Artists Reps

[Jesse]

Originally Posted by Frank Sparrow

not necessarily. i think artists that rep 20+ do, but the smaller ones tend to rep artists that seem to have their own specific venues and areas of business for their work. not a lot of overlap stylistically. but, the list of good reps that i've heard about is pretty short.

i think i can agree that it'd be helpful to have a rep to get into ad work, etc, but it seems easy enough to get into editorial by yourself. (still need to try this.) but then again, AA seems to be doing alright without a rep with the ad work they've been doing. (burger king, stella, etc.)

jesse, you mostly do postcards and then get recursive work off of repeat customers or off of publicity?

It's always possible for a rep to have a conflict of interest when they have more than one artist they represent. However, if they know what's good for them, they'll diversify the styles of their artists to have the "perfect" artist for any job that comes along. And in that regard, representing more than one artist can be a good thing--sort of a "one-stop-shopping" when a client is looking for art.

As for promotions, I've tried the postcard route twice--once by myself and once with my rep. Both times were a complete flop. Not a single job from it. My best advertisement is doing work I'm happy with.

[thenewyear]

Originally Posted by Jesse

It's always possible for a rep to have a conflict of interest when they have more than one artist they represent. However, if they know what's good for them, they'll diversify the styles of their artists to have the "perfect" artist for any job that comes along. And in that regard, representing more than one artist can be a good thing--sort of a "one-stop-shopping" when a client is looking for art.

As for promotions, I've tried the postcard route twice--once by myself and once with my rep. Both times were a complete flop. Not a single job from it. My best advertisement is doing work I'm happy with.

i'm happy with your work.
100 percent of the drumsticks is just fine. i dont eat chicken anyways.

if i could get a rep that would clean my apartment and go grocery shopping, that would be ideal.

[Jesse]

Originally Posted by thenewyear

if i could get a rep that would clean my apartment and go grocery shopping, that would be ideal.

I have my butler do it. He works WAAAYYYY cheaper than a rep ever would.

[Dusty!]

I think reps are a good fit for some folks and not so much for others.

Reps can get you in doors that you wouldn't have access to, and get your work in front of people that you don't have contact with.

Our work is now about 75% illustration all of that coming in from our rep. about 90% of that i can almost gaurentee we wouldnt have gotten with out him. One of the best things that a rep offers is the knowledge and know-how in pricing and contract negotiation. Turning jobs that we would have charged maybe $5000 for into $20k and 30k dollar jobs.

I think with enough time and experience you probably wouldn't need a rep, but working with someone that has a huge list of contacts that they have accumulated over the years, and years of negotiation experience... i dunno, its really a no loose situation if its a good fit.

As far as working with rep with more than 1 artist presenting a conflict of interest... I dont really think so, our dude reps 10 other artists, non of whom have a similar style as us. He is very upfront when jobs are presented to two people and that actually has only happened once and i knew from the beginning the other illustrator would get it as the project wasn't geared toward what we do.

But with an agency that reps 100 people, there is definitely a conflict. When i worked at a publisher, i would call about one artist and teh rep wouldnt try to steer me to a different one. Lame.

[Frank Sparrow]

honestly, i've only heard good things about seri levy, frank sturges, and chrystal at magnet reps. i'm sure there's other good ones, but all of these reps only manage 5-12 illustrators/arteeests.

[j]

Originally Posted by Dusty!

I think reps are a good fit for some folks and not so much for others.

You guys work with Sturges right? Franks a good guy, I've worked with him a lot in the past.

[Dusty!]

ya, we love frank, before he was repping us i hired one of his illustrators (gina triplett) for a book project, and he was by far one of the best reps i had worked with.

[El Negro Magnifico!]

Originally Posted by ryanaugust

We got a couple of those here already, don't we?

I used to be one!

[El Negro Magnifico!]

Originally Posted by Frank Sparrow

honestly, i've only heard good things about seri levy, frank sturges, and chrystal at magnet reps. i'm sure there's other good ones, but all of these reps only manage 5-12 illustrators/arteeests.

If any of you are interested, here's a 3 part audio interview with Chrystal:
http://www.illustrationmundo.com/audio/artist/64/
http://www.illustrationmundo.com/audio/artist/65/
http://www.illustrationmundo.com/audio/artist/66/

[braksandwich]

A good rep will seek out the best design contests for you.