Illustrator : Employers and vacancy sources

Most illustrators work as self-employed freelance artists, although trend forecasting (fashion) and computer games companies do provide a limited number of opportunities for full-time employment.

Illustrators need to market their work to potential employers. The market base will depend on the type of work an illustrator does, and illustrators may be employed in a number of different areas. Freelancers are increasingly using illustrator agents to generate and market their work.

Advertising agencies and design consultancies can provide very lucrative work. In the past, it was common for them to only commission well-established illustrators, but there is now an increasing trend towards finding fresh, new ideas amongst new graduates.

Corporate communications remains a viable market for illustration, although it is a competitive area and there is a slight trend (reflecting the current economic environment) towards firms using in-house design solutions to keep costs low, rather than turning to freelancers.

Another significant market is the children's book industry, which can be especially lucrative and satisfying for those with a talent for writing as well as illustrating. Anyone interested in this area of work should check childrensillustrators.com  for exclusive interviews with industry professionals worldwide.

Other markets include film posters, billboards, greetings cards, packaging, fine art posters, animated commercials, animated TV shows and short films and government information services (including health and education).

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Creative Review  
• Media Bugs  
• Mad  
• Creative Opportunities  
• a-n: The Artists Information Company  
• Artshole  
• childrensillustrators.com  
• The Creative Review Handbook  
• Design & Art Direction (D&AD)  
• Children's Writers and Artists Yearbook 
• Medical Artists' Association of Great Britain (MAA)  careers literature.
• Writers' and Artists' Yearbook  
• Guardian Jobs  

Recruitment agencies include Careers in Design , Profiles Creative  and Creativepool .

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.