I’ve started the year with some client commissions/ logo briefs.
Generally, I have really enjoyed making the work but I have hated dealing with
clients.
Client 1:
With the Yum Grub brief I had no idea how much to charge so I
ended up charging an hourly rate. Reflecting on this, it was a bad decision because
negotiating my hours was difficult I wasn't payed enough. In future I am going
to have a set price. I also didn't pre-negotiate the number of
alterations and ended up creating 32 variations because she kept
getting the translation wrong and wanted so many type variations. I felt
pressured into doing it because she couldn't change it herself. Next time I am
going to include two minor alterations and have a set rate for more.
Client 2:
I received a brief to do 10 illustrations for a brochure for
Living Nutrition. I had plans but was set a tight deadline of a week so
canceled them. However, she then didn't send me the final confirmation for a
month before proceeding to try and do the same thing again, so I told her it wans't
possible. In future I am going to be more stern with my hours and fit
the work around my plans rather than changing my timetable to suit the client.
Competition brief: I was sent a logo brief by someone who is part
of a page called Radio HP (an elitist marketplace you can only join if you went
to private school/ are recommended). The prize was £1000 and a feature in their
mail-out - where they write about your upbringing. I ended up entering but had
a dilemma if it was worth doing for the money because it is not something I
want my name anywhere near. This is the first time I have had
difficulty taking on work because of personal values. I think that this
dilemma is going to come up a lot in the future because my work is so centered
around ethics. I need to remember that they are the most important thing to my
practice so I need to stand by them. But how far do I take this:
ethical fashion is so important to me but if H&M asked me to do their
campaign would I say no?
Strengths/ future:
Aside from these struggles, it was nice to not get so bogged down
in concept, to craft something focused on identity and aesthetics. Making
illustrated logos is something that works well for me because my
illustrator skills are strong and I like creating shape based work. Trying to
communicate a message with as little information as possible is also something
that I really enjoy doing. It will work well in my advertising
portfolio alongside my more concept rich stuff - it shows I can start
to create a brand aesthetic. I would definitely like to try doing more branding
beyond creating just the logo but for now I am excited to get stuck into some
more research driven briefs.
