Going Freelance- Client Research

Coming into the final year of my degree, I wanted to look at some of the companies I like to work with in closer detail. While I'm still unsure of defining a specialism, I'd love to work within children's publishing and link with galleries around the UK where I can sell or exhibit my print work. Both areas are quite different but I'd like to be able to work in different areas, possibly looking at how I can target my prints to magazines such as Little White Lies. This post looks at 5 companies that interest me, learning more about their representation, aesthetic, target audience, submission processes and how to contact them. Since doing the AOI Business Masterclass and engaging with more external competitions and galleries, I've been trying to keep track of potential clients as this will benefit me moving on from the degree.

Collins Learning- An Imprint of Harper Collins

Recognised as 'the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world' (Worldwide Company Profile, n.d.), alongside Penguin Random House and Macmillan. It has headquarters in New York City, from which it produces non-fiction and fiction books for all ages. I'm interested in pursuing children's book illustration so would be targetting the children's category, possibly looking to illustrate and write stories aimed at the 6-8 age demographic. Founded in 1817, the company has grown to publish around 10,000 books annually in 16 languages (Worldwide Company Profile, n.d.), with many authors awarded prizes like the Nobel Prize and the National Book Prize. Harper Collins has always been one of my favourite book publishers, with one of my favourite illustrators Oliver Jeffers producing multiple books with them. In the future, I'd love to look at getting a book published with them as they are such a renowned company worldwide.

'At HarperCollins, authors and their work are at the centre of everything we do. We are proud to provide our authors with unprecedented editorial excellence, marketing reach, long-standing connections with booksellers, and industry-leading insight into reader and consumer behaviour.' (Harper Collins Publishers, n.d.)

In terms of Brand identity, Harper Collins is identified for its iconic fire and water symbol, used to represent the brand's resilient position in the publishing industry. With multiple imprints such as Collins, Harper North, Argo and 4th Estate, each one aims to appeal to readers of different ages and interests. For example, Collins make dictionaries and educational books that aim to produce 'accessible and informative content in print and digital formats (Collins - HarperCollins Publishers - HCUK Corporate, 2022). They're also good at marketing and have many links with brands like Google, Samsung and EasyJet, with designs on the side of planes and books in the passenger seats. This is a clever idea to reach a wider audience, especially with the smaller versions of children's books in McDonald's meals.

Ways that Harper Collins represent themselves through products, branding, marketing campaigns

While there are many sections, I focused on Children's books. I've always loved the focus on traditionally produced books like Oliver Jeffers, Roger Hargreaves and Nick Butterworth's books. The imagery is beautifully produced and the stories all have strong morals, relating to family values, friendship, love and teamwork. Below I found some contacts for the operations manager and head of product development. In terms of marketing, It will be done internally as they are open to marketing partnerships on their website with businesses in many sectors such as travel and entertainment; this shows they are actively searching for new partnerships and building upon the company.

Contact Details:

Westerhill Road

Bishopbriggs

Glasgow, G64 2QT

Telephone- 0141 306 3285

Emails- Sarah.woods@harpercollins.co.uk, Letitia.luff@harpercollins.co.uk

Contacts- Sarah Woods, Operations Manager. Letitia Luff, Head of Product Development.

Illustrators and authors with multiple books published, from left to right: Nick Butterworth, Roger Hargreaves, Oliver Jeffers

Little White Lies

Founded in 2005, Little White Lies distributes bi-monthly magazines worldwide, each with a cover design inspired by a feature film. It has grown to be recognised internationally with each issue being a showcase of art, pop culture, music and film inspiring a new generation of creatives to delve into the world of cinematography. I've always liked how the illustrations are predominantly hand-rendered, with an emphasis on typography and iconography relating to the featured film. It's very different compared to other magazines such as Juxtapoz, with creative compositions and distinctive use of graphic design, making it unlike anything else in today's market. 

On the website, I found a submissions page (Submissions - Little White Lies, n.d.) which had some interesting information about how to get in contact for either articles, reviews or illustrations. As an independent company, they are driven by creativity and originality, commissioning different people for each project so each publication combines many talents and illustrative styles. While there were contacts for the magazine's editors, I was interested in the 'How do I pitch an Illustration?' section, with contact details for Laurene Boglio, the artistic director at Little White Lies. In their contact details, it notes that you can send them a portfolio and short summary to be considered for the magazine. I think this would be a really fun one to work with as there is less creative direction and you can submit whatever you want, possibly looking at new themes coming out and considering which ones may be featured. I have a few issues such as Call Me by Your Name (Call Me by Your Name - Little White Lies, 2017) which has artwork by Luis Mazon. Each issue has a completely different aesthetic depending on the artist, so this one was heavily pastel illustrations with a Monet approach to colour in the mark-making. I loved this style and it's similar to how I like to use traditional materials which is promising if I wanted to produce illustrations for a future issue. I like how open to different styles they are, showing they love working with and promoting artists worldwide. 

Contact Details:

Laurene Boglio

Email: Laurene@tcolondon.com

Notes: Wide variety of illustrations commissioned, each magazine having a different theme and favouring a suitable style. Always happy to work with fresh, upcoming talent. 

