Mar 22, 2006

Making Changes




Hi, comrades. I just posted this on the DRAWN! blog. I figured it belonged here, as well.

-Elwood

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I have been in the business of freelance illustration for a zillion years and you'd think I would be resigned to my clients making changes to my work.

Nope. Sadly, I am just as prickly and dismayed every single time a sketch comes back with changes. Here's the kind of e-mail you'll get:

"Elwood, WE LOVE IT! Just one or two minor changes. The Editor (or, if it's an advertising job, the Account Executive or Our Client) would like the pig to lose the hat. The duck would be more convincing if you removed his shoes. And he's too fat--could you trim him down a bit--the editor has weight problems. Fat ducks make him nervous. Also, you've put the monkey on a motorcycle, which is hilarious, but perhaps sends a dangerous message to teens. Better to play it safe and put the monkey in a Honda Civic. And be sure it has side airbags.

"Oh, and one more little tweak--while the elephant is PERFECT, we don't want to get into politics here, so please change it to a snake. We realize it'll completely alter your composition, so if you want to add some other animals in that space, you might want to make them moles--the editor is allergic to cats.

"Can we see a new sketch by this afternoon? Again, Elwood, we LOVE it!"

Then I do my usual rant, Maggie (my wife/rep) rolls her eyes, I calm down, but require a brief nap. I awaken depressed and swear to the gods of commercial art that I can't take it anymore. I make a cup of tea. I'm hungry and eat a almond butter sandwhich. And a banana. Maggie rolls her eyes. I return to my drawing table and make the changes. The client is delighted. They tell me it's a GO with only one small change--they really loved that elephant. Would it be too much trouble to dump those cute little moles & bring back the elephant.

Sometimes Maggie convinces the client that the changes are arbitrary and they weaken the art. Sometimes they have the ability to see my brilliance when it is pointed out to them. Sometimes the Word Experts honor the highly honed skills of the Image Experts. And sometimes it snows in July.

I gotta go. Client made some changes on that last job.

-Elwood

11 comments:

Jared Chapman said...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Elwood read my mind. Wonderful post!

Jeff Andrews said...

Hahaha! I love it Elwood! So good to have your wonderful artwork and commentary on this blog. I LOVE it, as you already know. Keep up the great work my friend!

Unknown said...

This is a great blog post. It's good to know that the experienced professional still have to deal with the same customer politics as the newly professional. It tells me that it never changes. Except maybe the money. the question remains, is it worth it?
To be creative? Yes. Regardless of restrictions. Sometimes we need those restrictions, right? Sometimes we just want to strangle the client. Sometimes murder is bad. RIGHT?!?
I feel for ya Elwood, as, I'm sure, all of us SFG'ers do.

Courtney Pippin-Mathur said...

Hilarious, great post. It gives me hope and fear at the same time.

Ray Frenden said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ray Frenden said...

I've just finished up the sixth revision on a logo and your anecdote helped lighten my self pity.

Rob Duenas said...

That has to be the single most truest thing I have read in a long while, great post!!!

Ward Jenkins said...

Man, how true. It's the same thing with the broadcast and commercial animation biz as well. My biggest complaint is when some lame producer and/or ad exec feel like they need to prove their worth by giving out some incredibly meaningless changes that they think need to be made. Just to say something. Burns me to no end.

Great great post, Elwood!

Vonster said...

Excellent! This needs to be in a book.

Vern Mercado said...

i've forever been a fan of yours ever since your "the human" computer game illustrations. remember thos? i'm so priviledged now to be a part of your team on sfg! thanks for sharing the process and the many years of enjoyment.

Elwood H. Smith said...

Wow, The Humans! Now that goes back a spell. Yeah, that was a fun gig. I wonder whatever happened to those people. Nice to work for--lots of freedom and their suggestions were good ones which, as I'm sure you know, is not always the case.

I agree, this is a talented, great bunch of artist on this blog. Nice to be a part of it.

-E