Sounds like “Safely approaching an artist in the wild” or something, but nothing else short came to mind, so… my question is this:
I’m at the point in my project where I need to find someone to do some artwork. In all the years I’ve worked on various game projects I’ve never gotten to the point where I’ve felt like I could or should bother someone with my half-done project (or it was simple enough I could do it myself). But my programmer art is no longer cutting it this time.
So I’d like to know what’s the best way to approach an artist with a project proposal? Should it be someone who has specifically said they’re looking for a project? Or is it rude to direct message someone I follow on Twitter (or here), for example?
What should the initial interaction look like? Should I ask if they are open to a query? Or start off with a project summary? Basically, what is the most professional way to open up that relationship?
I wouldn’t consider it rude to reach out to someone who has asked- it’s how I’ve gotten jobs previously. Show your project upfront, and everything you would require them to do if possible. I’m a big fan of details- and the more each person in the interaction knows, the smoother the production of assets will be.
So-
Introduce yourself.
Introduce your project
Break that project down in to details
Be upfront about everything you can be
If I see a proposal that’s well introduced and neatly broken down so I know before I even accept what it would require, then that’s a good proposal. Anything that barely describes the project and leaves no details gets thrown out.
I’ve trapped a few wild artists using cool prototypes. Post prototypes and your portfolio on some game development groups on skype or discord.
Like @HolBol said, introduce yourself and the project. Preferably have a prototype ready and a history of games created so they can take you seriously rather than just disregard you because they see it as a waste of their time if you just quit mid-way through because you’re tired or bored.
Make sure to include why they should help you, why they should take time away from working on personal projects or personal art piece, and make your proposal unique, I’m sure many artists are asked regularly to help on projects.
Oh and big no no is saying you can’t discuss the project because you’re scared they might steal it… Come on, you can’t expect someone to even consider you with such ambiguity.
I wish you luck on capturing a wild artist they are hard to catch. Use reinforced steel rope because they have a tendency of chewing right through regular rope.
No worries there. I don’t even know how you could expect someone to come up with a consistent visual concept without knowing details about the project. And the whole “work for free” thing is out as well. You get what you pay for as they say.
"Hi. I’m working on project xxx which is brief description of project. I’m in need of an artist to do some specific tasks. This is a paid position.
I saw some item of online work which made me think this might be right up your alley. Would you be interested?"
It covers off the key points
What your project is
What you want done
That the work is paid
Why you think they would be suitable
It’s surprising how many people leave out one of those details. Do a little homework on the freelancer first. Nothing turns me off quite like random spam requests. Here are some bad examples:
I’ve got requests to work onsite on Amsterdam, when I clearly have Melbourne, Australia plastered across the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I could relocate for the right money. But I’m not paying to move.
I’ve had requests for projects so secret that I’ve been asked to sign contracts before even knowing the genre. I’ll pass.
I’ve had collaboration requests on genres I’m not interested in. If you want collaboration, you’ve got to pick someone who is naturally interested in the game you are building.
An artist will have a site, and the site is very likely to have a contact information specifically for contract work.
Something along the lines of:
“Hello, my name is XYZ of project ABCD, we’re/I’m looking for an artist do this or that thing (details below). Would you be interested in working on that and for how much? Details: <1 or 2 pages of details> — Best regards, XYZ.”
Should do.
At least that’s how I’d go about it. Might be a bit cut and dry and business like, but it should work.
If you’re looking for unpaid volunteers, then you’ll need an “Amazing Prototype ™” which will make their creative skills itch.
Since this is paid work, another thing to consider is asking other developers who work with contract artists if there’s anyone you would recommend they contact.
As an example, the guy who runs S.F. Bay Studios said in a Unite talk he works with a really good character modeler. If you’re looking for those same type of models, you’d know the artist already can do quality work.
In short, if someone was asking you to do programming for a project, how would you expect to be approached? Then, what about that would change to account for art skills rather than programming skills? The “some specific tasks” in @Kiwasi 's post above is pretty much it.
If they’re interested then you start a two-way discussion of further details.
The same way you approach anyone for business. You’re not asking for an intimate relationship. (That said though, if you are, the business approach also works).
While we’re on the topic, I can say from experience that one of the worst things to do when you’re dealing with an artist is to basically give them a free hand over the look of things, and then be all unhappy with the result once a lot of work has been done. There’s nothing wrong with critiqueing the art until it’s right, it’s not like you’re critiqueing somebody’s soul. After all, the whole point is to make art that you like, not that the artist likes, and the artist can’t read your mind. Unlike programming, the utility that you get from art is (for all intents and purposes) subjective and you have to be prepared to be very communicative so you can get exactly what you’re after.
The same is true of coding too, at least as a freelancer. Its surprising how many people ask for code without a game design. You can go a long way down the wrong path if you start coding without appropriate design parameters and constraints.
