 2020. Insider tips on how to make it as a professional illustrator. [online] Creative Boom. Available at: <https://www.creativeboom.com/tips/insider-tips-on-how-to-make-it-as-a-professional-illustrator/> [Accessed 10 March 2022].