thread's not dead - doITlab

Flying Solo: Don’t Be Afraid
Fear sucks, but we’re all afraid. There are questions arising in the first time freelancer’s
head right now. How do you get someone to pay you to make art? What
if you’ve never designed a shirt before? What if you mess up and someone gets
mad at you? We all had these questions when starting out. Don’t worry, it’s not
that hard. Here’s a story of my first shirt design.
You’ve Got to Start Somewhere
I got my first shirt design gig back in 2004 from a start–up clothing company.
They asked me to create a shirt design of a rose that morphed into a butterfly.
Ok! The only way I knew how to do it was to draw on paper, scan it in, and
color it in Photoshop. So I did just that. However, I had no idea how many colors
to use – I just tried to copy
what other artists like Derek
Hess or Rob Dobi were doing.
Those guys knew how to do it,
right? So I fumbled around trying
to color my pencil drawing
in Photoshop. Things were not
looking so good, but I sent the
file off to the client. He loved it.
To this day I laugh because BOTH of us were just starting out. Today, the company
would never have accepted that design. He didn’t know better and neither
did I. A match made in Heaven!
As it turns out, he printed it, and it turned out pretty cool! Aside from an insanely
thick plasticky print, he was able to somehow get my artwork onto a t-shirt.
When he mailed me the shirt to see, I felt amazing. My first printed design!
Being a Noob isn’t a Bad Thing
THREAD’S NOT DEAD • Jeff Finley
There are plenty of potential clients
looking to hire a hardworking and
affordable novice designer.
Working with this start-up clothing brand was great because neither of us had
much to lose. It was a good collaboration. I didn’t get paid very much – I think it
was $50 for a few days of work and stress. I would never take a job like that now.
Still, there are plenty of potential clients out there looking to hire a hardworking
and affordable novice designer.
It’s critical that you pour sweat & soul into these projects, regardless of pay.
As you follow this book, you’ll see that a rock solid portfolio becomes more
and more important as you move up the food chain. This is your opportunity to
develop one.
These indie clothing companies make great first clients. In fact, my next section
is about just that.
Why Bands and Indie Clothing
Brands Make Great Clients
Now that you’re in the t-shirt design swimming pool getting your feet wet, it’s
time to move closer to the deep end and learn to swim. The best opportunity to
get LOADS of experience doing t-shirt designs is working for bands and clothing
companies. They are regularly looking for fresh artists to work with. It might
not be the best paying gig, and there is certainly a lot of competition, but this
is your proving ground.
How to Find Bands and Clothing Companies
Where might you start looking for these bread & butter clients? When I first
started, MySpace was huge. Bands were using it to promote themselves and
really, for the first time, they were easy to contact. A fan from Ohio could contact
his favorite band on MySpace and there was actually a chance of getting
a response. Later, clothing companies like Glamour Kills used MySpace to get
involved with their fans and customers. The possibilities pioneered by social
media helped spawn the clothing company boom of 2006-2007.
Bands and indie clothing brands are easy enough to find. In addition to social
networking sites, try poking around on Mintees, Band Job, or I am The Trend
to find fresh blood. Look at the brands that other designers are designing for.
Chances are they are hiring designers just like you! You can often find their
contact information on their website or social networking profiles. When you
find a few companies you want to work with try these tactics to get in the door.
Freelancing 15