That said when working with an artist I like to give them more freedom, rather then less. After all, I’m not just paying for a few images/models, I’m paying for the artist’s style and experience. If I knew exactly what I wanted, I could just put the pixels down myself. The key to solving this is to communicate early and often.
I guess my point is that, in my experience doing art for other people’s games, regardless of what they say (i.e., “Just do what you think is right”), they usually have a reasonably clear idea of what they actually want (or, in some cases, don’t want). But it can be very difficult to get out of them early on what exactly that idea is. It’s as if they’re sitting at their computer rubbing their temples and hoping that the universe will somehow give you the right idea.
Nowadays if I’m doing art for someone, I interrogate them until I think I have a grasp on what they want, which usually involves ignoring half a dozen "That’s ok, do whatever you like"s until they come out with a tentative attempt to put into words something that is pretty different from what I otherwise would have chosen. And when this happens things invariably turn out well, whereas if I just choose something on my own I sometimes get a polite and stilted “Thanks for that, looks great, but ” - at which point I give them a polite lesson on making sure people know what you want to begin with, and proceed to have to pretty much start from scratch.
I think that there’s a little bit of a notion out there that since the ‘correct’ result in art is a bit of an airy-fairy concept, it’s ok to go to an artist with an airy-fairy idea of what you want and just iterate on it, which isn’t great for the artist, unless you’re charging by the hour I suppose.
To be fair, I think there’s definitely a skill that you can build up as an artist to determine indirectly what would fit most people’s idea of ‘correct’ art for a given circumstances, but it’s not always a useful measure when the other person turns out to have a specific taste.
I don’t disagree with you there. That back and forth is a very important part of working with an artist.
I guess what I’m saying is I look for the artist to be a huge part of defining the look and style of the game. I have in my head an experience I wish to create. I know what emotions I want to evoke in the player. Its up to the artist to do things like suggest a colour pallet or art style to match that experience.
I normally go through a bunch of prototypes and concepts with the artist too. This helps to cut down rework later.
The problem is that a lot of times people don’t know how to communicate that experience that they want, and without having a grasp on it you can’t do a good job consistently. I’ve found the best way, like you say, is to just have a lot of back and forth at the beginning with reference images and stuff like that, and I try to get people to just talk about the game which usually gives me a lot of useful information indirectly.
I like to think that dealing with this sort of thing is like managing a long-distance relationship, you have to be very explicit and say things clearly that you otherwise might have assumed the other person already knows, because there’s a lot of context that’s not going down the line.
So anyway, for the OP I would just say that I think the most important thing is that if you have notions about your game, lay them out even if you aren’t sure you’re being clear or even coherent. Describe them any way you can. There’s a lot that an artist can do with a little bit of information.
I think a good idea might be to first ask if they have enough money to pay for your work. No point in discussing stuff for hours if they can’t afford it.
Great discussion everyone, and thank you all for your input so far. I guess there’s nothing too surprising in your answers, but I wanted some confirmation for how I was thinking about it. @Kiwasi , that’s a great template! Thank you.
If you’re going to work with an artist, the approaching part shouldn’t hurt his or her sensitivity at all. You wont be rude. It’s later on, once you’re working together, which is when the work criticism comes, that you can work on having a good communication, and be able to tell him or her, what things need to change in the art they come up with, without being hurtful :-p
This happens far too often. But at the end of the day, the only person that really loses there is the one pitching the project. If you’re asking for a whole game to be coded, or even just a section of it, you must absolutely have a thorough and detailed document describing what exactly is required, and that document should be ready before your each out at all. That doesn’t mean it can’t change in the future, but it at least gives you a clear goal.
Though what @Billy4184 said should be true, there’s a surprising number of people that ask for work without making sure the money is there and set aside to pay for it. It’s not good enough to have money and then as soon as you need to be paid suddenly not have that money, or a portion of it.
Along with approaching - the artist should be evaluated while discussing/reviewing proposed content.
If an artist has no or very few questions to ask regarding the project tasks they might not be as ‘experienced’ or fluent in the subject matter as presented. Artist worth there salt should have at least 10 questions - even for simple flat side-on or top-down low res sprites - we will think up CRAZY things while pondering on a concept/design.
Asking questions is always important to find answers to those hidden points of interest that can drastically modify the results of an artists work.
Describing in detail the emotional feeling you hope to deliver is useful (especially with animation). Consider strongly how you want the player to react to set pieces, moments in the game, and the overall feeling and flow of the game, and relay this in detail to the artist. This is especially true when the artist will be working on elements of a moment that are in sharp contrast to the overall feeling of the game.
Always when able - provide reference for the artist, color, style, motion, composition, dimensions etc etc. There is nothing better for an artist to see something similar - with descriptions of differences in what you want compared to the reference. Motion references are golden.
If looking for a contractor - strongly suggest flat rates for tasks as opposed to hourly. Flat rates are fair to both client and artist. The client will not have to pay more if the artist is slow, and the artist will be rewarded by being productive and committed.
Strongly consider milestone payments for tasks that have many stages - character creation, most 3D creation.