When it comes to making money from illustration, the road can be bumpy, even for people working there for years. If you’re beginning your illustration career, it can seem almost impossible to land that first big commission. Finding and capitalizing your illustration style is the way to achieve get success. See tips on how to make money and profit from an illustration design career.
How to Find and Capitalize Your Illustration Style?
Search Engine Optimisation
It can be tempting to spread ourselves thinly across various styles to attract more work, but often this has the opposite effect. Finding your style and sticking to it is one of the most powerful ways to find your desired customers. If, for example, your illustration style fits under the broad umbrella of ‘Anime,’ then consider how it could be broken down again.
Perhaps you are particularly talented at drawing anime focused around food, maybe gambling Anime is more your style or even cute animal anime. These two or three-word terms will provide a much more precise and focused SEO.
If you’re a client searching for someone to illustrate your restaurant menu in an anime style, you’re far more likely to search for ‘anime food illustrator’ than just ‘anime illustration.’ In the same way, you’ll have much less competition with others -‘ anime illustration’ brings back 976 million Google hits, whereas ‘anime food illustrator’ brings back far less at 27 million. In this case, the riches are in the niches.
How Many Images?
Choosing how many images to use on your homepage is, to some degree, a personal choice. Generally speaking, choosing 3-5 of your best images is pretty safe advice. However, that’s not to say there isn’t space for flexibility. A large part of which images make it to your homepage will depend on how cohesively they work together. Creating a ‘house style’ becomes more complex with many images, and the page can become cluttered.
If you’re set on using many images, thumbnails are an excellent way to combat this problem. Hone in on small parts of the work. Preferably bits that follow a similar color scheme and use them as thumbnails. Then create a clickable button that allows potential clients to see the image in a large version
This method of including a portfolio on your homepage can work particularly well for artists with a lot of detail. However, they also want their homepage to appear clean and professional. If you’d like a more minimal style, a bold but beautiful way to style your homepage is with just one spectacular image. Choose a standout piece of work and make it a feature, ideally taking up two-thirds of the page or more.
Pick out key colors from the work and use them for headings and subheadings. So, treat the homepage as an illustration in itself.
Color Scheme On Your Illustration Style
Whilst we’re always told to use a white background. But sometimes, it pays to think outside the box. If you’re an illustrator with a particularly bold style, why not incorporate it into your website? Malika Favre has a bold style combines all the best of Op-Art and Pop Art.
Her website is clean and crisp, but her bold, primary color scheme creates a brand. Giving a color scheme the focus of attention on a homepage. This is a brave move, but for this illustration style, it works brilliantly.
It’s important not to forget the impact of colors on our brains. Some illustrators with a dark or mysterious style may benefit from using a black background. The dramatic chiaroscuro effect of Justin Maller’s homepage is created by bursts of light and color against an inky black backdrop.
The site feels dramatic and masculine, the crisp, clean lines appear beautifully, and the impression is very clever. Imagine it with a white background, and the effect multiplies enormously.
Conclusion About Capitalizing Illustration Style
Using your skills in the way presented above showcases your talent as an illustrator and your ability to help with new tasks. We hope this article on finding and capitalizing on your illustration style is the way to success and that tips on making money and profit from an illustration design career have helped you. Please, leave us a comment!
