Breaking into the biz

[richardgregory]

I've been a designer for around 6 yrs professionally + BA and really find gig poster design the one thing design-wise I can do for 1000 years and not burn out. So I've started building a press and getting supplies together

I've spoken to a bunch of regional venues and all of them(well, the ones who have responded) have never even considered venue posters and don't have nor considered the budget for this.

Is there something I'm missing from the equation? Do most designers build concert posters for resale and the art is overhead? Or does it vary client to client? Venue or artist or both?

Any advice on this will be very helpful...

[dspring]

try the search button... this has been answered about 50 times

[Skully]

Contact the bands, and they can use your posters as merchandise. I believe Kozik started the model where a percentage of the run goes to the band, and the artist resells the rest to recoup costs. Only a small percentage of artists really make money doing this, though. You might check older posts on this site; there are a billion different discussions regarding this here.

[mikeage]

If in that scenario the band is given free posters how could they not make money? Unless they're paying people to take them.

[richardgregory]

10-4 thanks

[JustinHelton]

You should be paid for printing and designing...giving bands free posters makes it harder to get bands to pay you later on. Think about it...do you really want to put 10 or so hours into something that may not even make you a dime? Make sure to handle yourself with professionalism and people will take you seriously.

[SkatRadioh]

Do it for friends that you are confident in working with, but don't let what you're doing for them be vague. You're doing something they aren't willing/capable of for hours, hours and hours. Adding to what Justin said you'll prolly hate everything pretty quickly if you do too much for free. It is also worth it to take into consideration that what you put into it at first may make a promising portfolio. However, you said you've got experience as a designer, so as long as you get the printing down and can handle it, looking for the paying jobs should be a priority.

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