5 Top Places To Hire An Illustrator

You have written your book or card deck and you’re all ready to get it out in the world – just one thing, you need to get it illustrated! You have asked yourself the 7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring An Illustrator, and you’re ready to go…

But where to go to find the right illustrator for your project? Here I share with you 5 top places where you can go to hire an illustrator, and look at the pros and cons of each.

1) Freelancer Website

A web based freelance job marketplace, with freelancers in all manner of creative and technical fields. It’s simple, you post a description of your project along with your budget, and you will get ‘bids’ from Freelancers all around the world. You can then browse their samples and offer the job to whoever appeals most to you.

Fees

For fixed price projects, a fee of 3% or £2.00 GBP (whichever is greater) is levied at the time a project that has been awarded by you has been accepted by each freelancer you award. If you subsequently pay the freelancer more than the original bid amount they will also charge the project fee on any overage payments.

For hourly projects, a fee of 3% is levied on each payment that you make to the freelancer.

You may cancel the project from your dashboard at any time for up to seven (7) days after the project has been accepted for a full refund of your fee.

Pros

• A wide pool of global talent to choose from
• A greater international pool means you’ll have some lower priced bids, helpful if your budget is tight
• Freelancer ratings & reviews from previous projects
• All agreements, messages, and money handled through the Freelancer system
• Pay at agreed milestones when you are satisfied
• Dispute handling via the website’s system
• Simple bidding process
• In Depth management tools
• Possible to build long term relationships with freelancers

Cons

• You will receive a LOT of bids, some of them low quality, and it can be intense and time consuming going through them all and communicating with potential illustrators
• Some automated bids can be irrelevant and annoying
• Some people find the system more complex than it needs to be
• Can be communication issues if trying to convey your vision and ideas to someone who speaks a different language
• When choosing international Freelancers, time differences can make calls & communication more challenging

Visit the Freelancer site here: https://www.freelancer.com/

2) Hire An Illustrator Website

A smaller but great website that showcases a number of freelance illustrators – described by the site owners as an illustrators ‘club’. You can browse the site and contact an illustrator directly, or fill in the ‘Art Buyer’ form with details of what you are looking for and the management will suggest suitable illustrators who you can then contact directly. Essential it’s a catalogue of illustrators, and the rest is up to you!

Fees

As all illustrators on the site pay a membership fee, there is no extra cost to you, the buyer, for using the site to hire an illustrator.

Pros

• High quality Illustrators
• In Depth useful articles and FAQs on the site, including ‘How to Hire An Illustrator’ PDF: https://www.hireanillustrator.com/how-to-commission-an-illustrator.pdf
• Simple website interface
• Contact artists directly via site
• Possible to build long term relationships with freelancers

Cons

• No on site interface or project management tools
• No third party mediation or tracking
• No escrow or holding of funds
• No dispute resolution
• You are in charge of the entire project management

Visit the Hire an Illustrator site here: https://www.hireanillustrator.com/i/

3) Fiver Website

A huge catalogue of talent for basically any professional services you could want, including a global pool of illustrators. Browse illustrators and contact those who appeal to you. Most illustrators offer fixed prices and timescales per illustration.

Fees

All purchases are subject to a service fee of $2 on purchases up to and including $40, and 5% on purchases above $40.

Pros

• Fixed project price
• Varied illustration packages offered
• Fast turnaround
• Payment escrow protection (payment released upon your approval)
• Good customer service
• Wide variety of price range, especially for lower budgets
• Simple to use website with Message and Order management
• Freelancer reviews

Cons

• Some lower quality freelancers available
• Hit & miss experiences, depends on the freelancer (read reviews carefully!)
• Beware of those freelancers who over promise and under-deliver
• Small project packages, difficult to build long term relationships with freelancers

Visit the Fiver Website Here: https://www.fiverr.com/

4) Your Local College

Of course it’s not always necessary to look that far afield when hiring an illustrator. There’s every chance you have talented artists right within your own community.

One option is to post an advert in local shops and cafes, or to contact local colleges running art courses  and enquire whether any student would-be-illustrators are looking for projects to get experience. I am a big fan of this approach, I have hired web & graphic design assistants from local colleges, and we even sources the flowers for our budget wedding from the floristry course at our local college. The flowers were amazing!

Fees

No fees as there’s no middle man.

Pros

• Giving an opportunity to local talent looking to gain experience
• Potentially more affordable to a lower budget due to student/beginner rates (though I do not advocate underpaying illustrators ever!)
• Local to you means you can get together in person to discuss the project and review the artwork as the project progresses
• Easy to build long term relationship for future projects

Cons

• You would need to manage all aspects of the project yourself
• A student illustrator may not have as much experience and would need to be guided more so you’d need to be clear on timings & expectations

5) Your Online Community

Have you thought about posting on social media to find an illustrator? You often find that your friends will tag people they know and the perfect person might be just a mutual friend away!

Fees

No fees as there’s no middle man.

Pros

• Working with people you may already know who ‘get’ you and your vision, can save lots of time and frustration
• Giving opportunities to people in your own community
• Easy to build long term relationship for future projects
• More likely to be committed to you and your project than a stranger might be

Cons

• You would need to manage all aspects of the project yourself
• Potential disputes could cause friction if it’s someone you know

In Conclusion…

Writing and publishing a book is a magical experience, and working with the right illustrator can enhance that experience – and your book – in wonderful ways.