Questions about the Schedule
Lesson 6 from: FAST CLASS: Working Successfully with Clients: A Class for Illustrators and DesignersLisa Congdon
Questions about the Schedule
Lesson 6 from: FAST CLASS: Working Successfully with Clients: A Class for Illustrators and DesignersLisa Congdon
Lessons
Class Introduction
02:41 2Be Prompt, Clear and Succinct
05:23 3Email Communication: What Works, What Doesn't
08:47 4What to Look for in an Assignment
06:39 5Red Flags
04:50 6Questions about the Schedule
03:24 7Fees & Negotiation
08:45 8How to Approach Bidding
02:50Navigating Contracts
03:30 10What Should Go Into a Contract?
08:27 11Negotiating Contracts
03:49 12The Pros and Cons of Having an Agent
06:30 13Phases of a Freelance Illustration or Design Job
02:01 14Sketch & Feedback Phases
05:01 15Ask Questions!
02:04 16Final Artwork Phase
02:21 17Dealing with Change in Scope
02:39 18Wrap Phase
02:06Lesson Info
Questions about the Schedule
let's talk a little bit about deadlines so oftentimes you'll find that and maybe this has happened for you before. One of the main reasons that you decline a job is because you don't have time in your schedule and sometimes that's not because you're swamped with other professional obligations. It's because it's june and you're about to go on vacation with your family or your son is graduating or um or maybe it's because somebody and your, your mom is having surgery and you've committed to help her whatever. So I always think it's important to ask about deadlines because sometimes deadlines can be flexible in addition to fees. Um, deadlines are also something that you can negotiate. It's the number one reason we decline jobs because we don't, especially when you get busy in your professional life. Okay. So questions to ask about the schedule. What is it? So is the client clear what the schedule is or are they vague get them to be clear? Are there rough sketches or preliminary work too? ...
If you're a photographer, do they want like some concepts or you know, whatever. When are those do, how long do you think each of the project phases will take? Ask the client this, you know, how long does the client think they'll take? And how did those mesh? Like if the client's expectation is that you finish a certain number of something in a period of time but that seems like a stretch to you or that it's gonna be super stressful. That's something you need to pay attention to do. I have time to meet the client's expectations. What else do I have going on during that time. I'm also teaching a class on workflow and time management. One of the things we're gonna talk about is you know, surveying everything on your plate at a given time to make sure you're not over committing. If they seem like a stretch the deadlines that is can they be adjusted? In many cases, deadlines correspond with launch date so they can't beat. So this is especially true like in advertising or product launches thing. These things have been planned months and months in advance and they're on a very tight schedule. So the deadline is the deadline is also sometimes true in publishing but with many clients it's their very arbitrary. Last week I got uh email from somebody wanted me to design a mural and they said oh you know we'd like you to do this because we'd like to paint it in june and I there's no way I could have done it in the next month because I have too much going on. So I put it out there that I couldn't do it because the timeline was going to work for me. But I would be really excited to work for the client later in the summer. And as it turned out they needed it done in june. But I've also been in situations where the client has come back and said, oh great we can push this off, we're not in, you know this is not a must do thing. We'd love to work with you, so we're going to work with your your schedule. So the first thing you want to always ask is is the deadline flexible, especially if you can't work in the deadline. Okay. They are often arbitrary. They can often be moved so always fine to ask.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase