How I work with clients on commissions — Coostie Illustration & Design

Drawing maps is one of my favourite things to do and I’m always excited when I’m contacted by a new client looking for me to create a bespoke illustrated map. I currently offer as standard a personalised, hand-illustrated custom map in a detailed linework style, including up to 15 illustrations of landmarks, objects or places (depending on the size of the finished piece), which you can purchase from my shop.

However, I do also offer a more bespoke service for clients who are looking for something more complicated or in full-colour, etc.

A client recently got in touch to ask if I could produce a full-colour, ink and watercolour map, that they wanted to gift to a friend for their 30th birthday. The map was to include a mix of 10 landmarks and objects that meant something to the recipient at different stages of their life. I’ve outlined the process we went through here, to show you how easy it is to commission your own bespoke illustrated map.

Pen and watercolour illustrations of a number of buildings and items are joined be a flowing line to represent life's journey. — The completed illustrated journey map

The initial request

If you have an idea for a bespoke illustration that you would like, you can get in touch with me via the Contact page of my website.

The client for this project initially contacted me for some samples of my work in the style that I'd use for creating an illustrated journey map that they wanted to give as a gift for a friend's 30th birthday. The client already had a good idea of the places that they wanted to include on their map. They also knew that they wanted the final map illustration to indicate ‘the endless possibilities of the future’ and suggested something themed around the Yellow Brick Road from the Wizard of Oz. We agreed that I would create a few illustrations to demonstrate my style and approach and to see if it fitted with what the client was looking for.

In this example the client and I communicated by email, but for more complicated projects I would usually put in place a ‘discovery’ call to talk through your ideas and what you want from your commissioned artwork.

These were the three illustrations that I provided for the client to assess my style. The client was happy and we moved on to the next stage in the commissioning process, although they did decide to swap from the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ for the final illustration to one inspired by Dr Seuss’ ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go’.

Research, roughs & agreement

At this point, I took the client’s list of places to include in the journey map and did some image research, using copyright-free image libraries. (If you already have your own images to use - this is even better and allows you to get final artwork that is truly unique to you). I also went back to the client to propose having a mix of buildings and objects/things on the map, to represent different places (to which they agreed).

I mocked-up a rough layout for how the finished map would look, including a mix of illustrations and photo references and prepared my commissioning agreement document. For straight-forward commissions such as this one, I go straight to the agreement document stage, whilst for more complicated projects I will create a proposal document at this stage, setting out how I would approach the task and setting out different options for layout, complexity, style and approach, etc.

My Commissioning Agreement document usually includes:

Client name and address
Details of the project to be undertaken: in this case an A3-sized, full-colour illustrated journey map with x10 original ink and watercolour illustrations of landmarks and objects.
Deliverables: I ususally include exactly what will be delivered (eg a digital file versus a printed artwork - for the latter I include information about the paper size and weight).
Delivery schedule: This will set out all of the milestones in the project with dates for delivery and also includes action that the client needs to take (eg providing feedback/signing off final artwork/paying invoices, etc).
Fee: How much the commission will cost
Schedule of payments: I usually ask for at least 30% up-front before work formally begins and then final payment on delivery.
[If relevant] the terms of the license (including whether it is exclusive/non-exclusive, the territory/ies where the work will be used, how long the license is granted for and any other details in relation to usage.
Also included in my Commissioning Agreement is a set of industry-standard terms and conditions that cover copyright, payment, cancellation, delivery, approval/rejection and any guarantees, etc.

Rough layout provided to the client to demonstrate placement and proposed image references.

Artwork development

Once the Commissioning Agreement document has been received by the client and they’ve confirmed that they are happy with it the client then pays the initial invoice and I can begin work on the project. Depending on the complexity of the project, this stage can take anything from a couple of days to a few months in length - but the timeframe will have been set out in the Agreement document.

During this time I usually send at least one progress update to clients so that they can see how work is progressing.

Completion

Once the final artwork has been approved by the client, I will either upload it to a large file transfer site as a high resolution image file, or send the item to print. I always aim to use printers who share my own environmental and ethical values and will always supply giclée print artwork on recycled or otherwise ethically-sourced paper.

I don’t usually provide a mount or frame with the print, unless the client has requested this specifically as part of the order - but I do sign my prints.

For A3-sized prints I either roll them in a compostable bag and pack them into a triangular cardboard mailing tube, or I re-use the packaging from the printer (which is usually a reinforced cardboard envelope). All papers, packaging and stickers are recyclable and/or made from recycled materials.

So what now?

And that’s it!

If you have a project that you’d like to work with me on, I hope that this post has made you feel clearer about the steps involved and that you’ll be getting in touch to discuss creating that special gift.