The reality of being taken advantage of as an artist by companies big and small was one I had forgotten about. I have however been reminded of this practiced conundrum recently by others venting their frustrations and thought I would share my thoughts with you.
I remember in my early years here in South Africa having to deal with many advertising agencies who were constantly trying to get art at low rates that would only suit their financial needs. On some occasions they would even try get the art for free, stating that the project they are working on for the client is being done “pro bono” (without charge). How is any of that the artists concern at all? It’s not. Then on top of it, experiencing late payment was far too common, often averaging waiting times of least 2 months or more. It’s absolutely ridiculous when they have their strict and tight deadlines that the artist has no choice but to grind hard to meet.
Companies have learnt that they can bend the business relationship almost completely in their favour with 99% of artists. But why? Because all too many artists, (especially those starting out), don’t have the courage to negotiate. This ends up with artists just going along with the instructions given to them to satisfy the clients needs in fear of potentially losing out on the job. This happens a lot when also dealing with larger, more intimidating companies with all their seemingly rigid company terms and conditions. Terms and conditions that are ONLY rigged in the companies favour. It’s very unfair indeed, but this is also what artists allow. The whole nature of this unbalanced business relationship has been set up because too many artists do not have the self-worth to step forward outside of their fears with their own boundaries/terms. Terms that simply cover them in a fair manner.
In the first few years of freelancing for various companies, it reached a point where I was producing a high standard of art which kept the clients returning and word-of-mouth spreading. I however was still being met with the same frustrating payment situations. Luckily this was not always the case since some companies, (film production houses in particular) were actually a pleasure to deal with from the start to finish (shoutout to the South African Velocity Films!). Advertising agencies? …Omg, the absolute worst. Eventually, I had had enough… This is where I began setting my own terms and conditions or else I simply was not going to get involved with the client. If they tried to challenge mine with their own terms and conditions, they were more than welcome to find another artist. I had no choice but to stick up for myself of pay the consequences of being taken advantage of. This was now when I finally started being taken seriously. [A key point to add is that if you are desperate for work and act in such a manner, you have now rigged the situation against yourself and will almost certainly be taken advantage of].
Finally, I was now being paid before sending ad agency clients the original hi-res art files (once approval of small low-res files were confirmed). I was also being paid the rates that I set that I knew my art was worth. The days of being taken advantage of were now (mostly) over.
It however was not too long until they stopped returning for work. Totally understandable as I was no longer just a cheap artist willing to bow down to all their needs and sacrifice my own. Developing business relationships is a team union that needs to work fairly in both ways. Allowing yourself to get involved in relationships (of any kind) where there is an unfair imbalance to your detriment, you better think twice about what you are doing with your life.
As the local work I was doing started to reduce, be turned down and eventually fade away completely, I was already shifting naturally to far greater opportunities. This was when international work started spontaneously increasing and it was actually work that connected with my souls desires - character art! Most of all, these international companies trusted my artistic vision and allowed me to be free to create as I desire (within certain guidelines of course).
Starting to build my career on an international level did not however do away with unfair business practises. It was still a thing I had to be aware of. Since I was still in the early stages of building my career, there was a certain amount I felt was necessary to allow. Even though the pay was not great on certain jobs, there was one rule I stood by - To always do my best regardless. As a result, I kept growing my skills and as a result of that, rate increases was something I made sure to raise with my clients. Some were flexible, others were not. This lead me to try figure out what would be my best move forwards. Luckily most of the time my assessments and resulting judgments would work out fine but I honestly did make a few mistakes along the way, which is just part of the learning process.
Another rule I stood by was that if I got to work on a cover job that really connected with my soul (but I knew the financial return would be much less than the value of the art and time involved), I would still do it with absolute pleasure. There are well known companies however that pay disrespectfully low rates. Those companies I will never allow myself to get involved with, so know your limits!
One thing to note is that in the beginning (as your career grows exponentially), you might need to accept more jobs than you may be willing to. As your income starts growing however, (along with the demand for your art), this is when you are in the position to be more selective about the jobs you choose. This means you will need to build up the courage to decline job offers that you simply don’t vibe with or comfortably have the time for. How a potential client makes you feel in terms of their communication and the requests made is another thing you’ll have to learn to pay attention to. If you don’t agree with what is being asked for and things just feel “off”, PAY ATTENTION to that. Paying attention to your gut instincts is a very important ability to be aware of when dealing with anyone.
In conclusion, When growing your experience and career, allowing yourself to get involved with all the messy frustrating challenges is a vital part of the your growth. It’s actually crucial. This is where you will learn. It’s part of becoming more self-aware as to where your weaknesses lie (and therefore to be dealt with) which is absolutely fundamental as your foundation in relationships of any kind. This then gives you the position to understand more clearly what you need to work on towards building the best versions of yourself. This is all towards building greater stability, confidence and awareness to handle relationships from a broader perspective with calm clarity. A calm clarity that fairly factors in both sides with your own healthy boundaries. You also want to avoid swinging to the extreme opposite of being over-entitled where you set the business equation unfairly in your favour. Ego-awareness and how to manage such a thing is its own fundamental art in relationships and requires a deeper level of self-awareness.
Remember that we are all human and are all trying to do our best to get by in this lifetime with our given life circumstances. Life can be a harsh place. This leaves all too many of us in the lower natures of survival-mode, which is all about serving our own selfish needs. This very nature too often cut us off from even having the ability to consider others when pursuing our needs. This is not to be taken personally, however this is where firm boundary setting is crucial. The best we can do is build ourselves up with confidence, to be as aware and as compassionate with others as possible while knowing when to keep our distance respectfully and you will have a smoother ride through this chaotic world - also known as the training grounds of the soul.