Michael Driver Talk

Today I attended the Michael Driver talk, as well as having a one-on-one portfolio, and found he hard some really useful tips and tricks on being a freelance illustrator.

• Follow people you would like to work for on Instagram ie. Art directors. To find people, illustrators often tag who they have worked for in their posts. 
• The aim of following people like this if for them to  follow you back - your then more likely to slip into their eye-line and able to gain free promotion of your portfolio. 
• Mail outs : email people you would like to work saying why you want to work for them, recent projects of theirs you like and asking if you can send them a mail out as a introduction to your work. 
• If people do not get back to you straight away, do not be disheartened - unless they have told you outright they are not interested, they may probably just be waiting for a brief suitable to your work to come up. Keep sending them promo and updating them on your practice. (persistance pays off). 
• Don't sit on an email if you want a job - mostly likely there will be other people up for it and you do not want to miss your opportunity. 
• Companies, publications and agencies usually have a set way of formatting their work email addresses. Once you know the format you can email anyone. 
• Agencies are now often looking for people who are interested in advertising briefs. 
• When your approached by an agency, email artists on their current books to get a feeling of what they are like.