I’ve said before that it’s become increasingly difficult to make an
honest living as an illustrator. Print is dead, taking a large swath of
possible clients with it. The tubes move too quickly making custom
illustration for articles an unlikely occurrence. Prices have been
driven into the ground by a sea of amateurs gleefully accepting spec
work and companies eager to exploit them. It’s on that latter point
that I want to provide a new example to back-up my statements.
I get a lot of emails from large companies looking for spec work.
Most of the time, there is an implied confidentiality. A smattering of
text on the bottom of the email indicates that it’s for my, and the 300
other recipients’, eyes only. Posting the contents of the email to my
blog would only get me sued. Billabong’s Art Director, Aaron Hennings,
included no such text.
Large companies are exploiting illustrators. They use the lure of
working with an established brand to engage in unethical business
practices. But don’t take my word for it, take Aaron’s:
Billabong is looking to supplement the Men’s T shirt
collection with fresh freelance art by new designers. You have been
selected and invited to be part of the freelance submission process.
Take a look at the attached .PDF and let me know if I can answer any
questions. Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing some great work.
We review new submissions every week, so the deadline is on going.
However, we do have a limited number of designs we can include each
season, so sooner rather than later is better.
Regards,
Aaron
Aaron Hennings
————————
Art Director
Billabong USA
117 Waterworks Way
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 753 7222 tel. x3292
Here’s the attached PDF.
I’d suggest you take a look at it. They even provide a nice tee
template for forking over your multitude of Billabong branded, spec
generated designs.
I know a half dozen or so other illustrators who got this email.
Luckily, most agree that doing spec is bad. Some don’t. Please, don’t
be one of those illustrators. Your decision affects us all.