I’m so excited to share a behind-the-scenes peek at my collaboration with Bloom and Wild, the UK’s Most Loved Online Florist! I’ve been doing custom art projects for over a decade, so I’ve learned a lot about how to run custom jobs (and what to avoid to prevent burnout and regret!).
If you’ve only been designing for print-on-demand or licensing your artwork, you might be wondering what it’s like to take on custom surface design projects. So I’ll be sharing some behind-the-scenes peeks at this lovely collaboration, and talk about how you can apply these concepts to your future custom jobs. These jobs are often collaborative, inspiring, and creatively flexible—and they can be a great way to diversify your income as an artist (if structured properly of course). Let’s dive in!
Why Do Custom Projects?
Custom projects give you the chance to get outside of your comfort zone and stretch your creative skills and style. They often come with a higher price tag than licensing or passive income models since the companies can have the ability to produce hundreds or even thousands of units of each design. Whether you’re designing patterns, hand lettering, or illustrations, you can find custom art projects to fill in the gaps where your print on demand income may be lacking!
BTS: My collaboration with Bloom and Wild has allowed me to hand letter in German, fulfilling one of my biggest creative dreams of lettering in other languages!
What Kind of Artists Enjoy Custom Projects?
If you enjoy working closely with people, thrive with clear deadlines, and like designing within specific creative briefs, custom projects might be your sweet spot. These jobs are ideal for artists who enjoy solving visual problems and creating work with a purpose and audience in mind.
Custom art is not great for artists who like to have a very loose and open process or don’t feel comfortable being direct with clients about dates, prices, or the agreed-upon aspects of a contract. Not every artist is as assertive as they need to be for custom projects, so it’s important to assess your personality and make sure you are ready to stand up for yourself or deliver some difficult news if necessary!
BTS: With this custom project and each one I do, I set clear deadlines and expectations and then stick to them. I always give myself a little wiggle room with the dates just in case I have a sick kid or something else that prevents me from getting the work done on time. I have plenty of creative projects in my life that are loose and open in terms of dates and process, but when it comes to custom work, I am strict with my time and structure!
How to Find Clients
There are two ways to find opportunities to do custom work: Passive and Active.
Passive involves spreading your artwork around the Internet on your website, social media, print-on-demand, and anywhere else you can imagine to get your work found. This requires a lot of SEO work with great tags, titles and descriptions, and typically involves a large volume of artwork output. This is my personal favorite method as I’m already doing this for my print-on-demand work, so client work just ends up being a side benefit!
Active outreach involves finding companies that are in need of custom work and pitching to them with a PDF or webpage. This is great for someone who enjoys the pitching process and is happy to go back-and-forth on email with clients to discuss details before signing a contract. (This is my least favorite method as I don’t like spending my time typing on a computer and would much rather just make a ton of art and put it out on the Internet as “bait”!)
Note that licensing pitches often result in custom work! I can’t tell you how many times I have pitched artwork to a company and they’ve said “no thank you, but will you make this custom art for us?”. So be prepared to negotiate custom projects even if you’re just pitching your collections for licensing! You can learn more about the many paths to success in surface design in this post (licensing pitch turned custom work is just one example!).
BTS: Most of my client work (including this one) is found through my Etsy shop and other print-on-demand shops. These sites have great SEO, and all we have to to do is plug our art into them to get found! Learn more about my Etsy shop and process here.
How to Stand Out
Niche down. Do you design for eco-conscious brands? Vintage-inspired packaging? Feminine stationery? When clients see a strong visual identity and a clear point of view, they’re more likely to remember and reach out.
Bonus tip: share behind-the-scenes content to show your process and personality. Companies are not just buying the art, they are buying the interesting story that working with an artist tells!
BTS: Bloom and Wild loved the way my funky lettering interacts with the loose florals I draw, and other companies have made similar comments when they reach out to me. The more bold and funky your art is (especially in the AI age) the more it stands out from the crowd.
What to Avoid
Avoid vague timelines, unclear pricing, and over-promising. Make sure you use a contract that defines deliverables (or the company provides one), deadlines, revision rounds, and usage rights. Don’t skip this—even for friends! I have learned this the hard way!
Before I created structured custom jobs, I would get stuck in the loop of tweaking colors endlessly to make the work “a little more jazzy”. When the structure of the job is clear, the client will work to get the project done within the confines of your structure.
BTS: I believe in under-promising and over-delivering, so I typically deliver more color versions, thumbnail sketches, or additional ideas than we originally agree upon.
How to Deliver
Create a clear design proofing process. Deliver layered files if agreed upon, or flat files only if that’s what the project requires (every company will need something different so make sure to clarify!). Offer helpful mockups so the client can visualize the final product. And always hit your deadline—or communicate early if there’s a hiccup.
BTS: After I delivered my first design on time, Bloom and Wild asked me to create a German translation of it. This led to more cards, and as the company sees how they can trust my timeliness and consistency, they feel inspired to take on more cards together!
How to Build Relationships
Follow up after the project ends. Share how their final product turned out (tagging them on social media), ask for a testimonial, or send a small thank-you note or gift. Good client relationships lead to repeat work, referrals, and collaborations that grow your business. Ideally, you will only be pitching your work for the first few years of building your business, then the pitches will start coming to you. At that point, you may be so busy with your regular clients that you have to say no!
BTS: I love sharing about my collaborations through my mailing list and Instagram, and I always make sure to tag the company so they know I am sharing about their products.
How to Say No
I am fortunate and thankful to be at the point in my career where I have to say no to a lot of custom projects. I have certain rules for myself about the kind of companies I want to work with, the kind of pricing I will accept, and the deadlines that work for me. Everything else is a no (and I often refer them to other artist friends who I think would be interested)!
In the beginning, it was very hard for me to say no to projects, because after years of struggling to make money from my art, it felt foolish to say no to a single dollar. Now I realize that every time I say no to a project I don’t want, I am saying yes to a better project that will be fulfilling and help me grow as an artist. Here is to saying no more often, so we can say yes to the work we want to make!
Come learn how to get your art found
- Stop waiting for clients and buyers to come to you, and find them through tested SEO strategies.
- Understand how to build searchability into your art.
