Checklist for Crazy People

At the moment my hair is standing on end from all the work I have to accomplish before the end of winter break and before I graduate. But really, many of you I'm sure, are bored of hearing about this phenomenon because you are in the midst of a similar situation.

So I thought, maybe we could help each other out?

Below I have compiled links and advice on all of the things that I, and a possibly a few of you, have yet to accomplish. Do any of you have any tips for achieving meteoric success?
Please leave a comment below.

Not running around frantically trying to break into the professional art world by the end of the year?
Quite a few of these links are helpful for literally any artist looking to up their game.


 Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the "Checklist for Crazy People".

Design Professional Stationary and Business Cards

An entire youtube channel devoted to making you better at photoshop basics!
The videos are both hilarious and educational, highly recommend.
You Suck at Photoshop: The Tutorials

More Photoshop Tutorials

Turn your sketches into vector shapes in Illustrator


Update the Website
Improve your web design and typography with these beauties:

The basics of web design

Making your type look more interesting

I use wordpress for my personal site, so I will be checking this out as well.

Josh uses a combination of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and GoDaddy (although he has personal issues with their "tasteless" advertisements).


Start Networking Online
It is not necessary (or even recommended) to throw yourself into every one of the networking sites mentioned below, click around and see where you would be a good fit. The idea is that you expand your level of exposure, feel free to mix and match!

Tumblr (great for a work-in-progress style picture blog)

Twitter (build a fanbase and barrage them with links of your latest and greatest!)

BeHance (good utility for display many parts of a complicated project)

LinkedIn (sort of like Facebook for professionals without all the spam)

Facebook Fanpage (article on why you as an artist need to have one)

DeviantArt (believe it or not, this is still used widely by many professional artists, just avoid the furries)

The ArtOrder (excellent community for professional artists made by the Art Director of D&D)

ConceptArt.org (the original professional art networking site)

CGHub (not just for 3D but it is mostly used for digital painting as well)

idrawgirls.com (do you want to draw girls for a living?)

CreativeHeads.net (they send you job openings for free in a monthly e-mail)

Josh's 3.14 Cents (Awesome Related Articles):
But I’m an artist, and marketing is lame!

How to Create (and destroy) your Reputation Online as an Artist!


Update Art Director/Design Firm list:
Keep a list of Art Directors that terrify you to contact.
The time has come to actually contact them, or just hang out in record stores thinking about it!

Book/Editorial Illustration:
Has anyone noticed that independent bookstores tend to have better and more illustrated books and magazines?  Find these resources near you!

Band posters, CD's, Shirts and things:
I tend to take pictures on my phone of covers or posters and then check to see if the band/organization/corporation used a design agency or has an in house Art Director that chose the illustrator. Also, you could (I am working on doing this) email the band or their agent your portfolio or a piece you think would work on their gear personally.

Graphic Design Annuals are especially helpful for finding art directors but Illustration Annuals can allow you to backtrack and see what similar artists are working on.
Look for:
3x3mag.com
printmag.com
howdesign.com
cmykmag.com
aiga.org
commarts.com
ai-ap.com
and the Society of Illustrators annual


A word on contacting an Art Director:

Being that it is so easy to find and a way to contact an Art Director these days, it can seem like a great idea to send every art director whose contact information you find your bio, portfolio, and a message about how much you love them and need work immediately. But in general, it is better to ask them if they want to be contacted or what format they'd like your portfolio in before sending everything and waiting. They get hundreds of emails, not to mention postcards etc, everyday and a little courtesy might just be the thing that makes you stand out.  Including a link to your portfolio beneath your name in the e-mail is acceptable, but don't push anything without asking first.

Advice: Build a relationship before asking favors on social networking sites, and in the case of email, ask them what format they would like to view your portfolio (a link to your website, a pdf, printed, a link the gallery of your images you put together specifically for them?) and let them have a voice in it.


Expand Portfolio/Hone Skillset
Anything you ever wanted to know about Adobe products!
Tutorials covering nearly every design-related topic imaginable
A free internet education in Illustration.
Overview of Art Education Institutions as well as tons of Free Tutorials (tutorials sections is at the bottom)

Josh's 3.14 Cents:
9 Warning Signs of an Amateur Artist


Enter Illustration Competitions
Society of illustrators 2012 Student Competition


Get a Job/Commission.
An entire post about this subject in detail?
 We update every Wednesday!
Stay tuned.

Good Luck Everyone!
-Bridget Beorse