Big Illustration Party, Episode 8

Last week we were asked to listen to a pod cast on Big Illustration Party. This pod cast was made by American comic book illustrators Kevin Cross and Joshua Kemble who’s laid back style reminded me of Garth and Wayne from Waynes world. I don’t know if they intended to make it that way but even the intro sounded like the one from the film. However I have to say in contrast to previous pod casts I had listened to on Illustration Island these two guys were a breath of fresh air and were fun to listen to.

The topic of the show was to do with contacting potential clients and in particular art directors. They talked about cold calling and warned about the advantages and disadvantages of using this method to gain work and concluded that this was not really a preferred option amongst art directors. They recommended sending an email to a list of clients every 3 months and said to keep the email short, as these people were really busy. They advised against attaching any artwork to the email as this could cause your email to end up in the junk mail box instead of the in box or could slow down their machines. They also said the fewer things a client has to click on or open the better. One other thing they spoke about was sending out holiday themed images, which sounds a bit cheesy to me, but if it works I think I’ll give it a try.

The one thing that’s evident in their pod casts it their enthusiasm for illustration and the fact they are happy to impart their knowledge and experience to illustrators who are just starting out to help them avoid making silly mistakes. I really enjoyed listening to them.