Ep 24: Getting hired and avoiding nightmare illustration clients with Mary Purdie
In this episode with illustrator Mary Purdie, we will share stories from our best and worst clients and what we learned from each. We cover everything from our opinions on doing free work to how to turn down a project without being rude.
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out whether or not a project will be a worth wild effort, but at the end of the day you just gotta follow your gut. You have to learn to read the major red flags for nightmare clients so you can find peace in your freelance life.
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Every day I combine my 10 years of design experience to create lettering that entertains, engages and inspires a community near you. The kind of design that’s custom-made to attract your audience through the combination of beautiful letters and handmade illustration.
Over the past five years, hand lettering has been the primary focus of my career. What started as a hobby drawing letters for a few hours every day, quickly turned into a full-time passion doing client work for companies like American Greetings, Wacom, and Penguin Books.
Since 2013, I’ve worked with over 300 carefully selected clients working on everything from apparel design to chalk murals for businesses all over the United States.
Early on I started teaching everything I know on lettering and freelance so I could better understand my craft to help others do the same. I started blogging, writing books, and began to live stream my work on Twitch twice a week so I could build a creative community around my hand lettering.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve named 2017 as the year of art education for my brand. I’ll be traveling the country teaching lettering and the business of illustration at design conferences like Creative South and Design Week Portland. I also recently landed an opportunity at the Pacific College of Fine Arts teaching Illustrated Lettering once a week.
All this teaching means I’ll be devoting my time and skills to just one new client a month. So if you are looking for an artist with a broad range of lettering styles with a proven track record of happy customers, then I invite you to fill out my Project Questionnaire to get started on your next creative idea.