Hiring A Commercial Artist

Hiring A Commercial Artist

by William Lulow

Creative people who produce “commercial art” for a living are an interesting mix of personalities. They have to have a certain “vision” of the world that they experience in order to create their own particular “works of art,” but they also know that if they are going to work with other creatives to produce commercial works of art and get paid for it, they often need to modify some of their creative impulses somewhere within the process itself. Art directors often need these creative artists to bring their concepts to life on a printed page.

Back in the day, art directors often looked for creative talent from personal recommendations as well as people whose reputations they already knew. Perhaps it still works this way, but most art directors still have to see artwork (be it photographs, paintings or illustrations) that is very similar to the kind of job they have to produce before they will hire that person. It’s highly unlikely that an art director will take a chance on talent that offers samples different from the ad they need to create. It may be easy for art directors to recognize talent, but the problem of whether or not the talent can deliver the artwork on deadline and as promised is a very real one for most people who buy almost any type of artwork or deal with a commercial artist of any kind.

This is a sketch of an art directors concept for a movie poster with the actual execution of the idea in a photograph. Being able to follow through on an art director’s rough sketch and getting the concept right plays a big part in any commercial artist’s ability to bring life to an idea.

So, it may be better for an art director to know that a creative source he or she is considering has a track record of being able to produce the kind of artwork that is wanted rather than to take a chance on whether an “untested” talent can deliver.

In the field of photography, there have been many “horror stories” about photographers who were talented, but notoriously difficult to work with. As an art director, would you be willing to sacrifice a smooth production in favor of dealing with a difficult personality? Even though the result might be inspired? And, conversely, for a photographer, does it really make sense to be a “diva” and sacrifice a smooth production for the sake of your “art”?

With my many years of experience dealing with art directors and editors, I have found that knowing things like production schedules, shoot requirements and personalities has really helped me be able to produce successful projects and create many artistic images at the same time. Being able to “go with the flow” is almost as important to producing successful shoots as having a particular “vision.” Seems to me that one has to be able to balance both extremes.

These days, since digital photography is so pervasive, there are more and more talented people in the marketplace capable of producing real quality work. So, how do you make an educated assessment about with whom to work? Given relative equality of “quality,” personality might just be a deciding factor.

In the field of wedding photography, I have often said that the personality of the photographer is just about as important as anything else when deciding who you want to spend your time with on your wedding day. (Again, if you are trying to decide between “equals” in quality). Suppose you were to hire an extremely talented photographer who was the biggest “boss” and difficult to deal with? How would your day go? Would it be comfortable and flow smoothly? I doubt it. The same goes for art directors. I’ve known some art directors who have used agency budgets to hire “big names.” Most of the time, it’s the art director’s visions that wind up taking a back seat to those of the talent. If that’s what the art director is looking for, then fine. And, there are certainly times when it’s wonderful to work with a big name artist. I’m reminded of the time when an art director at Bloomingdales hired the well-known French photographer Guy Bourdin to shoot a catalog. The art director wondered when he’d see some images and Mr. Bourdin told him he’d have to wait until the job was finished! Reportedly, Mr. Bourdin received a great deal of money for his efforts. But, other times it can be a nightmare for all concerned.

I guess the moral of the story is that, for the most part, art directors need to work with talent they can trust to get the job done correctly and on deadline. The talent needs to work hard to make the art director look good. Because, paraphrasing the immortal words of Vidal Sassoon, “If they look good, you look good.”