How Do Artists Work with Clients?

We’ve all heard the terrible experiences some artists have dealt with when it comes to working with clients. It doesn’t all have to be bad, there are so many good experiences you can have with clients too.

That’s why we want to walk you through our process of working with clients, and how you can create a customer journey for your clients that’ll leave everyone walking away after a project feeling good.

Katie and I are both lettering artists, and we’ve worked on projects range from magazine covers, patterns for bike shorts. Each project brings a new set of challenges, and a ton of creativity.

Some clients find us on Pinterest, others on Instagram, and a lot of clients find us through referrals. Let’s start from the beginning!

What to Ask Your Potential Client as an Artist

Over email, we like to send over a few questions to make sure we’re a good fit.

• Do you have a timeline you need to work within?

• Do you have a specific budget in mind?

If we can’t work within their timeline or budget, I don’t want to waste their time diving deeper into the project. If it’s a good fit, we’ll schedule a call to learn more about them and the project!

Once on the phone, we go over all of the details and have an understanding of the goals and expectations to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Sending them a Pitch Deck

When you have enough information from your call with them, you can send over a pitch deck.

Your pitch deck should include all of the information gathered from the initial interaction, the project scope, samples of work that are aligned with their project’s style, the estimate, and the timeline.

You can use Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, or even Canva! This will help ensure everyone is on the same page. We suggest you create a template to tweak as inquiries come in because every client is different.

Want to learn more about how we create a pitch deck? Watch our video below!

When to Start Client Projects

We HIGHLY suggest that you don’t start a project until you have the contract signed and deposit paid.

So when your pitch deck has been approved, you can send over a formal contract to have them sign.

We use the contracts from our Contract Kit for Artists which I’ll link here! It takes about 20 minutes to fill in a client’s information and update the scope of work.

Once the contract is signed, we’ll send over an invoice using Quickbooks! There are tons of other great platforms for invoicing, but Quickbooks has worked great over the years!

Ilana goes over more invoicing tips in the video linked below!

Presenting Your Project to Clients

When we present a design, we like to send it in another deck where we explain the thought process behind the work.

Creating a pitch deck for this will not only look professional, but it makes the designs look extra fresh.

It’s also nice to do this part live, over a Zoom screen share if the clients are available, or if the project seems like it would benefit from that type of experience.

Delivering Final Art Files

Before delivering the final files of the project, make sure the final invoice is paid!

Then, you’ll have to make sure everything is organized, labeled, packaged, and easy to understand.

Once the project is finalized, we like to send a thank you gift! Something like a handwritten card, or a custom box with things they’ll love… This is a great way to show you were listening & that you care!

Remember, always over-deliver when you can!

Don’t forget to keep in touch, networking can go a long way. And you never know who they might know and refer your way!

Want to hear the whole process? Watch our latest video where Ilana goes in-depth on our entire client workflow.