Previous issues for Call Me by your Name (2017) and Dunkirk (2017)

My copy of the Call Me by your Name issue, showing how the illustrations correlate with the text, playful compositions contrast other film magazines

Anthropologie

Anthropologie is a company based in the United States with 216 (September 2015) locations worldwide. It specialises in clothing but is widely recognised for its beautiful furniture, homeware and stationery. While it's not a design company, I've always loved the artist collaborations they do and could see my illustrations fitting into their aesthetic. It was hard to find a contact and how you work as a designer for them but I found an interview with Genevieve Ott, an Assistant Designer at Anthropologie (What It's Like to Be a Designer at Anthropologie, 2019) who revealed some interesting insights into the creative side:

'I work for the home department, on a special team called Artist Collaborations. A big part of the Anthropologie experience is finding gorgeous, special pieces and curating our collection. Our team partners with external artists in order to develop special home products. I then take their artwork and manipulate it in order to develop it into a product. This may look like recolouring artwork or re-engineering a layout, and then I apply it to the product and work with Production to have it made.'

(Genevieve Ott, 2019)

Ott went on to talk about the importance of creating your portfolio and experimenting with different creative projects to get a feel for different things and working in a team. This will allow you to build upon your skill set and figure out what you want to be doing.

In addition, I found an interview with Byron Lars, a designer who collaborated with Anthropologie to create a colourful and distinctive clothing line. In an interview (Designer Q&A: Byron Lars for Anthropologie, 2020) he said he was, 'Thrilled to learn that they were working on a really designer focused area – “Made in Kind” – which is a meticulously curated offering of rotating featured designers, created to give their customer a true sense of each designer’s work.' I love how Anthropologie champions new creatives and designers, bringing new collections regularly to engage with different audiences. While Lars focused on Anthropologie's clothing range, I'm interested in the seasonal homeware and stationery ranges. Each Christmas and various other festive periods, they bring out collections with a select artist- last year it was 'Quill and Fox' and 'George & Viv', who both worked on the Christmas ranges to design mugs, plates, tumblers and assorted Christmas homeware, all of which were so beautiful! I've always loved the style as I work similarly in terms of character design, typography and sketchy illustrations. 

Quill and Fox creative process

Quill and Fox Christmas collection, 2021

George and Viv Christmas collection, 2021

As a global business with a beautifully recognised aesthetic reaching many audiences, I'd love to work with them in the future. Going forward, I want to work on applying my illustrations to products and thinking about how they can be used by the consumer/ looking at age demographics.

Flying Eye Publishing

Flying Eye is the children's imprint of the publishing company Nobrow. It was founded in 2013 with a 'Focus on the craft of children’s storytelling and non-fiction' (Nobrow Press - About Flying Eye Books, 2022). I've collected many children's books over the year and there is an increasing amount of ones published by Flying Eye. I love their brand's identity, all of the books are colourful and full of life, each with imaginative narratives. From the outside, it's clear that creatives' talents are nurtured and respected with a section on the website promoting the creatives alongside their books. 

One such artist is William Grill, whose books are distinctively minimalistic, showing his adoration for traditional illustrations. I love working traditionally over digital so it's good to know that published artists work in a similar way. As they specialise in children's books, they target many age ranges depending on the complexity of the books. These are 0-3, 3-5, 5-7-11 and 12-14. I'd be looking at the younger age ranges with less writing and more emphasis on the illustrations. William's newest book entitled 'Bandoola' (Grill, 2021) shows how diverse the designs they publish are, the book is aimed at 7-11 and follows a more factual and emotional narrative with a group of elephants rescuing people during a world war.

Flying Eye Books website, showing the variety of subjects and styles

Published by Flying Eye Books, 'Bandoola', William Grill, 2021

In terms of submissions, they accept them via email but put emphasis on the fact they are a publisher, not an illustration agency, meaning you have to have a clear idea of what you are submitting. On their submissions page, they say you can include a manuscript but it has to be clear and concise, taking into consideration what they have previously published and whether your book will be a good fit for their brand. Other than that it seems pretty open! I'd love to publish a book with Flying Eye, I love their ethos in creating diverse and creative children's books.

Contact Details:

Submissions Email

Flyingeyesubs@nobrow.net

The Bright Agency

I've never really looked into agencies but the second I looked on this website I knew it was something I'd be interested in. The Bright Agency is based in London are represent many artists worldwide, covering specialisms like children's publishing, design and advertising, greetings and gifts and film and TV. I loved this phrase on their home page, showing how their ethos is developing talent and how they are passionate about new work.

'Bright is a global agency that nurtures passionate, gifted artists and authors. You’ll see their work everywhere: children’s books, billboards, greetings cards, films... They’re here to make a mark on the world, and our mission is to make it happen.'

(The Bright Agency, 2022)

The Bright Agency website, Children's Publishing

Showcasing featured artists

Most established in children's publishing, they represent many established and debut illustrators worldwide, with books translated into more than 40 languages.

