How Do I Finish My Children’s Book in 2 ½ Months?

[Jake Parker]

Art by Kim Rosenlof

Do Illustrators love their jobs as much as Graphic Designers? How do you make great art on a HARD deadline? And what’s the secret to managing opportunity cost? This week, Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry discuss the answers to these questions as well as offer NFT updates.

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[Asyas_illos]

Omg you guys made me cry laugh this episode!

[Janette]

@Jake-Parker I started listening to the podcast and had to switch to watching it on YouTube so I could see the cry laughing lol

Also, I'm currently working on a 32 page book I started in March and am due to get finished by end of this Month. I'm a bit worried I've not done it correctly if I shouldn't have been able to do it that fast!! I am doing it for a self publisher who hasn't made any major changes, so maybe that's it. I felt like when I was in college doing photo devolopment in a dark room and I was finishing way ahead of everyone else, but later realised that was because I was skipping a whole step. lol.

[xin li]

I love the opportunity cost question, and Will´s answer to that. Thank you so much

[kaitlinmakes]

Lee White! You’re killing me! Graphic Designers legit have passion! Cracking me up

[ajillustrates]

As a full-time graphic designer (for the last 13 years) who has worked with many graphic designers and is friends with graphic designers, I have to completely side with Lee on this one. By and large, in my experience, graphic designers do not hang around and do graphic design for fun. They actually prefer hanging out and complaining about their clients or marketing/advertising/creative directors over a couple of drinks

Making logos for fun or on spec does happen from time to time, but I no truer words have ever been said by @Lee-White : no one is making a brochure "for fun." If you're making self generated design work, it's to overhaul or beef up your portfolio, which always feels like work.

All that to say, this is a great episode, and the argument about graphic design was the highlight!

[jakecrowe]

@ajillustrates haha complaining about clients for sure! I’ve also been in the field for about 15 years and there are a few I’ve come across that do like Jake said, spend a night making a cool logo for nothing but their portfolio. But yeah, I don’t know anyone designing letterhead for the hell of it.

[Melissa_Bailey]

@Janette if this helps, in my experience, self-publishers expect a MUCH quicker turnaround. And if your client requests a fast turnaround, plan the project accordingly, which means that the illustrations may need to be simplified or you may have to work in a style that can be executed efficiently in order to deliver work on time for a project with a tight deadline.

You can look at it like you're getting some good experience working under a tight deadline, and that will be helpful as you move forward. And I've also found that every project teaches me something that I can implement going forward -- or learn not to do going forward!

[lizardillo]

@ajillustrates I agree with the client part

From being a graphic designer for about 17 years too, I can say that 85-90% of the work is not that much fun. The other 15-10% is when you can draw stuff

Unless people think that having to adhere to brand guidelines that are so tight that you have to work out the margins, font size and spacing by the x-height of the logo and then it’s safe area, working out the tracking and line spacing by the position of the moon, if you’re a dog or a cat person and whether it’s a Wednesday is fun

Nah, it’s not that bad really... you get to create logos too.

[ajillustrates]

@lizardillo Your summation of the career is spot on! That’s why work illustration and animation into my design jobs as much as possible