A Cautionary Tale...from myself, almost 20 years ago!

I've done a fair bit of digital archiving and backing up recently, and I found this article I wrote for the AOI in 2003. The incident it refers to happened a year or so before, even so; the fee will make your eyes water!

I've posted it here as it made me laugh - at my belligerent, horrified self - but it was a reminder that I still think illustrators need to be bloody careful. This could have happened today - companies will still royally try it on, more often than not these days in the form of a 'competition' in exchange for 'exposure' or those special shiny social media coins - you know, the ones you can't spend in shops! At least I was offered fifty quid! (oof).

I also chuckled at the mention of a faxed brief - I loved my fax machine. Getting one, in 1996, meant I was finally 'on the radar.'

Finally I was tempted to name Company X. But the professional in me still says no. I might be tempted to yield, however, if enough people ask...

Enjoy.

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A cautionary tale to warn the unwary illustrator: Sarah Coleman reveals how even an experienced illustrator can strike a bad deal.

This is the tale of a momentary lapse of reason, a failure to apply the Golden Rules of Illustrating and the burning cheeks that followed.

I'd worked for Company X before, a creative and enthusiastic team with an approach to briefing that wasn't my usual:

      "Here's the theme, do what you like, no real rush, ideas finished or half-developed, invoice us for whatever you think is appropriate when you send the work in. We may or may not pick out bits we want to use and if we do, we'll pay you again to publish it."

With an almost entirely editorial/design background, I was used to a faxed brief (sometimes, if I'm lucky, treated to an art director's 'helpful' sketch at the bottom), a pretty tight spec and a quick deadline. So this was bliss.

I knew that the fee for any use of the work was bad - £50, to be exact. I also knew that this was a company with a turnover of millions. But somehow, the client filtering software in my head had managed to overlook these things. Now don't get me wrong. I knew what I was doing. This was the same Sarah who

was neck-deep in a fierce court battle involving hundreds of thousands of pounds and winning. This was the Sarah who threatened to turn down years of work with a major magazine group unless they deleted the copyright section of their contract: they deleted it. The one who refused a fabulous wrap-around book cover because they just weren't paying enough. But my enthusiasm, and my belief that the exposure would give my portfolio a turbo-injection meant I was able to start work, fully aware that we'd signed no contract. I can even say I was probably a bit flattered by their requests for so much work. (Oh! The shame!)

Now a lot of the work, though well received, was never used. But I wasn't prepared for that which was to show up in every branch up and down the country, flying off the shelves before my very eyes as I went shopping. 

It turned up on my own Christmas presents, wrapped by an unsuspecting friend. 

My students told me they'd seen their mums stockpiling my 'Best Wishes' paper. 

At a quid a sheet, I began to get miffed about imaginary royalties, and much time was spent gently kicking my own shins that I had failed to negotiate some modest royalty or at least a worthy publication fee. I soothed myself with thoughts of how nice it looked in my folio and of how a momentary lapse of reason wouldn't confuse my business head again.

So by the time sample copies of a brand new gift wrap dropped through the door almost a year and a half later, I had long decided I wouldn't work for the company again. The note accompanying the samples asked me to submit 'my invoice for the £50 publication fee.' The horror of what I'd done - or not

done - rendered me incapable of acting on the invoice for several weeks. I almost wrote it off, fearing that my foolishness in not doing things properly would be best kept unacknowledged by both me and the company concerned.

But a quick check in the middle of the night confirmed what I had thought: no contract, no fee agreed, so still open for negotiation - right? Five minutes on the phone to the AOI and I was sufficiently galvanised. They might have stuck it on the shelves already, but there wasn't a thing to say what I could expect to be paid for it.

I was surprisingly anxious about calling the company, but wasn't surprised to learn that the girl I'd worked with was only too aware of how bad the publication fee was.

The designer was helpful but ultimately handcuffed by a fee structure clearly never influenced by anyone involved in the creative side of things.Royalties were completely out of the question. The four-figure sum I quoted as a second-best option was equally hopeless. Eventually, the fee paid for the original A3 board of ideas was doubled retrospectively with the £50 publication fee on top. I explained that although I had loved the organic and relaxed way I had been asked to work, their publication payment was appallingly low. 

In response the designer explained that Company X did appreciate that after a while 'developing illustrators' became 'priced out of their market and moved on to bigger and better things' - which burned a little, having spent the best part of a decade earning a living as an illustrator - but I understood the sub-text: you might be too posh for us now, but there are many more who'll think this is a great deal.

