Self-Initiated Projects - Industry Advice.

Time to get personal.

This week we caught up with leading agent Ben Cox and illustrator Jonny Wan on the importance of self-initiated projects and how sharing the personal might just be the key to inspiring and attracting the right commissioner.

1. As illustration agents, how important would you say personal projects are in an artists' folio?

There is an established truth that you will generally be commissioned to produce the work that is already present in your folio. While it may be the case that the professionals directly briefing our illustrators or animators have similar art school backgrounds to our own and share many of our creative sensibilities, they will invariably have clients or executives that they are answerable to who don’t. The “creative leap”, the ability to see an artist’s potential to interpret a subject matter that’s new to them, isn’t a faculty that everyone shares. So, if you want to get the work that excites you, you’ve got to brief yourself to do it first.

Self-initiated projects are an opportunity to add intellectual depth to a folio and an increased insight into the individual drivers of an artist's creativity.

2. What would you say are the key benefits of self-initiated work? 

A regular practice of self-generated folio work will empower you to influence the commissioner into bringing you the projects you want. It’s a shop-window for the intellectual subject matter and cultural influences that drove you to be an artist in the first place. Not only will you relish the time to express yourself more freely, you’ll provide the ammunition for a T-shirt to persuade a collar why you’re the best artist for a job. To demonstrate your capacity to engage with complex ideas and be more than a window dresser.

3. What tips do you have for artist's starting a personal project, that would help shape the kind of commissions they receive in the future?

Today, what previously might have been termed your “style” is referred to as a "visual language". So, show the world what you have to say with it. Give yourself a license to inspire the commissioning public, tell them what matters to you, demonstrate your ability to see the world in a unique way and articulate it with dynamism and beauty. It’ll become obvious to the client why you’re the perfect match for a project and you’ll have reduced that inherent element of risk in hiring a new talent.

With a fascination for all things ancient, CIA's Jonny Wan has developed a flexible and diverse style working across advertising, editorial and publishing. We took a moment to catch up with Jonny, to get his take as an illustrator on why personal work matters.

4. As an illustrator, how important is personal work to you? 

I think having personal projects is a very crucial part of being an illustrator. Not only does it give you the opportunity to stay curious about things you want to explore visually, it can serve as an excellent break from commercial work. Working on self-directed pieces allows your imagination to completely take over without the idea of fulfilling a brief lingering at the back of your head. It keeps you busy when things get quiet and provides a nice space to be as experimental as you want which for me, can often lead to a renewed sense of energy after working on some intense commercial briefs.

5. Would you say that personal work helps to shape the kind of commissions you receive? 

The old adage of what you have in your portfolio is the type of work you're going to be commissioned for rings so true! More often than not, Illustrators get hired by clients based on something they've already seen you produce and want you to remix it to suit the new brief in question. Sometimes this can lead to a bit of a rut where you're churning out the same kind of work and it can feel monotonous. Using personal work to push what you offer can break this cycle, it gives you an opportunity to bring something new to the table, a fresh perspective, which can then lead to a different set of clients and more varied briefs. 

6. For you Jonny, what's the best thing about a personal project?

Personally, I love the exploration and process, it's the little "happy accidents" that occur when I'm sketching which can lead me down a whole new way of working and thinking. For me it's not about re-inventing myself, it's more about building on the creative foundations I already have. I think generally as illustrators we're always curious about trying new things out but more often than not, just don't have the time to do so. Life gets in the way, but that's the great thing about personal work is that none of it has to be finished pieces, they can be purely conceptual and as abstract as you like. 

There's no right or wrong answer when it comes to personal work, it's all about challenging and evolving your aesthetic to new frontiers and most importantly of all, remaining passionate about the work you create moving forward.

With all of this in mind, we hope this can be the invitation you needed to start that personal project and harness your creativity! 

If you’ve got a project on the boil and need some inspiration, be sure to check out our Website and Instagram or give us an email at [email protected].