I find that with any commission it is always helpful to take a sketch book to the first meeting so that as you are discussing ideas you can put pencil to paper and the
client can give you immediate feedback - the more you can understand what the
customer is imagining at this first meeting the more time you will save
yourself later on.
For this commission I took an
illustration annual and some of my own work to share different styles, so I
could get a clear idea of what they did not like as much as what they
did. Be careful at this point not to quote too early, as different styles
will take you a different amount of time. Though quotes are not simply based on
how long an image takes you, it is important to think about it when quoting so
you don’t end up working for two pence per hour.
Once the style has been
established, work out what message they want communicated by the image. I
always use sketches to focus discussion and generate different concepts within
whatever format they are going to use. See the sketches below. click to enlarge.
I always provide at least two
options at sketch stage – this then helps the client to fine tune from the
choice. They may take elements from each. As I begin to render the image I will share low-resolution copies of it via email, I do this 2 – 3 times
on the way to completion. The last thing you want is to have to redo the final
image on small projects like this. I also endeavour to scan my work in as I go
and compile a layered image. This way if there are alterations later on in the
process you can do that relatively easily. In this case the client wanted to change
the title and to add colour to the main character.
Here are are some images to give an idea of the development for the album cover. You can see alterations made after discussion with the client.
...and the final cover that folds out.
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