The crazy year that 2020 was, CartoonistForHire.com still managed to receive many Job Requests. While it was certainly a difficult year for many, several freelance artists enrolled at CartoonistForHire.com stated 2020 was their busiest year. Several factors may have played a role in this. For example, business closures and layoffs forced many people to stay home where they now had the time to create new ventures requiring the creation of business logos. Others finally began to create the book they have always dreamed of by requesting cover art and children's book art. In addition, the tumultuous year in American politics inspired many first-time clients to order a custom editorial or political cartoon they wanted to share on social media or have published in print.
With so much activity, CartoonistForHire.com collected valuable information in the event it may be useful in directing any freelance artist's business.
The attached graph shows the percentage of Art Requests being sought by clients who sought a freelance artist at CartoonistForHire.com. Of course this is not how many jobs in total were actually completed and paid, since it is only jobs that we know were being sought, and we do not know how many Job Requests come directly to each freelance artist enrolled in the site. The advantage of CartoonistForHire.com over any other art-for-hire site is the fact we do not require clients set up accounts, so this inspires more first-time customers, or casual clients. Because there are no "accounts" we do not monitor actual messages, prices, or any correspondence between the artist and their customers. It has always been important to us that each artist create their own business without interference.
What the attached graph reveals is the relative comparison of what category of illustration jobs are being requested. The numbers along the left are percentages of 100%. Other details worth mentioning are:
1) Comic Books: This includes both cover creation only and interior story pages. It also includes parody covers with family members as characters. It is not uncommon to see this percentage so high as many people have aspirations for creating a comic book series, yet many do not know how costly this endeavor may be. Often these inquiries do not lead to actual paying work.
2) Char. Design has been abbreviated from Character Design and includes requests from clients seeking their own gaming character illustrated, or a series of costumes for their superhero comic creation, or the beginning sketches for a new children's book character.
3) Political Cartoon is exceptionally high in 2020 due to the American Presidential Election year. Worth noticing is it is a different category than editorial cartoons, which is more reserved for social issues that are not connected to political party affiliation.
4) Mascot Creation includes business logo characters, or actual sports team mascots, or any invention of a specific illustrated character for uses other than fictional storytelling (which would be Character Design).
5) Clip Art & Other collects an art assignment that is otherwise uncategorizable or with a use that is random and one-of-a-kind, outside the other categories. This may include, for example, a car portrait or cartoon map of a downtown business district.
Perhaps this information will prove to be insightful for anyone developing a career as a Cartoonist For Hire!
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