Variations

From time to time I am asked about other types of work that require a drawing or illustration.

Some of these can be odd and crazy but mostly people ask about logo design.

So when people call about such work, I have to explain that although I can do what they are asking, I need to discover exactly what they want. They may have an idea but usually I am asked to do a logo or caricature to be used on business cards or to be used to be printed onto a vehicle and the person asking is not really sure what they want or how to go about getting it done.

They search on the internet and find my website and then contact me.

The problem is that they will normally have a very small budget or none at all and expect me to do it for the exposure!

So from carpenters to bands, to individuals who have designed the next hit board game, I have a variety of requests.

One such a few years ago was for a business idea three entrepreneurs had about a consultancy business.

They wanted to provide a seminar on how to make the right first impression (they should have heeded their own advice).
The name of this new business was Cryptic Frog.

I had drawn for one of the entrepreneurs at his daughters wedding and he thought I would be perfect to produce the logo that they required. They were desperate, apparently and needed to the logo like yesterday. This was due to the fact that they wanted to get their website for the business up and running on the web. We talked and he gave me the brief and we agreed a price which I thought was very fair.

After many revisions I managed to meet their brief perfectly and they were very happy.

The problem was actually getting the money form them. They had paid me a retainer at the very beginning and this gave me confidence as well as the fact that one of them had hired me before for his daughters wedding. But getting the balance took a nearly a year and over that time I understood that they had a nice idea but were out of their depth and really were unable to deliver. It was a shame as I was also interested in helping on the idea and attended a meeting about it during the time I was waiting for my money.

Above is my first draft sketch for the idea. This one I really liked myself but it was rejected as they wanted a simple line drawing. I cannot find the final file but the other one below is the final agreed image of a frog as the logo but with my own text added for fun!

The only aspect to this type of work that I do not enjoy is the money side. Waiting to get paid is horrible and sometimes you wonder if they will ever pay up! If they paid up front or at least on time as agreed then it would be much much better!

Hope you like the frog drawings!