HOW TO MAKE AN ART DIRECTORY HAPPY
We reached out to 20 art directors and asked them the same question: Why would you hire a freelancer a second time? There answers are highly insightful...and sometimes surprising!
For a freelance illustrator—or any independent business owner—repeat business is a vital. While freelancers often put a lot of time into obtaining new clients, an equal amount of effort should go into satisfying current clients.
We reached out to 20 art directors who work for publishers, greeting card companies, newspapers, magazines, agencies, and multi-national corporations. We asked them all the same question:
Why would you hire a freelancer a second time?
We analyzed their answers and discovered that the overwhelming top two success factors for a freelancer are being easy to work with and meeting deadlines! Other factors mentioned many times were skill, collaboration, and flexibility.
Freelancers must always work on a continuous road to improvement. Usually—for illustrators—this means focusing on artistic styles and advancing illustration techniques. The words found in these comments, however, refer mostly to skills every independent business owner should possess: reliability, efficiency, organization, collaboration, and positivity.
Read on to read the responses from art directors and glean some very valuable insight!
“I would hire a freelancer the second time around if they met the deadline, provided organized, user friendly files, understood the product and end user and checked in before the assignment was due for feedback.”
“I would hire a freelancer for a second time if they over-delivered! Skill, flexibility, patience, and collaboration are what I value most.”
“They must meet or exceed my main goal of the project and deliver what I’m looking for and hopefully more. Deadline also plays into it of course—a fast worker is a dream, but the end goal is to get the visual I need.”
“Keeping to deadlines is key, and where clients are involved, it’s even more important since we have to take into account various other people and deadlines too.”
“I would hire someone again based on the quality of work and how hard I had to work to get it.”
“Four things I look for in a freelancer: raw talent, the ability to creatively flush out a design concept, effective collaboration and communication, and timeliness.”
“I would hire a freelancer a second time if:
1) their designs were current and on trend,
2) they were flexible and easy to work with,
3) their art files were very well organized and complete,
4) they were happy to oblige additional requests,
5) they used our contract with few or no revisions to it.”
“I would hire an freelancer for the second time because the first time they were able to creatively respond and adapt to art direction for the first project.”
“I would hire a freelancer for a second time if they were conscientious and delivered their work on time.”
“When I get their work, and I say “Yes—they nailed it.” An end product that is finished, perfect, thought-out, and ready to sail. Or, if I need a little tweaking, they are flexible and happy to accommodate, to explore different options, and to keep trying until everyone feels it’s right.”
“I will hire them again and again if I find the freelancer easy to work with—fun, pleasant, open to feedback. They have to be willing to to tweak their designs to fit our needs and art direction. I know that many artists are concerned about their look and their brand but we need to ensure that our product will sell and if that means we need to alter the image we need to have artists who are willing to work with us. If they provided the above and get their work in on time and in a professional format I would hire them again.”
“Low maintenance—they need to prove themselves first before asking for special treatment, extra pay, extended deadlines, or additional favors.”
“The main thing I would consider before hiring a freelancer for a second time, apart from the quality of their work, would be the experience that I had working with them the first time. Was it a good work experience? Were they pleasant to work with? Were they extremely responsive communicators? Were they on time with their deliveries? These are all questions I would ask myself and the answers would factor into my decision to work with a freelance illustrator again.”
“I usually hire an freelancer a second time if they are easy to work with and timely.”
“Of course skill and ingenuity is key but one of the most important things for me when working with freelancers is the ability to collaborate and offer resourceful solutions. Working with an editorial team requires a collaborative spirit and a level of flexibility. As a side note, a creative really need to know their client’s brand, follow their brand identity, and know who their target market.”
“If the working partnership was as remarkable as the work product, then I’d gladly hire a freelancer a second time.”
“I would gladly hire an freelancer a second time if they are flexible and not only willing, but happy, to make changes to their artwork to better align with editorial content and opinion.”
“For one their project management skills: it’s critical that our collaborators understand the importance of managing against deadlines. There is nothing more frustrating or disappointing than receiving questions about the project a day before it is due. We need our collaborators to set aside time to think, develop, revise, and finalize. Decline a project if you don’t have the time, I’ll respect you more for it. Secondly, their communication skills: from confirming the receipt of a creative brief, providing a timeline and budget, to discussing the creative brief in further detail and writing coherent and concise emails.”
“Awesome delivery of the goal on time.”
“I would hire a freelancer again and again if I could sense a bit of their personality and joy in the art. Otherwise it feels like assembly line imagery. I like to think the artist enjoyed the project.”
We hope this information helps strengthen your own independent freelance illustration business!
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