Becoming a Freelance Illustrator

By Jay Schindler

One of the biggest markets where freelance work is done is in the field of designing and illustration. Defined as "doing a graphic design jobs for businesses to make their products sell via direct marketing," designing is becoming one of the growing markets where designers earn income by doing freelance work.

Indeed, words are powerful. But today, in a world where the any market becomes more and more competitive, images prove that they are even more powerful and forceful. This is because more and more people appreciate visuals and appealing illustration compared to overwhelming texts in any marketing and promotion strategy.

With the fast-paced and modern technology people enjoy today, images are used to communicate and convey messages and information easier and more effective. Unlike texts where there are boundaries because people speak different languages, images created by freelance illustrators are used in most marketing campaigns because they can appeals even to those people who have different ethnicities and backgrounds.

Becoming a Freelance Illustrator

Almost all business establishments today require the assistance of designers and illustrators. This is because they have finally realized that illustrations can be more powerful in promoting their services and products. But, instead of hiring full time illustrators or in-house designers, more and more clients prefer to hire freelancers because they are oftentimes more creative and resourceful.

For companies who would want to create a new marketing strategy in order to communicate a message or information effectively, illustration can be the key. Whether you are into publishing like children's book, instructional booklet or website, your product can be more appealing if it has illustrations. So, it is now time to consider your options for freelance illustration or design.

In order to become a freelance illustrator or designer, you have to have a specialization in the required field. You can do this by earning a degree or certification in various colleges and universities out there. But if you are too busy to take classes in educational establishments, you can take courses online that can help you to be a successful freelance illustrator. Here are some of the sites where you can take online courses:

1. Sessions. This is one of the online schools of design and media. Many freelance illustrators today will agree that being a student of Sessions will enable you to enjoy an award-winning curriculum of design and illustration classes right in the comforts of your own home.

2. Tutorials. There are so many websites that offers online tutorials over the Internet today. Most of these multimedia tutorials can help you to learn graphic design, web design and illustration without the delays of downloading. You can even start using these web-based tutorials as soon as you sign in.

3. Adult University. This site provides comprehensive online continuing education classes in very interactive classrooms. If you would want to take graphic design, web design and illustration courses online, then you should start browsing the website by now.

4. Harcourt Learning Direct. This is one of the sites that offer at-home and self-paced training that teaches web design, illustration and graphic design for individuals who would want to learn without having to enroll in major colleges or universities.

Aside from getting educated, you will also need the tools and software in order to be a graphic designer or illustrator such as Adobe Photoshop 5.5 with Imageready 2.0 to help boost the resolution of your photos, Illustrator 9.0 to help your graphics become more appropriate for print, web, and dynamic digital media use, QuarkXPress and InDesign 1.5 to achieve ultimate professional publishing results.

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