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Illustrating for Clients: Two Journeys, One Destination
Why Creative Collaboration is Mostly Done Alone
The process of illustrating for clients is not exactly straightforward. There are always twists and turns, and even the most experienced illustrator can’t predict what’s around the next one. That being said, there are key stages of this process, and key checkpoints that should always be there to transition you from one stage to the next.
These checkpoints and stages are for another discussion, but for now I’m interested in this idea of the illustration process as a journey. In fact, we can think of it as two journeys, both headed toward the same destination. There is your journey as the illustrator — the journey you must take to do what you’re being paid to do — and then there’s your client’s journey. These two journeys look a lot different, and when you think about it, it makes sense.
The illustrator’s journey is perilous. It goes the long way; it takes many winding trails, through thick forests and up and over mountains, and across rough waters. The creative process is always a journey into the wild. It is chaotic and untamed. There is always the element of the unknown. The mission of the journey is of course to find the unknown and tame it—to create something valuable and meaningful for your client. Your job as the…