On the submissions page, they say, 'We love seeing new work, and we’d love to see yours. Talent is exciting, and when you help it grow, it’s incredible. We’re proud of our ability to discover and establish new artists and authors.' (Nobrow Press - Submissions, 2022). I love their friendly and informal approach, making you feel more likely to contact them. It can be daunting thinking about the next step and looking at getting an agent so it is nice to see this approach as it's one I'd like to work with. Another feature I liked was the blog section, where they had interviews with represented artists and gave an insight into their creative process. I love seeing the process of making a children's book so I will be reading through some of the articles. For example, a recent post was with Carys Bexigton (In the Studio with Carys Bexington — The Bright Agency, 2021), showing her process for a recent book called 'The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland' (Bexington, 2021). This shows that the agency values its talent and each person is represented, showcasing a wide variety of skills.

Pages from 'The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland', Carys Bexington

To submit work, you need to upload a PDF with a minimum of 10 samples of work with a link to your website. Additionally, if you want to be an author and illustrator you should upload a synopsis of your story concept. It also must be submitted via email.

Contact Details:

UK: +44 207 326 9140

The Bright Agency

103-105 St John's Hill, London SW11 1SY

In conclusion, I've learned a lot through this research. All 5 are companies I love to be involved with in the future so it was interesting to learn about the varying submission processes and see other people's experiences of working with each company. While I am going on to do a Master's in Children's Book Illustration, I want to keep looking into these places and follow artists that have worked with them to hopefully get a clearer insight of how you contact them or get on their radar- Anthropologie for example!

References:

HarperCollins. n.d. Worldwide Company Profile. [online] Available at: <https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/worldwide-company-profile> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

HarperCollins Publishers - HCUK Corporate. 2022. Collins - HarperCollins Publishers - HCUK Corporate. [online] Available at: <https://corporate.harpercollins.co.uk/what-we-publish/collins/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

harpercollinschildrensbooks. n.d. Home - harpercollinschildrensbooks. [online] Available at: <https://harpercollinschildrensbooks.co.uk/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

HarperCollins Publishers - HCUK Corporate. n.d. Submissions. [online] Available at: <https://corporate.harpercollins.co.uk/getting-published/submissions/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

HarperCollins Publishers - HCUK Corporate. n.d. The Publishing Process. [online] Available at: <https://corporate.harpercollins.co.uk/getting-published/the-publishing-process/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Butterworth, N., 2022. A Flying Visit. London, UK: HarperCollins.

Jeffers, O., 2021. There's a ghost in this house. HarperCollins.

Little White Lies. n.d. Submissions - Little White Lies. [online] Available at: <https://lwlies.com/submissions-guidelines/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Little White Lies. 2022. Little White Lies - Movie Reviews and Articles. [online] Available at: <https://lwlies.com/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Little White Lies. 2017. Call Me by Your Name - Little White Lies. [online] Available at: <https://lwlies.com/back-issues/call-me-by-your-name/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

HarperCollins Publishers - HCUK Corporate. n.d. Submissions. [online] Available at: <https://corporate.harpercollins.co.uk/getting-published/submissions/> [Accessed 18 March 2022].

Lee, P., 2020. 7 Sites with Freelance Illustration Jobs to Get Illustrator Clients in 2022. [online] Millo.co. Available at: <https://millo.co/freelance-illustration-jobs> [Accessed 19 March 2022].

Anthropologie. 2022. Home. [online] Available at: <https://www.anthropologie.com/en-gb/?ref=logo> [Accessed 6 April 2022].

Balewa, A., 2020. Designer Q&A: Byron Lars for Anthropologie. [online] Essence. Available at: <https://www.essence.com/news/designer-q-and-a-byron-lars-for-anthropologie/> [Accessed 6 April 2022].

College Fashion. 2019. What It's Like to Be a Designer at Anthropologie. [online] Available at: <https://www.collegefashion.net/news/designer-at-anthropologie-experience/> [Accessed 6 April 2022].

Anthropologie. 2022. Noel Canape Plate. [online] Available at: <https://www.anthropologie.com/en-gb/shop/noel-canape-plate?category=SEARCHRESULTS&color=000&searchparams=_gl%3D1%2a1fk2yxw%2a_up%2aMQ..%26gclid%3DCjwKCAjw9LSSBhBsEiwAKtf0n-Cm5zn8cvAcWokvlMIEc-7NjLZTviTUuxcylEKHUWRlgqaSPy3mDhoCX98QAvD_BwE%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds%26q%3Dchristmas&type=REGULAR&size=One%20Size&quantity=1> [Accessed 6 April 2022].

Nobrow Press. 2022. Nobrow Press - Submissions. [online] Available at: <https://flyingeyebooks.com/flying-eye/submissions/> [Accessed 6 April 2022].

Thebrightagency.com. 2022. The Bright Agency. [online] Available at: <https://thebrightagency.com/uk> [Accessed 6 April 2022].

Thebrightagency.com. 2021. In the Studio with Carys Bexington — The Bright Agency. [online] Available at: <https://thebrightagency.com/uk/blog/in-the-studio-with-carys-bexington> [Accessed 6 April 2022].