Fresh off the press and delivered to the door, The Directory of Illustration no. 25 hosts my ad for 2009 on page 306. For those of you who don’t warm yourselves by the fire of the graphics industry, The Directory is a nationally distributed source book of illustrators delivered to 20,000 art buyers all over the country.
Last year, I blogged about the conundrum of advertising in books like this when my ad for 2008 was published in volume no. 24. Ultimately, I have found it to be a worthy investment in the long term for my business. These books are always hardcover-bound, printed on high quality glossy coated stock, and contain some of America’s best illustrators working today. Art Directors and Designers have been known to hang on to these volumes for reference and inspiration for years.
The piece I used for this year’s ad was originally produced for an editorial about targeting online risk of theft in the banking industry. When asked how he found me, the Art Director said he saw some of my work from a previous Directory ad a while back, visited my portfolio online, and bookmarked my site for future reference. When he got this editorial that needed some art of little fantastical gremlins doing their worst to break into a huge, black safe, he remembered an artist who’d be perfect for the job—me.
I must say, I love illustrating imaginative characters like this and I really like the dramatic angle and perspective I ended up doing. This turned out to be one of my favorite artworks in 2008, making it a solid choice for this year’s ad.
Just saw your ad in the Directory of Illustration. Very impressive work. You also have an interesting and informational blog.