The invoice was re-submitted with a prominently-positioned reminder that the copyright stayed mine and any secondary or future uses were subject to separate and further negotiation. Meanwhile, the burning face is subsiding. You, Company X and I are the only people who know about this, and I'm using home-made paper to wrap my presents this year. 

You of course can get a nice sheet of funky gift wrap from any branch of Company X for a pound. Don't buy it. The real cost to illustrators could be far higher.

~ This article first appeared in the Association of Illustrators Magazine in 2003. ~

The ERR Bill, in more detail.

Following my article on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill (ERR) on Tuesday, the AOI spent a day pulling together as much information as possible about it, and its legal implications for illustrations.

Where my article served as a call-to-arms (the equivalent of an emergency briefing by megaphone) and dealt with a series of slowly-emerging indicators that something like this was imminent, along with personal experiences and with the potential consequences of infringement 'at the coalface', the AOI's will give you a technical point-by-point breakdown of the Act in full along with some chapters on their previous involvements in instances where copyright legislation is threatened with change or compromise.

I'm glad to have brought this to so many people's attention and am relieved to see the AOI examining this in detail. Three members of staff spent well over a day putting the feature together so I strongly recommend you read it. The AOI exist, after all, to inform us of and expand upon such legislation, and to advance and protect illustrators' rights. Take some time out with your cup of tea and biscuit later to absorb their their efforts.

Meanwhile I'll be gathering together some of the tips and ideas shared in the hours following my original post which deal with things like metadata, embedded ownership information and watermarking. Thanks to everyone who contributed! Tuesday was a great day for input, shared concerns, swapped ideas, open opinions and the pooling of resources.

Incidentally published above is the image mentioned in my article; tested with Google Image Search, found to be in unauthorised use, and removed from the offending website by a user foggy about her rights, and relying on ignorance and Tumblr for her defence. Try an image of your own - you might be surprised what you find! Simply drag your image to the camera symbol as shown in the screengrab. Large brands have Brand Police (yes that's a real thing) to carry out such vigilant searches on a daily basis, in order to protect their brand, its marks and reputation against inappropriate, damaging or unauthorised mention or use, and this is the closest thing we have in terms of a tool that does anything similar. Try it out!

The best to you all, fellow crayon-wielders! United we stand, and all that.

Mole.

It's my business.

I like to get behind anyone who's actively promoting and supporting the illustration industry as a whole, so it goes without saying I'm a life-long member of the Association of Illustrators, whose new members are welcomed to the fold with a juicy package emblazoned with a message by Inkymole.

In addition, I try to keep up with the many Illustration sites around like Illustrationmundo, Spraygraphic and Illustration Friday, but I don't often get the pleasure of a simple leisurely browse (which is a good thing if you think about it!) These things are usually run by people who aren't being paid to do it, and do it for the love the trade they're in. Obviously, the existence of the web and the ease of blogging makes this a whole lot easier and cheaper than the days of the AOI's early printed-and-posted B&W newsletters.

This one's a new one and I thought I'd report on it, as it's nicely done (though I think a hand-written header might draw more people in), and has been voted one of HOW's Top 10 Best Sites for Designers. Their catchphrase is 'creativity, community, culture' - which sums it up nicely! Being part of it reminds me of three important things:

1) This is fast-growing industry for which there is no Trade Union, just a solid core of people working away at their trade and its issues, and

2) It is a harder-than-ever industry to work in, because although the web has made it easier and cheaper to promote from a technical point of view, there are... thousands and thousands of us, and we're competing on a global - no longer a local or country-wide - playing field. Which not only sharpens pencils, but focus, ability and professionalism too.

3) Humans LOVE pictures.

Which, for the ongoing longevity and prosperity of my trade, with me in it or long after the pencils have been put down, is A Very Good Thing.

600 pictures and two: Images 34

I was a judge on the Association of Illustrators' 'Images 34' competition this year, which involved looking through almost 600 illustrations (and that was just the Design and self-Promo Sections!) I saw some breathtaking work, chose some well-deserved prize winners and got to gorge myself on pictures for hours on end all in the name of 'work'.

Needless to say, I wasn't allowed to vote for myself, which is why I'm pleased I got two pieces accepted: 'Snowtrees', last year's Christmas print with words by Ed Garland, and 'Housing Works Birthday', one of those quick illustrations for a US client which turned out to be strangely popular.

They'll be in the Images Exhibition next year (usually around June time).

I'm annoyed I didn't get time to enter the Society of Illustrators competition (our New York counterpart) this year, but I suppose you just can't do everything...