Communicating a brief to a commercial illustrator is a difficult skill, but it’s one that’s vital to advancing from designer to art director. Digit shows you how to commission illustration that hits your budget and your message.

border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p> Communicating a brief to a commercial illustrator is a difficult skill, but it’s one that’s vital to advancing from designer to art director. Digit shows you how to commission illustration that hits your budget and your message. </p> <p> One of the keys to being a successful art editor or director is being able to marry sound creative judgement with well-honed communication skills, and nowhere is this twin demand more crucial than in the commissioning of illustrations. </p> <p> First, there is the initial judgement that a particular feature, product or brand would be best served by an original illustration, rather than photography or stock images. </p> <p> This consultative process will doubtless involve colleagues and maybe clients, and ensures that the reasoning behind the call for illustration is sound and that this is clearly communicated. </p> <p> That’s the easy part. Next comes the commission itself – the process that must translate your needs into a winning illustrative end product. In an editorial sphere, this means treading that fine line between giving an illustrator the creative freedom to do what they do best, yet ensuring their imagination doesn’t spirit them away. </p> <p> In other arenas – advertising and branding, for example – the process is even more demanding, because the art editor or director is shepherding a process that involves not only an illustrator but a client, too. </p> <p> And as well as the creative brief there may be usage rights and other terms and conditions to draw up. Running this process, rather than letting it run you, is the art of commissioning. Let’s see how it’s done. </p> <p> <h2>Branding</h2> </p> <p> <div class=inlineimage><img src= Print

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