Lorraine Owen from The Organisation

Lorraine, an Illustration agent from 'The organisation', came in to speak to us last Monday (18th February. It was very generous of her to come and spend some of her time talking to us and giving  us very clear and knowledgable advice about the working industry.

She told us about the benefits of having our own agent. I have always been quite naive about the 'business side' of things, and never really knew how you would go about finding an agent, or what you would necessarily need one for. I guess what I found most important, was that she said by having an agent, it almost suggests that you have already been pre-selected, therefore you are professional and reliable.

It also seems as though it would be a good idea to have an agent if you want to work solely as a commercial illustrator, but do not necessarily know how to advertise yourself or set a price for the work that you do. Lorraine said that one of the benefits of having an agent, is that you are able to 'stick at what you know and do best'- that way someone else can do the rest of the hard work for you.

Although her expertise lie in Children's book illustration, she still had an overall idea of what most clients want to see within an illustration portfolio. 

Key themes she said to include in every portfolio are:

Finance

Travel

Maps

Black and White

Beauty

and The Human Figure/ Characters.

It is also a good idea to include as much subject matter as possible, so that clients can see that you are capable of representing anything, rather than having a whole series of Cats throughout your portfolio, and then someone needing parrots. A portfolio can be tailored to suit whoever it is you are going to visit, and you can also make everything look as though it has already been used. For example, if you think an illustration could work as a magazine cover, then go ahead and make it look as though it has been used as one already! 

Although I still want to build on my illustration work, I also spoke to Lorraine about seeking more active, creative roles in areas such as visual merchandising and window displays. She liked the work I had to offer in my portfolio so said to keep building on that, and it terms of finding a job to suit my own needs, it would be best to look for work experience and constantly be adding everything to my portfolio and CV.