World Illustration Awards: Commissioner’s advice from Sam Arthur, CEO Nobrow

Sam Arthur, CEO of Nobrow, sponsors of the World Illustration Awards 2018 Books Category, gives his advice and tips to illustrators on approaching commissioners.

• Keep your communications short and to the point and reply to people in good time.
• Never miss a deadline. And if you are running late on a deadline communicate this as early as possible, not at the eleventh hour.
• Play to your strengths and be realistic about who you want to work for.
• Do your research about prospective clients, make sure you understand what they do and what they believe in.
• Get people’s names right.
• Spell check.
• Do not send circular emails asking for work instead tailor you approaches to prospective employers.
• Keep your social media/blogs up to date with as much current work as you can.

Sam Arthur is a founding partner and Director of Nobrow set up in 2008 as a narrative & graphic art publishing platform. Sam studied Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins and went on to direct commercials, music videos and short films before setting up Nobrow. Sam has seen the company grow from the two original founding partners to 15 employees with two offices, HQ in London and a sales office in New York. They currently publish around 35 books per year under two imprints: Nobrow (for adults) and Flying Eye Books (for children) and both are distributed all over the world. Their books include award-winning titles as well as critically acclaimed publications that define the picture book and art-comic genre.

Sam is also co-founder of the East London Comics & Arts Festival (ELCAF) now in its 7^th year. Sam sits on the board of directors of the Association of Illustrators, an independent professional body representing the interests of illustrators all over the world.

The deadline for the World Illustration Awards 2018 is 6 February.

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