What are common mistakes to avoid when collaborating with visual artists?

- Give them a clear brief of what you want and how you perceive it, who are the target audience and where the visual will be seen/broadcast - Listen to their views. - Prepare at least five visual boards and let the artiste begin working on all of them. - Feedback should be given subtly, after thoroughly understanding the artiste's point of view too. - Work as a team or collaborator rather than a micromanager. - Avoid comparisons with any other artiste you have perhaps worked with in the past. - Clear payments and mode of payment right in the beginning.

In experience, as an Artist ask yourself “why is the collaboration needed” “who are the audience”, and “what do I want from it”. The Why, The Who and the What is integral. I also beg Artist to always get a team, someone/people who handle the legalities and PRO part for you, so you can focus on the creativity. Art isn’t just a gift or passion, it is a business.

Bei der Zusammenarbeit mit Künstlern ist klare Kommunikation entscheidend. Die Annahme, sie würden Visionen oder Ziele ohne detaillierte Erl?uterung verstehen, führt oft zu Missverst?ndnissen. Es ist essenziell, von Beginn an klare, detaillierte Anweisungen zu geben, um sicherzustellen, dass alle Beteiligten die Erwartungen und Anforderungen genau kennen. So werden Missverst?ndnisse vermieden und die Basis für ein erfolgreiches Projekt gelegt.

Common mistakes to avoid when collaborating with visual artists include lack of clear communication, failure to provide detailed guidelines or briefs, micromanaging the creative process, disregarding the artist's expertise and vision, and not establishing clear expectations regarding timelines, revisions, and compensation. It's crucial to foster open communication, respect the artist's creative autonomy, and provide constructive feedback to ensure a successful collaboration.

Acknowledge that they are the visual, you are the brain. Artists would appreciate it much better if you don't tell them how to do their job, but how you want your output to look like. It's better that you trust them with their sense while you communicate your expectations well. Whilst on the journey itself, they might also give you inputs, both parties must be open to suggestions. Artists know how to make their creatives look good, the other parties should stay on their ground with their goal.

Here is what you can do (adding from personal experience): Consider framing your role as a supportive collaborator rather than a strict overseer.

Mikromanagement in der Zusammenarbeit mit Künstlern kann kreativen Freiraum einschr?nken und die Produktivit?t hemmen. Vertrauen in die F?higkeiten des Künstlers und das Zulassen von Eigeninitiative f?rdern hingegen Innovation und Zufriedenheit. Effektive Führung gibt Richtung vor, ohne jeden Schritt zu kontrollieren.

If you want an artist to work with you, you must understand each artist has a different repertoire and it’s your responsibility to choose an artist with the right repertoire and education according to your goals, then let the artist do what need to be done. Micromanaging when you hired correctly a qualified professional with a higher education degree is the worst way to get a job well done.

If you, as a project manager, find yourself focusing on details, take a moment to step back and look at the main function of your art. What is the primary message you’re looking to communicate? Recently, a client asked me specifically to include a tree element in an illustration. What she really needed, though, was some sort of background that would provide scale and put the foreground object into context. A tree could’ve worked, but that would’ve been just one of several options. Picking those options is your artist’s role. Authoring the main message in context is your role.

Communicate in direct, succinct, specific, and positive language. A statement like, ”I don’t like this. I wonder if it could be better(?)” is indirect, rambling, vague, and negative. Save your musings for your therapist. If you’re unsure how to instruct your artist, ask for a meeting. Don’t just tell him what not to do unless you’ve got a solution in mind and are sure that a negative statement will make your communication more clear. For example, an instruction reading, “Female lions don’t have manes!” would be less useful to an artist than “Remove the mane elements from three of the lions.”

Vages oder harsches Feedback kann in der Zusammenarbeit mit Künstlern zu Verwirrung und Demotivation führen. Konstruktives, pr?zises Feedback hingegen f?rdert Verst?ndnis und Wachstum. Es ist wichtig, klare, unterstützende Rückmeldungen zu geben, die spezifische Verbesserungen anregen und gleichzeitig den kreativen Ausdruck wertsch?tzen.

Das Ignorieren des Feedbacks von bildenden Künstlern kann deren Engagement und die Qualit?t der Zusammenarbeit beeintr?chtigen. Eine offene, respektvolle Kommunikation, die deren Einsichten und Vorschl?ge berücksichtigt, f?rdert hingegen eine produktive Partnerschaft und führt zu besseren Ergebnissen. Es zeigt Wertsch?tzung für ihre Expertise und st?rkt das gegenseitige Vertrauen.

When it comes to design, leverage their expertise. Be a producer of content, not the director. Let the experts guide the process…

Die Nichteinhaltung von Vertr?gen und Urheberrechten in der Zusammenarbeit mit bildenden Künstlern kann schwerwiegende rechtliche Folgen haben und das Vertrauen zerst?ren. Es ist essentiell, alle Vereinbarungen pr?zise zu befolgen und die Rechte des Künstlers zu respektieren. Dies schützt sowohl die kreativen Beitr?ge als auch die professionelle Beziehung, f?rdert Fairness und st?rkt die Integrit?t der Zusammenarbeit.

Your purpose is the most important aspect to remember when collaborating with a visual artist. Identify if your purpose is to make the content look good (visually) or if you want to make it impactful (performance wise). This is important as first-time collaborators tend to over-pursue the beauty aspect of visual art and compromise on the impact they want to drive through it. So, find your purpose and stick to it.

Sobre la tendencia actual entre algunas galerías de arte noveles que exigen al artista el pago de alquiler de espacio para exhibir su obra e ir a una feria Internacional de arte. Considero que está teniendo al menos estas consecuencias entre los artistas de media carrera profesional: - la galería pierde credibilidad como gestora de representación del artista - los artistas con mayor trayectoria no queremos colaborar con estas galerías. Pagamos muy a gusto las comisiones por las ventas, pero no por exponer. - estas galerías tienen que apostar por artistas para los que el filtro es si pueden o no pagar el espacio. Al final es la capacidad económica del artista y no sólo su calidad lo que condiciona su visibilidad en el mercado.