An original illustration can grab attention and make a statement. When you need artwork created, there are some things to keep in mind to help keep costs down and get the results you are after.Start With End Results
One of the first questions to ask yourself is how the illustration will be used. Is it for a web site only? Do you have plans to print the illustration?
How about the size? Does it need to look good as a billboard? How about something the size of a postage stamp?
Should it be black and white, or color?
Knowing how you’d like to use the final illustration will help your artist create the proper types of files for your project. Skip this step and you may lose time having an artist recreate an image in a different format.
Choose a Style
You’ve probably decided to use an illustration because you’ve seen one used somewhere else. Show examples of illustrations you like (or dislike) to your artist to help them establish a style for the work they are about to do.
Some artists have a set style and never vary. At MuseArts, we have our own style and specialities as well as the ability to imitate other creative approaches.
Ownership
Typically, you’ll want to own the artwork that is created so you don’t need to pay licensing fees to use it. Be sure to check with the artist to make sure you have full rights and ownership to the images created.
At MuseArts, if you hire us for illustration, the artwork is yours to use any way you see fit for as long as you like. No hidden fees or charges. All we ask is that we can show it off in our portfolio as an example of our skills.
Experiment With Sketches
MuseArts illustration projects begin with pencil sketches. We do thumbnail sketches to establish elements for the illustration, and play with possible layouts and organization.
These sketches get shown to our clients and we solicit feedback. It is important to recognize that sketches are not final. Lines will be cleaned up and improved, colors and shading will become more refined, and any text will most likely become crisp for the final illustration.
Use the sketch phase to work out options and make a good decision about the final illustration.
Final Illustration
With good planning and feedback on sketches, a final illustration can be created that satisfies the need and purpose of the job.
At MuseArts, we often create vector-based versions of illustrations, allowing for crisp and clean resizing for multiple purposes. We supply them in a variety of formats including PNG, JPG, PDF, TIF, PSD, AI, and other image formats.