| My stints in commercial
art sharpened my skills in design and taught me to work faster in order
to meet the deadlines. The contracts were rather particular on that
point, as the clients' needs were usually "time sensitive". In other
words, very often they'd waited until the eleventh hour to even consider
the visual aspects of their project. Hence, their procrastination
became my rush order -- and I charged accordingly, to cover the 'agony
factor'.
My assignments included:
fashion illustration; t-shirt and trophy and corporate identity design;
promotional portraits; and even 'house portraits'. While all this
provided me a great impetus to develop speedier techniques with various
media, I'm not terribly eager to do it again -- unless the project is both
interesting and accompanied by appropriate compensation. Smoke up
the skirt is nice, kids, but it won't keep the lights on or buy any groceries.
Despite the well-hidden pitfalls
of doing commercially contracted work, I'm still in love with the graphic
arts, graphic design, and really spiffy fonts. |
